KIRKSVILLE, MO --
A Heartland lawmaker's hard work on an agriculture bill has paid off.

Senator Brian Munzlinger's ag bill was recently signed into law.

That bill includes several measures that will benefit Missouri farmers in the state's leading industry.

One key provision in the bills lowers farmer's risks of grain dealer failure or fraud. This measure was based on a case where a Missouri woman pleaded guilty to defrauding farmers in a $27 million grain sale a few years back.

"This actually sets out more guidelines for the grain dealers that we have in the state of Missouri. It requires them to have extra bonding requirements so that hopefully you've got somebody else looking over their set of books, so hopefully we don't have those problems in the future, and we can protect our producers," said Munzlinger.

The Farmland Trust Act allows beginning farmers to lease land from the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

“Right now to get started in farming takes a lot of money and land is one of the key things there. Also, being able just to have access to the ground, because a lot of times cash rents are so high. This'll be a program set up that would allow those beginning farmers to maybe have a chance that they wouldn't have had otherwise,” Munzlinger said.

The new law also ensures that the purchase of certain farm equipment is exempt from sales tax.