The Alabama agriculture commissioner runoff sharpened Monday night as Christina Woerner McInnis faced questions over cannabis licensing while Corey Hill pitched a rural crime crackdown for farmers.
At the Shelby County GOP candidate forum, the moderator asked McInnis whether she or SoilKit AgriTech had applied for or become involved in a medical cannabis license through partnerships such as Flowerwood Medical Cannabis.
McInnis denied holding any active cannabis, hemp, or Delta-product licenses.
“Let me clarify, I do not have a cannabis medical license,” McInnis said. “I do not, because I work in Colorado. Do not have a cannabis recreational license. Do not have a hemp license, and I have nothing to do with the Delta products that are in gas stations now.”
McInnis did not directly address whether SoilKit had previously pursued a partnership with Flowerwood Medical Cannabis. She instead pivoted to a recent White House visit, where she said she met with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
McInnis said Rollins warned her that foreign ownership of American agriculture is becoming a national security threat.
“China is here,” McInnis said. “They own one out of four hogs. They own 400,000 acres of our land, and we are not putting the next generation of farmers into the fields profitably and successfully.”
McInnis, a fifth-generation Alabama farmer and founder of SoilKit, ran throughout the forum on a five-point plan focused on protecting the farm bill, keeping China out of Alabama agriculture, bringing young farmers into the field, expanding Sweet Grown Alabama, and creating a voluntary grant portal.
Hill, the mayor of Douglas and a fourth-generation poultry and cattle farmer, used the forum to emphasize food safety, farmer profitability, and rural law enforcement.
His clearest proposal was restoring the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries’ rural crime task force, which he said once investigated farm thefts, stolen equipment, livestock crimes, and other rural property cases across county lines.
“Many of you don’t know, there was 10 guys on staff at the Ag Department that solved real crimes,” Hill said.
Hill said the unit recovered more than $10 million in property before it was shut down, including $1.2 million in Clay County the day before the program ended.
He acknowledged restoring the task force would require legislative action and funding, but said rural counties still need the help.
“Criminals have a network. They talk, they gossip, they know what’s going on,” Hill said. “Normally police know what’s happening. They just gotta prove it to make the case.”
Hill also said he would push for Alabama schools, hospitals, and prisons to buy Alabama-grown food when possible. He said the Sweet Grown Alabama program should expand further into seafood, including Alabama’s catfish industry.
“We’re the number two catfish state,” Hill said. “Why can’t we be the number one catfish-consuming state in the country?”
The Republican runoff for agriculture commissioner is June 16.
Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected]
