WEBB CITY, Mo. — With less than two weeks before the primary election, Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster plans to visit Southwest Missouri on Wednesday to tout his support for the August ballot’s “right to farm” amendment.

Koster, a likely Democratic contender for governor in 2016, will be in the area with representatives from the Missouri Farmers Care coalition which is advocating in favor the measure. During his visit, he will be joined by the CEOs of the Missouri Corn Growers Association and the Missouri Soybean Association, as well as the president of the Missouri Farm Bureau.

Amendment 1 has split Missouri Democrats. Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon has announced his opposition to the measure, and last week, the Southwest Missouri Democrats in Joplin voted to oppose it.

“This Amendment would bestow upon corporate agribusiness at the expense of small family farmers and Missouri citizens,” the group’s director Krista Stark, a Webb City resident, said in a statement announcing their opposition. “In addition, this Amendment could greatly expand the ownership of Missouri farmland by multinational corporations and foreign countries such as China.”

Koster will visit farms in Springfield and Webb City on Tuesday.

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