Earlier this week, three Farm Bureau members testified before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry regarding the involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the ongoing Chesapeake Bay cleanup. Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President Richard Ebert, former Ohio Farm Bureau President Terry McClure, and Florida Farm Bureau member Kate English, all testified before the subcommittee that they believe …
Senators Pleased EPA IG to Investigate Anti-Ag Billboards
Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) are pleased that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking action regarding a taxpayer funded, anti-farmer campaign in Washington state. The chairmen of the Senate agriculture and environment committees sent a letter to EPA’s inspector general earlier this month requesting an audit and investigation of an EPA grant to the Northwest Indian Fisheries …
Washington State Billboard Causing Uproar
The chairmen of two Senate committees are calling for an investigation into billboards in Washington state that blame agriculture for polluting waterways because they apparently were funded by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), chairman of the Agriculture Committee are requesting an …
EPA Proposes Dicamba Registration for GE Crops
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has officially proposed the registration of dicamba to control weeds in cotton and soybean genetically engineered (GE) to tolerate the herbicide. The proposal outlines a Herbicide Resistance Management Plan which includes monitoring and reporting any suspected resistance, grower education and remediation. Additionally, EPA is proposing to limit the registration to 5 years, which would further …
EPA Opens Comment Period Regarding Dicamba
The EPA has opened a 30 day comment period to the public covering the topic of dicamba herbicide use with Bollgard II ExtendFlex cotton and Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans. This step is an important move forward for growers hoping to gain access to dicamba weed-management tools. A limited commercial introduction of Bollgard II XtendFlex Cotton took place in 2015 …
Bayer Requests EPA Hearing on Pesticide
Bayer is taking its disagreement with the Environmental Protection Agency over registrations for the pesticide flubendiamide, marketed as Belt® in the United States, to the administrative level. This week, the company formally requested a hearing before EPA’s Administrative Law Judge to argue their case. Bayer has already rejected a request by EPA to voluntarily withdraw registration for flubendiamide-containing products, which …
Supreme Court Declines Chesapeake Bay Review
There will be no Supreme Court review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s total maximum daily load (TMDL) restrictions in the Chesapeake Bay region, referred to as EPA’s “blueprint” for restoring the bay. The American Farm Bureau Federation and a coalition of agricultural and builder groups asked the Supreme Court last November to review a lower court ruling that “allows the …
WOTUS Strikes Back
Farmers and ranchers will need the force to be with them as the EPA has struck back with an even more extreme version of the Waters of the U.S. Rule. Known as the Chesapeake Blueprint, the new rules will severely regulate and burden farms, possibly removing thousands of acres from production agriculture. The American Farm Bureau Federation is once again …
What Now for WOTUS?
As expected, President Obama yesterday vetoed a disapproval resolution passed by Congress that would have nullified the controversial clean water rule by EPA, better known as Waters of the U.S. or WOTUS. “Because this resolution seeks to block the progress represented by this rule and deny businesses and communities the regulatory certainty and clarity needed to invest in projects that …
EPA Assessment Raises Honeybee Concerns
Today the EPA announced a preliminary pollinator risk assessment for the neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, which, according to the assessment, is a threat to some pollinators. EPA’s assessment, prepared in collaboration with California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation, indicates that imidacloprid potentially poses risk to hives when the pesticide comes in contact with certain crops that attract pollinators. “Delivering on the President’s …