The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is one of many agricultural organizations thrilled with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday against EPA’s controversial Waters of the United States or WOTUS rule. The court ruled unanimously in favor of the Sackett family in Sackett v. EPA, soundly rejecting the contentious “significant nexus” test. NCBA submitted an amicus brief in the Sackett …
Couser Provides Grassroots Input to EPA
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan recently appointed members for the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee (FRRCC), including Iowa livestock producer and ethanol investor Bill Couser. Established in 2007, the FRRCC provides independent policy advice, information, and recommendations to the EPA administrator on a range of environmental issues and policies that are of importance to agriculture and …
Endangered Species Act Discussion at #Classic23
The Endangered Species Act is “one of the most difficult pesticide issues” farmers have faced on the federal level and they need to be aware of what could happen on their operations as a result of it. Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta Senior Manager, Federal Government and Industry Relations, led a panel discussion on the ESA at Commodity Classic last week …
Cotton Pesticides and the Endangered Species Act
The future of pesticides under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was a topic for a panel at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences Consultants Conference this week in New Orleans. The panel was composed of Leah Duzy and Ashlea Frank, Compliance Services International (CSI); Jack Royal, Royal’s Ag Consulting Company, Leary GA; and Rogers Leonard, Integrated Crop Consulting, St. Josesph, LA. “EPA …
Stakeholders React to EPA Biofuel Volume Proposal
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published its proposed rule to establish required Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes and percentage standards for 2023, 2024, and 2025, as well as to propose a series of important modifications to strengthen and expand the RFS program. Ethanol producers and corn farmers are generally pleased with the proposal, while soybean farmers and biodiesel/renewable diesel …
Syngenta Hopeful Science Will Prevail in Atrazine Proposal
The public comment period for proposed EPA revisions to rules and regulations regarding the use of atrazine ended October 7 but it will still be some time yet before a final decision is made that could ultimately impact 65 million acres of corn, sorghum, and sugarcane nationwide. “It’s going to have a significant impact on how we use atrazine going …
Syngenta’s Thatcher Provides Policy Perspective
Mary Kay Thatcher has been in policy “since the first Bush administration” when she left Iowa for Washington DC after college, so when she talks about policy, people in agriculture listen. After 30 years with the American Farm Bureau Federation and now Sr. Manager, Federal Government & Industry Relations at Syngenta for almost five years, most everyone knows Mary Kay …
Agri-Pulse Newsmakers: EPA Administrator Regan
The latest episode of Agri-Pulse Newsmakers is out and the big news maker this week is EPA Administrator Michael Regan. The Biden administration is approaching a key deadline to publish annual volume targets for biofuel blending. There’s also the ongoing effort to redefine the definition of a Water of the U.S. and looming concerns about the loss of crop protection …
Ethanol Report Reviews EPA Announcements
The ethanol industry got some long-awaited announcements from the Biden Administration this week on COVID aid from USDA and biofuel blending obligations from the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s a mixed bag of good news and bad news for ethanol producers and in this edition of The Ethanol Report we get the details from Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Geoff …
EPA Still Evaluating Dicamba Products
The Environmental Protection Agency continues to evaluate dicamba products, according to Administrator Michael Regan. At the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) annual meeting this week, Regan said they are still receiving and analyzing new incident information and are taking steps to better understand the nature and severity of any reports since the Trump administration approved the use …