Missouri farmer Gary Kempker contends his farmland helps generate billions of dollars for big business, conservation, and bureaucracy, all while he has endured almost $300,000 in crop losses since 2013.
Kempker cannot consistently access his rows due to the high flow of the Osage River related to hydroelectric demand around the Lake of the Ozarks region. Additionally, the increased volume of water has eroded his bankside acreage for a mile and a half, eating approximately 75’ along the entire stretch.
Blame, he insists, falls on electric powerhouse Ameren Corporation, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
“I’m fighting for access to my own ground against organizations backed by billions in taxpayer dollars and layers of bureaucracy,” Kempker says. “I want straight answers. Who’s taking responsibility for my farmland losses?”
“They’ve taken our money and about 75’ of our riverbank, and now they want 50’ more of our riverbank for one of their projects. It’s a crime in broad daylight, but no government agency or politician dares to say anything because of the might of big business.”
“They all take federal tax dollars so I’d like to see them all audited and how they’re connected,” he adds. “Let the chips fall where they fall.”
“It’s All Undeniable”
In central Missouri’s Miller County, alongside the Osage River, Kempker is patriarch of a 600-acre row crop (corn, soybeans, and wheat) and cattle operation helmed by his son, Joe. The outfit includes two Century Farms, testament to an agricultural heritage dating to the early 1900s.
Kempker’s acreage includes two “islands” (16 acres and 52.5 acres) within the river. His property line begins at the low-water mark. For the duration of ownership, Kempker and his forefathers have farmed the islands and driven machinery onto the ground via gravel bars and roads—all owned by the family. The island soils are rich, yielding dryland soybeans at a low of 50 bushels per acre, with select spots cracking 100 bushels per acre.
Crop success is contingent on timing, whether planting, managing, or harvesting. However, Kempker’s access to his island soybeans is often blocked by the Osage’s high level. The river’s flow, up and down, is owned and controlled by Ameren at Bagnell Dam, located approximately 30 miles upriver from Kempker. The dam is the plug for Lake of the Ozarks.
Ameren operates the dam on a federal FERC license (Ameren, FWS, MDC, and MDNR are all licensees). According to the license, (article 3.3.6), Ameren is supposed to lower the river level for growers during “ground preparation, planting, cultivation, spraying, and harvesting crops.” However, the license carries an agronomically impossible demand, requiring farmers to “coordinate together and provide specific times for needed access.” Additionally, the license states that lowering the river flow can only be done with agreement from MDNR, MDC, FWS.
The license is fantasy, Kempker insists. “We’re talking farmers stretched over three counties and 21 islands,” he says. “To consistently ‘coordinate’ every time you need to work a piece of ground, and then get unanimous approval from three separate agencies, in addition to Ameren and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is beyond impossible. No one except a bureaucrat can look at the wording of the license and not recognize the fix is in.”
The result? Kempker cannot work all his acres. “In summer 2024, just for example, when it was time to apply fungicide to our soybeans—a critical step—Ameren ran water high enough that we couldn’t get on the islands. We took the chemicals back to the dealer and dealt with yield loss as the result. That’s been going on for years, and we are forced to operate in realization that whenever Ameren needs current, the water stays up and we lose.”
Compensation is due, he continues. “Some years we lose thousands of dollars to Ameren. On top of that, we’ve lost roughly 75’ of bank—so far. Ameren sends more water down the river than ever before and makes more money than ever before, and meanwhile, politicians, conservation officials, and federal representatives all pretend this isn’t happening. And FWS, MDC, and MDNR are on the license. They are all responsible.”
“Look at the law and license. Look at my crop losses. Look at my soil washing down the river. Look at the fouled state of the river. And look at environmental conditions at Lake of the Ozarks. It’s all undeniable.”
Untouchable
In summer 2024, Kempker attended a public meeting held by FWS and the Corp of Engineers regarding erosion along the Osage River. Bottom line, he says, the agencies want 50’ inland to create a riparian buffer, along his entire mile-and-half of riverbank property. “I can’t count the amount of environmental, multi-million dollar studies they’ve done. I can’t even count the number of meetings and maybe 30-plus phone calls I’ve had with them. Now they say they want to put in a buffer to prevent more catastrophic erosion. They’ve taken 75’, and they want 50’ more, all at no charge.”
“People who live here know the terrible state of the river and know it needs to be dredged,” Kempker adds. “Instead, conservation officials want to widen the river. I asked them, ‘Will you compensate landowners?’ Their answer, ‘No. We don’t have that kind of money.’”
“We live here; we farm here. We see the damage to this river across our lifetimes. Look at the fish and the shells—they’re not here in the number of the recent past. Smell the water—there’s years now when it literally stinks. Why? Foul water comes from above at Lake of the Ozarks, but that place is politically untouchable.”
Billions in Profit
Economic boom, population increase, real estate jump, tourism boost, i.e., Lake of the Ozarks is a happening place with hype from casinos, amusement parks, and resorts. And even more business investment is funneling into the region.
“Is anyone surprised there was an E. coli outbreak at the lake this summer and the beach shut down? Everyone knows, including MDNR, that sewer systems around Lake of the Ozarks are not adequate for the people pouring in,” Kempker says. “That foul water is flushed right outta Bagnell Dam and into the Osage River.”
“The pollution in the lake and the erosion on the river is going to continue to get worse because Lake of the Ozarks is a fishbowl connected to sewer lines,” Kempker says. “That’s my opinion. But nobody will disturb Lake of the Ozarks and its billions in profit.”
How Much Money?
Kempker believes the Takings Clause, contained in the Bill of Rights, is directly applicable to the inaccessibility of his farmland due to high water from Bagnell Dam. The Takings Clause (within the Fifth Amendment) states: …nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a significant river/dam ruling in Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States, noting that “recurrent floodings, even if of finite duration, are not categorically exempt from Takings Clause liability.”
Kempker cites the 2022 ruling as precedent to his stance. Yet, after scores of meetings and phone calls across a decade-plus with officials from Ameren, MDNR, DNR, FWS, and FERC, Kempker claims he has never been given answers to his questions regarding culpability for his losses.
“All I’ve ever asked was for all of them to uphold the terms of their license, just like the text in the agreement says.”
Specifically, Kempker refers to Section 10-C of the Federal Power Act: Each licensee hereunder shall be liable for all damages occasioned to the property of others by the construction, maintenance, or operation of the project works or of the works appurtenant or accessory thereto, constructed under the license, and in no event shall the United States be liable therefor.
“That license is signed by Ameren and all the agencies—and issued by FERC. The government is benefitting from taking my ground. That is a taking; that calls for compensation.”
“Ameren has never once tried to purchase an easement from me and has never offered a penny in compensation. Ask yourself a question: While they deny me the ability to work my ground, how much money does Ameren make every year? The answer blows people away.”
Ameren ranks 494 on the Fortune 500 list. Ameren hauled in $7-plus billion in revenue in 2024; netting well over $1 billion.
Straight Answers?
Standing on his farm, looking downriver, Kempker points to a bridge spanning the Osage. The bridge is slated for refurbishment as part of the Rock Island Trail, a rails-to-trails project managed my MDNR.
“By the time that entire project is completed, I’d expect they’ll spend at least $100 million,” Kempker says. “There seems to be money for every project imaginable, while our riverbank continues to wash away and we can’t work all our land.”
“From every state agency to Ameren to FERC to my own politicians at the federal level, including Senator Josh Hawley’s office, I can’t get a straight answer on any of this. No one will address the facts.”
(Sen. Hawley’s office did not respond to Farm Journal interview requests regarding Gary Kempker’s contentions related to crop loss/erosion/Ameren/Bagnell Dam.)
“Let everyone be audited,” Kempker concludes. “At some level, they all get federal tax dollars. The projects, the studies, the bureaucracy, and all the business relations. I don’t think the public will like what’s revealed.”
For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
