JEFFERSON CITY – A new University of Missouri research center will tackle the intersection of energy security, food security, and private property rights. This week, Missouri Farm Bureau (MOFB) announced its support for the Center for Rural Energy Security (CRES) at Mizzou.
The center aims to be a nationally recognized leader on rural energy issues. Researchers at the center will place special focus on the implications that federal and state energy policies have on agriculture, rural communities, and property rights.
“One of the missions of our Foundation is to invest in critical research,” said MOFB President Garrett Hawkins. “At this crossroads we face as a nation, I can think of no better investment than one to address the issue of our time: the intersection of energy security, food security, and property rights.”
To support the effort, MOFB has committed funds from the MOFB Foundation for Agriculture to jump-start the first-of-its-kind center to focus specifically on the impact of energy policies on rural communities.
Productive farm ground is being taken out of production agriculture as more wind and solar projects come online. Energy produced by these structures is primarily sent to urban areas while providing little if any benefit to local residents.
“Federal energy policy is coming at a cost to the rural landscape, small towns, and local agriculture production,” Hawkins explained, “and, until now, we’ve had nowhere to turn for policy and economic analysis in this space.”
The CRES will be the first university-affiliated energy policy research institute in the country to focus exclusively on energy policy and technology innovation for agriculture, rural communities, and rural economic development.
“The Center for Rural Energy Security is a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary collaboration to better understand and advance the energy needs of rural communities in Missouri and around the country,” University of Missouri President Mun Choi said. “Our world-class experts will work alongside partners statewide to strengthen rural economies and support Missouri’s top economic driver: agriculture. I deeply appreciate President Garrett Hawkins and Missouri Farm Bureau for their visionary leadership of this important initiative.”
At Mizzou, the new center will be a partnership between the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) and the College of Arts and Science.
“I am pleased to be part of this unique partnership, bringing together the experts in rural energy policy from across our great state,” Christopher Daubert, vice chancellor and dean of CAFNR, said. We are at an important moment in determining how the future of energy in our country affects rural communities, and at the University of Missouri we are always looking ahead to challenges facing our state to see how we can address them head-on.”
“We are proud to partner with the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the Missouri Farm Bureau in using our collective strengths to support agriculture and rural communities through energy policy,” Cooper Drury, dean of the College of Arts and Science, said. “Energy is a critical issue for communities, so we will leverage our strengths in policy analysis and our partnership with the Missouri Farm Bureau to help ensure a bright future for Missourians.”
The CRES is expected to begin its work in early 2025.