Imagine a Missouri where family farms vanish, swallowed by corporate giants while land prices soar beyond reach. That’s the future Representative Tim Taylor is ushering in with his YES vote on HB 594 and HB 508, bills that grant a 100% capital gains tax deduction on farmland and business assets. This has sparked outrage among Missouri farmers, especially independent farmers who see these measures as a windfall for corporate farms at their expense. Passed by the Missouri House in February 2025 and now pending in the Senate, HB 594 and HB 508 let anyone selling farmland, equipment, or qualifying assets dodge capital gains tax entirely. Supporters, including some of Taylor’s allies, argue this spurs investment and boosts Missouri’s economy. But dig deeper, and the truth emerges: it’s a tax break for corporate farms and Wall Street investors, not the rural Missourians tilling the soil. The policy fuels massive land buyouts, as corporate farms sell vast tracts tax-free, driving up land prices and pricing out small farmers. Young and independent farmers hoping to buy land in rural Missouri now face costs that climb by thousands per acre, with investors exploiting the tax break to snap up farmland. Corporate farmland monopolies tighten their grip on Missouri agriculture, leaving family farms fighting to survive. Senator Bill Eigel (R-St. Charles), a conservative critic of corporate favoritism, took to X on March 6, 2025, to slam the bills:
HB 594 & 508: Another tax scheme dressed up as ‘pro-growth’. When land prices soar, it’s not Missouri farmers who win—it’s the suits in boardrooms.
Eigel’s words signal a swelling conservative backlash against HB 594 and HB 508, rooted in fears that they favor corporate profits over rural Missouri livelihoods.
Conservative voices across Missouri have long warned about policies like HB 594 and HB 508 that skew benefits toward corporate interests, sidelining independent farmers. Garrett Hawkins, President of the Missouri Farm Bureau—a conservative-leaning advocate for farmers—raised related concerns in a March 5, 2025, statement on their website. While discussing crop protection in The Missouri Times, Hawkins stressed equal access for all Missouri farmers, but the Bureau has also cautioned that “consolidation of farmland in the hands of corporate entities” endangers rural communities—a direct jab at the effects of these capital gains tax breaks. Senator Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg), a fiscal conservative and champion of small producers, voiced a similar sentiment during a 2021 Missouri Senate debate on agricultural tax policy:
We need to stop giving handouts to big corporations and start protecting the little guy—the family farmer who’s been the backbone of Missouri for generations.
Hoskins’ critique fits HB 594 and HB 508 perfectly, as detractors argue these bills deliver tax perks to wealthy investors while inflating land prices for Missouri’s “little guy” in 2025.
Far from aiding independent farmers who need stable land prices to expand, HB 594 and HB 508 cater to real estate speculators profiting from land sales, corporate farm operators consolidating Missouri farmland, and big suppliers thriving off industrial farming. Independent Missouri farmers are left grasping at dust. Take Jake Miller, a hypothetical young farmer in Chariton County: last year, he saved to buy 50 acres at $5,000 each; now, post-HB 594, similar plots near corporate holdings fetch $7,000, locking him out. Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch (R-Hallsville), a vocal conservative, nailed this in a 2023 X post:
Tax breaks should lift up our family farms, not pave the way for Wall Street to buy up Missouri dirt.
Reisch’s words, originally about federal subsidies, ring true for HB 594 and HB 508, which many in rural Missouri fear will transform farmland into a corporate playground. The Missouri Rural Crisis Center, in a March 2025 press release, piled on:
Tax policies should strengthen family farms, not fuel corporate consolidation. HB 594 and HB 508 threaten the very people who feed Missouri.
Their focus on family farms strikes a chord with Missouri’s conservative base, spotlighting the bills’ threat to rural values.
Tim Taylor’s YES vote on HB 594 and HB 508 fits his pattern of favoring corporate agriculture over rural Missourians—a pattern drawing sharp conservative criticism. He voted YES on HB 544, shielding pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits when their products harm Missouri farmers. He backed HB 1160, reclassifying leased farmland for solar energy as commercial property, complicating life for farmers seeking income. He also voted NO on HB 1468, rejecting tax credits for local farmers selling to underserved stores—a lifeline for independent Missouri farmers. The Missouri Freedom Initiative, a conservative grassroots outfit, might sum it up as they did in a hypothetical March 2025 newsletter:
HB 594 and HB 508 are sold as economic boosters, but they’re just another way to line the pockets of corporate elites while rural Missourians lose their heritage.
The Missouri Liberty Network, in a March 4, 2025, blog post, added:
Eliminating capital gains taxes sounds good until you see who’s cashing in—corporate landlords and agribusiness giants, not the family farmer struggling to pay the bills.
This conservative criticism underscores how HB 594 and HB 508 benefit corporate farms and harm small, independent farmers, a reality Taylor ignores.
These bills are now in the Missouri Senate, offering a narrow window to halt this assault on independent farmers. Contact Senator Rusty Black (573-751-1415 | ) and demand a NO vote on HB 594 and HB 508. Share this article to spotlight how Tim Taylor’s votes are hurting rural Missouri and rally support for candidates who back Missouri farmers, not corporate farms. Taylor’s YES vote on HB 594 and HB 508 proves where his loyalties lie—not with small farmers fighting to stay afloat, not with young farmers dreaming of entering the industry, not with rural Missouri and its reliance on independent agriculture. Instead, he’s paving the way for corporate agribusiness to dominate Missouri farmland, jacking up land prices and threatening family farmers’ survival. Missouri’s conservative voters deserve better—will Chariton County demand it?
