regulations | Field 2 Field

June 10, 2021June 10, 2021

Water Rule Reversal a Blow to Agriculture

Water is a touchy subject, especially when it comes to our agriculture and environmental discussions these days. I have to admit that I was worried about this from day one. The Environmental Protection Agency announced it intends to reverse the Navigable Waters Protection Rule.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall his organization is very concerned about the idea and its potential impact on the nation’s farmers.

“The American Farm Bureau Federation is extremely disappointed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that it intends to reverse the environmentally conscious Navigable Waters Protection Rule,” Duvall says, “which finally brought clarity and certainty to clean water efforts. Farmers and ranchers care about clean water and preserving the land, and they support the Navigable Waters Protection Rule.

“Administrator Regan recently recognized the flaws in the 2015 ‘Waters of the U.S. Rule’ and pledged not to return to those overreaching regulations,” he added. “We are deeply concerned that the EPA plans to reverse the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which puts the future of responsible protections at risk. We expected extensive outreach, but today’s announcement fails to recognize the concerns of farmers and ranchers.”

Duvall, a third-generation Georgia farmer, says this is an important moment for EPA Administrator Michael Regan and will be pivotal to his ability to earn the trust of farmers on this and other administration priorities. Duvall says the EPA boss must “keep his word” to recognize the efforts of agriculture and not return to flawed, overly-complicated and excessive regulations.

“We call on the EPA to respect the statute, recognize the burden that overreaching regulation places on farmers and ranchers, and not write the term ‘navigable’ out of the Clean Water Act” Duvall says. “On this issue, and particularly prior converted croplands and ephemerals, we also urge Secretary Vilsack to ensure that we don’t return to the regulatory land grab that was the 2015 ‘WOTUS’ Rule.

Duvall adds that clean water and clarity are paramount, which is why farmers shouldn’t need a team of lawyers and consultants to farm.

From a personal perspective, why can’t we meet in the middle here? You do realize that farmers don’t get to stay in business and pass on the operation to their kids if they don’t take care of their environment?

Am I anti-environment by being concerned about farmers? I’m not. I’m saying there has to be a way to preserve the environment and still allow farmers to make money. After all, they do feed us, remember? Food doesn’t just show up at Safeway.

October 8, 2020October 8, 2020

Organic industry looking for help against fraud

Organic farming in the U.S. is a blossoming business opportunity for farmers across the country. Overall industry sales totaled $1 billion in 1990 when the nation’s organic laws passed, and then reached a recent high of $55 billion. Unfortunately, there are some unintended loopholes in the regulations that allow non-organic products to be labeled as organic. The industry is concerned about the effect on the credibility of their label.

The Organic Trade Association is one of several groups working on closing the loopholes and making enforcement of the regulations more uniform. They’ve been working on it since 2017 when the Washington Post reported on 36 million pounds of fraudulently labeled soybeans that entered the United States.

“We started our legislative work in 2018 when the new farm bill went into effect,” said Gwendolyn Wyard, the Vice President of Regulatory and Technical Affairs. “That gave the National Organic Program the support, funding, and the authorization to do its work.”

The USDA released a proposed rule last July designed to detect and deter the kind of fraud the industry is fighting. The National Farmers Union points out that millions of dollars of non-organic products have been intentionally mislabeled and sold in the U.S. The scale of the problem is large and requires equally large solutions.

Wyard says this is the largest single piece of rule-making since the USDA organic regulations first went into effect in 2002. She calls it a complete overhaul of the rules that will strengthen the oversight and enforcement of rules governing the production and sale of products. “It will close gaps in the supply chain and strengthen regulations to prevent fraud,” Wyard added.

“We must do this, and we do it right,” she said. “Shoppers need to know that organic standards are strong. Fraud takes the value out of the supply chain and hurts producers wherever they farm. We rely entirely on consumer trust.”

Here’s the rest of the conversation.

July 10, 2019July 10, 2019

Acreage reporting deadline extended in 12 states

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) extended the acreage reporting deadline for farmers in states impacted by flooding and heavy moisture. The new deadline is July 22 for producers to report spring-seeded crops to USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices and crop insurance agents. The new deadline applies to producers in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

“These are challenging times and we are here to help,” said Bill Northey, USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation. “This deadline extension is part of our broader effort to increase program flexibility and reduce overall regulatory burden for producers who are having to make some tough choices for their operations.”

Producers not in the selected states must file reports or be added to a county register by the original July 15 deadline.

“Producers in many parts of the country are experiencing a challenging spring and early summer. However, producers in these states are struggling with large delays and are unable to complete their other fieldwork,” Northey said.

Filing a timely crop acreage report helps farmers maintain eligibility for USDA conservation, disaster assistance, safety net, crop insurance, and farm loan programs. A crop acreage report documents all crops and their intended uses. It’s also an important part of record-keeping for your farm or ranch.

FSA offices are asking producers to set up appointments ahead of time before they come in to file a report. Producers who schedule appointments before the deadline will be on time, even if the appointment is after July 22.

Likewise, reports from producers in non-affected states who set up appointments before July 15 will be considered timely filed.

“We encourage you to contact your FSA county office today to set up an appointment,” Northey said. “Our team is standing by to help you complete this important process that keeps you eligible for key USDA programs.”

Other USDA Efforts to Help Producers

USDA is taking additional steps to help producers across the country, including:

Updating the haying and grazing date for producers who have planted cover crops on prevented plant acres;
Offering special sign-ups through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program for assistance to plant cover crops; and
Extending the deadline to report prevented plant acres in certain places.

For more information, visit our Prevented or Delayed Planting webpage.

More Information

To learn more, contact your FSA county office or visit fsa.usda.gov or farmers.gov/prevented-planting.