BOLLINGER COUNTY, Mo. – Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08) visited Mesta Meadows Farm this week where he met with the family and toured the operation to discuss their direct-to-consumer business and agri-tourism efforts, hear about how the Working Families Tax Cuts is positively impacting their operation, as well as the trade challenges facing Missouri’s wool and lamb producers.

Congressman Smith said, “From a farm right here in Bollinger County, this family has built a business that reaches customers in all 50 states and more than a dozen countries. They sell everything from raw milk and wool to homemade ice cream, and welcome visitors onto the farm to see their operation firsthand. Farmers and ranchers like this family know how to run their own operation better than Washington ever will, and that’s why I fought to deliver real tax relief through the Working Families Tax Cuts so they can keep more of what they earn and reinvest it back into their farm.”

Mesta Meadows Farm sits on land originally purchased by a French land speculator in the 1850s, and the family has spent the last decade building today’s operation on the property. They raise sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, and poultry, including a herd of Scottish Highlander cattle that has become central to their growing agri-tourism business. They sell direct to consumers through farmers markets in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, a brick-and-mortar store, and online, moving products such as raw milk, meat, wool, and roughly 1,500 pints of ice cream a week with a team of three full-time employees.

Thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts, Mesta Meadows and farms like it can count on permanent 100% immediate expensing and a permanent small business deduction, giving them the certainty to invest in their operation and grow their business. Congressman Smith also discussed the Section 301 tariff investigation the family has been closely watching, along with efforts to hold foreign competitors accountable for lamb imports undercutting American producers.