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Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson: The Lower Energy Costs Act restores American agriculture
Posted by on March 29, 2023
The Washington Times
By Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-15) Before President Joe Biden took office, America was the largest energy producer in the world, and oil and gas—the raw materials for vital farm inputs from diesel fuel to fertilizer production—were abundant and affordable. During the first week of the Biden Administration, the President enacted two executive orders that stifled the development and expansion of American energy resources. These executive orders halted new oil and gas leases on federal lands and offshore waters and revoked the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline, respectively. By tightening methane standards and proposing to increase climate disclosure requirements, the EPA and SEC have knee-capped innovation in the oil and gas sector on the regulatory front as well. In other words, the Biden Administration—in just over two years—effectively waged a war on our domestic energy capabilities, having all but eliminated the financial incentive for domestic energy producers to invest in fossil fuel infrastructure. As a result, American consumers are seeing increased demand and higher prices for conventional liquid fuels and their byproducts. For example, the average cost of diesel fuel per gallon in 2020 was $2.551. In 2022, the cost of diesel rose by 95% to $4.989 a gallon, ultimately reaching a record high of $5.816 by the summer. Additionally, fertilizer prices increased 125% from January 2021 to January 2022 and continued to break records throughout 2022, which largely affected farm profitability, food prices, and the costs of consumer products. As Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and proud Representative from Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District, I am no stranger to the challenges facing America’s energy industry and its direct impact on farming communities. In fact, the Commonwealth showcases the nexus between energy and agriculture production each and every day. Pennsylvania is home to the Marcellus Shale and America’s first commercial oil well—both responsibly developed resources that provided energy affordability to generations of Americans and transformed the U.S. into a global economic powerhouse—and our state’s largest industry is agriculture. Just like any other region of the country, the viability of our ag sector is reliant upon access to abundant and affordable energy resources. By gambling away American energy independence and domestic oil and gas production in the name of climate change, the Biden Administration has harmed the very industry—U.S. agriculture—that contributes to 13% of our annual greenhouse gas sequestration. The hardworking men and women who feed and fuel our nation and the world are, in reality, climate heroes. Even still, the Administration has continued to take irrational regulatory and policy actions that foster uncertainty and limit our ability to meet the food, fiber, and energy demands of our nation and the world. This is why House Republicans, through our Commitment to America, remain steadfast in our promises to make gas, groceries, and other basic necessities affordable for working families. Under Speaker McCarthy’s leadership, House Republicans introduced H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, which aims to provide a reprieve for America’s families, including our farmers, ranchers, and foresters, who have struggled with fractured supply chains, skyrocketing input costs, and historic levels of inflation, all of which were exacerbated by excessive spending and regulatory overreach from Washington. H.R. 1 increases domestic energy affordability by resuming responsible development of our domestic energy resources, and it reverses anti-energy policies advanced by the Administration, including the rescission of the $27 billion Environmental Protection Agency’s slush fund for green-related projects. This legislation reforms our broken permitting process to ensure America can build the infrastructure necessary to support robust commerce and transport of goods. The bill also reforms our federal environmental review process to develop America’s vast critical mineral resource potential, ensuring we are less reliant on foreign countries for inputs that are essential to agriculture and so many U.S. industries. American agriculture, if given the right tools and regulatory certainty, can serve a vital role in alleviating global food instability and mitigating costs for consumers. H.R. 1 provides this certainty and will deliver long-lasting relief for nearly every sector of the U.S. economy. As I’ve always said, food security is national security. We need dependable local power generation, adequate infrastructure, a strong workforce, and lower energy costs for farm operations to remain viable. It’s time we return to embracing American energy, not abandon it, and in doing so, enable America’s agriculture sector to thrive. House Republicans made a commitment to an economy that is strong. Through H.R. 1, we are upholding that promise. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) is Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture.
Randy Feenstra: Waters of U.S. rule is overreach, burdensome on agriculture
Posted by on February 20, 2023
The Globe Gazette
By Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) Late last year, the Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency quietly finalized and expanded the definition of the Waters of the United States rule. As a result, it cemented the federal government’s increasingly intrusive role in regulating bodies of water – both large and small. Under this new definition, more than 97% of Iowa’s land, including our productive farmland, would be subject to federal regulation. While protecting our water is an important priority, the EPA’s final WOTUS rule represents federal overreach at its worst. From rivers and streams to ponds and puddles, the Biden Administration has opened the flood gates to more red tape, paperwork, and headaches for Iowa’s farmers, producers, and agricultural community. Absent consultation with America’s heartland, the EPA expanded the controversial significant nexus test, which determines whether the federal government can regulate farmland miles from the nearest “navigable” water source. This overreaching interpretation of what constitutes both a “significant nexus” and a “navigable” water source would require burdensome permits for simple farming activities like building fences, moving dirt, and plowing. Born and raised in rural Iowa, I know how red tape can increase input costs and complicate the already difficult business of farming. That’s why I sent a letter, alongside nearly 200 of my congressional colleagues, to EPA Administrator Michael Regan demanding that the Biden Administration rescind its final and destructive WOTUS rule, and instead support farmers and producers in the Midwest who feed and fuel our country and the world. I also helped introduce a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act, which allows the Congress to hold the Executive Branch accountable for its rulemaking procedures and review onerous new rules, condemning this new WOTUS definition. Farmers are the best stewards of their land and should be treated as such. Between record inflation, high energy costs, and regulatory uncertainty, farmers are already facing serious hurdles and significant challenges. Federal bureaucrats should not make their work harder. In Congress, I will continue to work with my colleagues to overturn this arduous rule so that we can return local control of farmland back to our agricultural community – where it rightfully belongs. We are government together, and your thoughts and opinions matter to me. Please contact my office at Feenstra.House.Gov or by phone at 202-225-4426 if I can ever be of assistance. I am proud to represent our families, farmers, main street businesses, and rural communities in Congress.
Valley farmers, 2 congressmen want to hear from you about the new Farm Bill
Posted by on February 13, 2023 The Fresno Bee
Rep. Kat Cammack: The hits keep coming — Navigating the challenges of America’s cattle markets
Posted by on August 8, 2022
Agri-Pulse
By Rep. Kat Cammack (FL-03) As the only Florida Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, I have traveled extensively to meet producers across our district and great state to understand their challenges and unique needs. Florida’s cattle industry is not only the nation's second-leading state in cow-calf production but one of the top 15 largest in the United States. The cattle industry is an integral economic driver in the state, supporting a vast network of associated businesses. These allies include feed companies, heavy machinery corporations, fertilizer manufacturers, processors, and many others. What I hear on the ground from our producers in Florida is a far more nuanced and complex picture of the current challenges facing the livestock industry than the Biden administration and the current Majority in Congress are willing to admit. More importantly, what I see is an administration threatening a way of life, not just a business plan. Our ranchers have dedicated their lives to stewarding their land and their cattle. These operations are often generational and have withstood the cyclical realities of the livestock industry. What producers in my district and throughout the sunshine state express to me is not a need for government solutions to perceived problems in the livestock space. Instead, they share their deep concern with me over government intervention and overreach that could jeopardize the future of their operations. Many of the mandates this Administration has proposed—the attacks on packers and all-out war on the livestock industry—and the battles that this administration has chosen to wage in the name of unfounded, unproven allegations, threaten to rob Florida’s livestock producers of a future for themselves and their children. As a child, I grew up on a small cattle ranch in Castle Rock, Colorado, just outside of Denver. For the last decade, I’ve worked alongside Florida cattlemen and women. There certainly is no shortage of challenges already facing our nation’s cow-calf operations. Yet the Biden Administration has done nothing but foist additional. Dismissing the most basic economic principles that govern the livestock industry, let alone to do so at a time of an economic crisis, it is not uncommon for folks in Florida’s Third Congressional District to put it as simply as they can: they feel left behind. Input costs continue to rise, specifically insurance costs and diesel for livestock haulers. As rising fuel costs take a toll on cattlemen, the day-to-day survival of their operations becomes ever more difficult. American consumers are feeling the bite of inflation, but the cost of doing business that our haulers are facing far exceeds the average rise in costs for American consumers, and the industry is now feeling a unique level of financial pain. Adding insult to injury, our nation’s supply chain has been hobbled by labor issues, a bloated regulatory regime, and an Administration that has done little to address these issues—despite the fact that our such supply chain woes have been long predicted and known since the first days of recovery from the pandemic. And then, of course labor continues to be an issue for our livestock producers, one that has transcended the difficulties of the pandemic and the post-pandemic economic challenges. Like many industries, the labor shortage is persistent and difficult to sate. Entry-level jobs often compete with government checks. Even when our producers offer wages far and above state and federal minimum wage rates, with generous incentives to boot, livestock operations continue to struggle to find workers. In June, I spoke on the House Floor against a bill House Democrats claimed would lower food and fuel costs. Despite the misnomer in the bill’s title, H.R 7606 fell short in addressing the ongoing supply chain and inflationary crises hammering America’s farm families and consumers. For years, big government activists have neglected to take action to incentivize American production, including for our cattle producers. Instead, time and again, they have supported policies and legislation to limit our producers’ ability to meet global food demand and have consistently pushed a big-government, pro-regulation, one-size-fits-all approach. Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee offered a different, more thoughtful path to bringing relief to our livestock industry and instead proposed H.R. 8069, the “Reducing Farm Input Costs and Barriers to Domestic Production Act.” This bill would reverse some of the harmful legislation proposed by this White House and ensure that our farmers, ranchers, agribusiness owners, and others are strengthened to support our food and agriculture supply chains. We are committed to supporting our producers and ensuring their futures are not threatened by regulations, rising costs, labor shortages, and the other issues plaguing American agriculture. In November, Republicans will take the House back and prove to the American people that we are the party that truly has the backs of our livestock producers and will take up the fight against destructive policies that threaten their success and survival. Congresswoman Kat Cammack proudly serves Florida’s 3rd Congressional District as the youngest Republican woman in the 117th Congress. She is a member of the House Agriculture Committee and serves as the lead Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. Kat is a proud wife to her husband Matt, a Gainesville native, who serves as a firefighter/paramedic.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa: Supreme Court said ‘no’ to the EPA; it should continue
Posted by on July 20, 2022
The Washington Times
By Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) The recent Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v. EPA was a big win for stopping the EPA’s regulatory overreach. This ruling will mean that bureaucrats can’t invent authority from 40-year-old statutes to make up new rules Congress hasn’t authorized. Even broad delegation of power from Congress, something I oppose, has limits. Regulations must comply with the actual words in the law. Now that the Supreme Court has done it once, it needs to finish the job when it reviews the Waters of the United States rule in Sackett II v. EPA. Much like in the case of West Virginia v. EPA, the question at stake in Sackett II is a much-needed check on executive power grabs. Since the Obama administration, the EPA has been emboldened to unlawfully wield WOTUS as a new regulatory sword, assaulting landowners, farmers, ranchers and municipalities across the nation with made-up rules. Congress never gave the EPA the authority to regulate every puddle in America. The EPA used a 1972 law, the Clean Water Act, to make a rule that says any puddle lasting more than six hours after rain stops could be a federally regulated waterway. Farmland, miles away from any river that has runoff that “may” reach a stream, that connects to a river was regulated. That’s not what the law says, and that’s absolutely ridiculous. In the original authority given to the EPA, Congress purposely exempted farmers and ranchers from the confines of the CWA. In typical EPA fashion, these bureaucrats ignored the restrictions set in place by Congress, and went ahead with their own authority, enacting strict and overbearing guidelines on agricultural producers to the point where the agency is actively hindering one of our nation’s most vital industries. Under the Obama administration, the EPA finalized an updated rule that significantly expanded the definition of WOTUS and the EPA’s regulatory authority far beyond the limits originally set in place by Congress. This 2015 rule was nothing short of a land and water grab that gave bureaucrats the ability to meddle in intermittent and ephemeral streams — such as the kind farmers use for drainage and irrigation — and to harass farmers for plowing fields that they historically grew crops on. Under this rule, the EPA could fine farmers thousands of dollars if they simply rotated from one crop to another on their own land without first gaining permission that could take years to receive from Washington bureaucrats. That rule was immediately challenged in court and was thankfully withdrawn via a 2017 executive order by former President Donald Trump. Unfortunately, the Biden administration and its “green new deal” agenda are determined to bring back the overreaching rule for good, and with it, uncertainly that will make it more difficult for American farmers to produce the food we eat, home builders to make new family homes, and to produce cheap and abundant American energy. This rule doesn’t just affect farming but every potential land use in the country. A puddle on the property is a far cry from “navigable water,” which is what Congress originally gave the EPA jurisdiction over. The Biden administration is seeking to expand government control by giving the EPA jurisdiction over every puddle in America, and with it, the land the puddles rest on. I am hopeful that in this fall’s case of Sackett II, the Court reaffirms Congress’ Article 1 power and sets the necessary restrictions on agency bureaucrats as they did in West Virginia v. EPA. The power to invent new rules from 40-year-old laws needs to end and this Supreme Court is the one to do it. Doug LaMalfa is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California’s 1st Congressional District since 2013.
Republican Leader Glenn "GT" Thompson and Rep. David Valadao: We can grow the farm economy while reducing emissions
Posted by on July 18, 2022
Washington Examiner
By Republican Leader Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-15) and Rep. David Valadao (CA-21) Driven by the voluntary adoption of science, technology, and innovation, America’s farmers, ranchers, and foresters have mastered producing more food, feed, and fiber while reducing agriculture emissions, conserving natural resources, and sequestering greenhouse gases. The U.S. agriculture industry is the most productive and efficient in the world, producing nearly 300% more food than in the 1940s, with little to no change in inputs. This has led to a significant reduction in emissions per unit produced across the agricultural sector, cementing the critical role our farmers and ranchers play in feeding the world and providing a healthier environment. Just as consumers are paying more for gas and groceries, our nation’s producers are battling skyrocketing input costs, record-breaking inflation, and unreliable supply chains. This is all compounded by the Biden administration’s sustained regulatory assault on agriculture and agri-businesses. The Biden administration’s anti-growth policies continue to discourage the production of natural resources, including critical inputs in agricultural production and transportation, such as gasoline and diesel. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail gas prices have more than doubled since President Joe Biden’s inauguration, reaching $5 in June. The price of diesel has also doubled since 2020, now reaching $5.78 per gallon. We cannot achieve a healthy environment without a healthy economy. Instead of focusing on domestic natural resources, the Biden administration has turned to foreign adversaries who are less environmentally conscious to help increase our supplies. Not only does this limit our own economic competitiveness and jobs here at home, but it contributes to an increase in global emissions. We cannot afford to disadvantage American producers on the verge of a global food crisis. Regulations that increase costs at home won’t increase production, and they won’t reduce global emissions. For too long, the climate discussion has politicized agricultural production, ignoring scientific evidence that U.S. farmers, ranchers, and foresters significantly contribute to reducing global emissions. In fact, per capita agricultural emissions have declined by 15% since 1990, and when agricultural emissions are adjusted by productivity gains, it’s estimated that aggregate agricultural per-unit emissions have declined by more than 20%. Commonsense policies rooted in science will further incentivize healthy soils and forests, the adoption of new technologies, and more public-private partnerships to fund and advance climate-smart practices. We should reward and encourage innovation and voluntary conservation efforts made by those who know the land best: farmers, ranchers, and foresters. In fact, many producers have already adopted conservation practices such as no-till farming, cover crops, rotational grazing, and precision agriculture technologies. Republicans have come together to provide real solutions for farmers and families. In June, nearly 40 members of the House Republican Conference introduced H.R. 8069, the Reducing Farm Input Costs and Barriers to Domestic Production Act. This bill identifies 10 actions the Biden administration can take today to reverse burdensome regulations, provide certainty to producers, and relieve rising inflation and input costs. Additionally, in partnership with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Energy, Climate, and Conservation Task Force, under the leadership of Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA), we developed a policy agenda that continues the reduction of agriculture’s global carbon footprint while expanding productivity and increasing economic competitiveness. People want policies that lower food prices, strengthen supply chains, and benefit the environment. House Republicans’ commitment to conservation with a purpose will achieve that by fighting for rural America by empowering farmers, ranchers, and foresters to continue harnessing the carbon-reducing potential of their lands while increasing the global economic competitiveness of U.S. agribusinesses. Glenn “GT” Thompson represents Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District and is the Republican leader on the House Agriculture Committee. David Valadao, a lifelong dairy farmer, represents California’s 21st Congressional District.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler: How to fix inflation that's hurting the Heartland
Posted by on July 17, 2022
Springfield News-Leader
By Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO-04) It’s no secret that Missouri consumers are facing rising prices and inflationary pressure everywhere they turn. From the gas station to the grocery store, Missouri pocketbooks are hurting. But family budgets are not the only thing being squeezed. Inflation’s impact on our farmlands is making a dent in the livelihoods of our state’s farmers and ranchers. From sunup to sundown — 365 days a year — America’s farmers and ranchers work countless hours to produce a healthy and nutritious food supply. Since this administration entered the White House, however, our agriculture industry has taken a hit — with fuel and fertilizer prices going through the roof and producer prices following suit. Under President Biden, America’s fertilizer prices have soared. Fertilizer inputs such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium increased 125 percent in cost since January 2021. Many farmers and ranchers are having to forego applying fertilizer, which will reduce yield and profit. A few weeks ago, Missouri diesel prices reached a record high of $5.38, and gasoline reached $4.68. To fill a tractor or truck involves spending lots of dollars. From the diesel used to power farm equipment to the natural gas used in fertilizer production, energy costs have reached new heights. This is on top of an increase in farm sector production expenses, which have seen a 5.1 percent hike on top of last year’s 9.4 percent bump. With these numbers, it’s easy to see why our farmers are worried. But there are solutions we could implement today which would put us back on track. We first must take immediate steps to unleash America’s domestic energy economy and lower farm input costs. I’ve supported several pieces of legislation like the American Energy Independence from Russia Act that would reinstate production and construction of the Keystone pipeline, remove all restrictions on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, increase oil and gas production, and restart oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters — which was halted by the Biden administration. President Biden must prioritize our domestic energy production and put a stop to our dependence on foreign adversaries. Second, we must expand access to fertilizer by increasing domestic production. A large amount of fertilizer found in the United States, like phosphate, is located on federal lands. However, achieving the federal and state approvals to mine such ore is time-consuming and often filled with onerous government roadblocks. Once again, President Biden has the tools readily available to solve this problem. The Secretary of the Interior must also consider potash and phosphorus for inclusion on the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) list of "critical minerals.” Inclusion on the USGS critical minerals list would help to fast-track the permitting process for fertilizer, which is normally bogged down by bureaucratic government processes. With this action, President Biden could provide our domestic fertilizer industry the boost it so desperately needs. Third, as farmers and ranchers continue to face rising input prices, it is paramount that producers have access to reliable and cost-effective crop protection tools. Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to abandon sound and reliable science when making decisions regarding pesticides. We must restore the EPA to a science-based process. Farmers do not need federal agencies creating additional uncertainty by leaving them without readily available and cost-effective alternatives for key planting decisions. I have worked with my fellow colleagues to ensure the EPA uses reliable, science-based evidence in their recent decisions regarding Enlist One, Enlist Duo, Chlorpyrifos, and Waters of the United States (WOTUS). We prevailed with Enlist but more needs to be done. Common sense must prevail so farmers can do what they do best — provide the safest, most abundant and most affordable food and fiber supply in the world. As one of the few farmers in Congress, rest assured I will continue to fight for those who put our food on our tables, clothes on our backs and homegrown fuels in our vehicles. Representative Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) currently serves on the House Agriculture Committee in the United States House of Representatives.
Republican Leader Glenn "GT" Thompson: Biden's burden on America's farms only worsen food crisis
Posted by on July 6, 2022
Fox News
By Republican Leader Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-15) The global food supply is in crisis, and the worst is yet to come. The world’s most vulnerable communities are feeling the devastation of geopolitical strife, historic levels of inflation, and the lingering impacts of the pandemic. Unfortunately, President Joe Biden’s federal regulatory barriers and policies are worsening these crises by creating uncertainty for the farmers and ranchers responsible for feeding the world. Recently, at the behest of the White House, Congressional Democrats furthered President Biden’s talking points by forcing through the so-called Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act, a legislative package that falls woefully short in addressing the ongoing supply chain and inflationary crises hammering America’s farm families and consumers. To actually provide relief, Republicans forged ahead and developed solutions. Last Monday, Leader McCarthy and I, along with nearly 100 of our Republican colleagues, sent a letter to President Biden, outlining multiple administrative actions he could take immediately to mitigate rising input costs, ease regulatory burdens, and strengthen the role American agriculture plays in global food stability. One of the most egregious regulatory burdens is Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, which has created a great deal of uncertainty for farmers, ranchers, and landowners. The law is vague in defining what constitutes a federal waterway, noting only that they are "navigable," resulting in nationwide, egregious land grabs. In 2020, this was largely resolved with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, but the Biden Administration revoked that progress last year, plunging producers into a regulatory red tape nightmare. Additionally, EPA abruptly eliminated necessary crop protection tools producers need to combat pests and disease and improve soil health. These decisions were not made according to science but driven by politics. Unfortunately, the overreach has expanded to new agencies with the recently proposed Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) 510 page climate rule that would require extensive and complicated paperwork that would only increase costs, regulatory compliance, and risk for producers. The Biden administration continually celebrates record farm income but conveniently ignores the fact that production costs are out of control. Food prices are rising, and farmers are struggling to keep up with the global demand for food because of skyrocketing input costs, like fertilizer. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium specifically increased 125 percent in cost from January 2021 to 2022, and another 17 percent just from January to March of this year. As if that weren’t bad enough, energy costs have reached record highs as well, with the cost of diesel up 115 percent and natural gas up 202 percent, sending a rippling effect throughout the entire food supply chain. This energy crisis will only be further exacerbated so long as President Biden continues to axe U.S. pipeline projects and stymie our energy production potential. Compounding these challenges to the daily operations of a farm, the Biden administration proposed a massive new tax liability on America's farm families that would imperil their long-term viability. This burden would be devastating to America's next generation of farmers and ranchers. They might survive inflation, regulatory restrictions, and the loss of critical tools, only to discover they cannot evade the taxman. As President Biden continues to tout his tone-deaf agenda, Republicans’ H.R. 8069, the Reducing Farm Input Costs and Barriers to Domestic Production Act seeks to provide the certainty farm families expect from Washington. This legislation provides relief from EPA’s unprecedented actions related to crop protection tools, offers clarity related to WOTUS regulations, rescinds the SEC’s harmful proposed rule on climate-related disclosures, and more. Step one in tackling our food crisis is addressing the needs of American farmers, ranchers, producers, and agribusiness owners. Let’s start by lowering regulatory burdens to unleash their production potential. Republican Glenn Thompson represents Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District and is Republican Leader of the House Agriculture Committee.
Rep. David Rouzer: The harmful impact of an overly-burdensome federal water rule
Posted by on May 23, 2022
The Washington Times
By Rep. David Rouzer (NC-07) As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, I have a keen interest in the federal government’s regulation of our Nation’s waters especially when these regulations have the potential to very negatively impact landowners, farm families, municipalities, and small businesses all across our great country. The 1972 amendments to the Clean Water Act established federal jurisdiction over “navigable waters,” defined in the Act as the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Complicating the picture significantly, no clear definition of WOTUS was included in the law, which gave wide latitude to creative interpretations leading to much uncertainty and legal wrangling over these many years. The Obama administration put in place a rule defining WOTUS in such a way that would have resulted in an unprecedented expansion and scope of the federal bureaucracy onto your private property. Their rule’s absurd definition, which could have easily been interpreted to include temporary water accumulation, such as a mud puddle and even water running across dry land after a rainstorm, drew substantial opposition from farmers, local governments, small businesses and many citizens. When President Trump repealed the 2015 Obama-Biden rule, there was no longer any worry about an unelected bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., dictating what could or could not be done on private property. The Trump administration’s WOTUS rule provided much needed clarity and predictability to regulated parties across the United States. And despite what some claim, the Trump-era rule did not give polluters free rein to disregard the health of our nation’s waterways. Now, the Biden administration is working to issue a new rule in a move that has many concerned about government overreach with the potential to limit food production, American energy production, home building, and critical infrastructure projects. Our farm families are the original stewards of our land. They have a vested interest in maintaining and protecting our natural resources. Their livelihoods depend upon clean water and a clean environment. In most cases, those involved in agriculture are multi-generation family farmers. Each intends to leave their land to their children better than they found it. Let us not get in their way with a federal government power grab adding more red tape and headache. Adding more cost to food production in the form of unnecessary regulation is always a dumb idea, but it is especially so during a time of rising inflation, rising input costs, and rising food prices.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler: America’s future depends on farmers. Here’s how we can combat the Biden Administration’s war on agriculture
Posted by on April 18, 2022
Columbia Daily Tribune
By Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO-04) Here in Missouri, our farmers and ranchers work from sunup to sundown to produce a healthy and nutritious food supply. As a lifelong farmer myself, I understand that farming is not just a job, it’s a life decision we make every day to care for the land, our livestock and the natural resources that provide for billions of people around the world. Right now, our state’s producers are facing pressure from every part of the supply chain — increasing input prices, restrictive government regulations, labor shortages, backups in processing capacity and record-high inflation. Compared to just one year ago, the prices farmers are paying for propane, farm diesel and natural gas are up 49 percent, 83 percent and 133 percent. This results in higher prices passed on to consumers at the grocery store, with nearly every product costing at least eight percent more. But that does not mean farmers and ranchers are seeing more money in their pockets. According to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri, farm production expenses this year are expected to increase by seven percent to $420 billion, “largely because of higher feed and fertilizer prices.” Thankfully, our state’s farmers and ranchers have remained persistent and resilient in the face of these roadblocks. Agriculture is the number one industry fueling Missouri’s economy, contributing over $93 billion annually. We rank second in the number of farms, second in hay production and third in beef cattle. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, I am in Washington fighting every day for farmers against the Biden administration’s damaging agriculture agenda. We need common-sense farm policy that assists our farmers and ranchers in doing their job — not restricting them. So, what can we do to combat these crises? Expand competition, lower costs of production and free up restrictive regulations. In Washington, one way I’ve advocated to increase competition in meat processing is through my new bill, the Amplifying Processing of Livestock in the United States (A-PLUS) Act, which would increase meat processing capacity by allowing livestock auction market owners to invest in small and regional packing facilities. In today’s environment, where the cattle industry is focused on additional shackle space and increasing packer competition for livestock, this legislation would allow additional capital opportunities for expanded cattle markets. One way to reduce the costs of production is by lowering energy costs and reversing President Biden’s war on American energy. This will reduce the costs of fuel and the fertilizer components made from them. Lastly, reducing restrictive regulations will free our agriculture leaders to increase production in our state. By clearly defining Waters of the United States so the federal government doesn’t have jurisdiction over all our land and successfully advocating for reliable access to critical crop protection tools like Enlist One and Enlist Duo — which we accomplished earlier this month — our farmers and ranchers can continue to provide for our communities. America’s future depends on agriculture. I am proud to stand alongside America’s farmers and ranchers so the American consumer can continue to enjoy the safest and most affordable food supply in the world. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Republican, represents Missouri's 4th Congressional District and serves on the House Agriculture Committee in the United States Congress. |