DENT COUNTY, Mo. – Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08) visited Keaton Cattle Company in Dent County this week, touring the operation and meeting with owner Freddie Keaton and his wife, Renee, to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Missouri’s cattle producers.

Congressman Smith said, “Freddie is exactly the kind of independent producer I fight for in Washington. We talked about the need for fairer cattle markets, reforms to mandatory price reporting to improve transparency and price discovery, making sure family operations can compete without being squeezed out by the four large meatpackers that dominate the industry, and the growing threat that Theileria poses to cattle herds across our state.

“I was glad to hear that the Working Families Tax Cuts are already helping Freddie plan for the future, as he’s building a new commodity barn to store feed for his cattle, and thanks to immediate expensing, he’ll be able to deduct that investment right away. Families like the Keatons are the backbone of rural Missouri, and I’ll keep fighting for policies that strengthen independent producers, expand market opportunities, support animal health research, and help the next generation carry on Missouri’s cattle tradition.”

Freddie Keaton founded Keaton Cattle Company in 1997 and today runs 500 to 600 head of cattle, primarily Black Angus and some Red Angus, across roughly 1,300 acres in Dent County. Beyond his own operation, Keaton serves as President of the Independent Cattlemen of Missouri and as Region VI Director for R-CALF USA, representing independent producers across Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

The Working Families Tax Cuts, which Congressman Smith authored, made permanent 100 percent immediate expensing, small business deductions, and doubled small business expensing thresholds — provisions that are directly helping producers like Keaton invest in new infrastructure, such as the commodity barn he’s planning to build to better store feed for his herd. The law also made permanent death tax relief that protects more than 15,000 family-owned farms in Missouri’s 8th District from having their exemption cut in half, helping ensure operations like Keaton Cattle Company can be passed on to the next generation.