USDA announces new support, funding for local meat processors
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In response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recent decision to prohibit the use of Enlist Duo and Enlist One herbicides in certain Ohio counties, Farm Bureau, along with the Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association and the Ohio Soybean Association, wrote a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan to voice their concerns about the new policy.
Twelve counties in Ohio are on the banned use list: Athens, Butler, Fairfield, Guernsey, Hamilton, Hocking, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Vinton and Washington, impacting nearly 270,000 soybean acres across the state.
“The restriction on use in certain counties came with no warning to producers and no logical implementation plan,” the groups said in the letter. “Farmers who have already purchased the product went to bed on January 10 thinking they had secured a crucial input in a time of scarce supply, only to wake up the next morning to find the EPA has prohibited its use. What are farmers who have made thousands of dollars in investment in this product supposed to do without time to account for this new regulatory restriction?”
The letter pointed out that in addition to the financial hit the EPA is handing down to these farmers, the decision leaves them without many options for soybean weed control. Very few products on the market can replace Enlist, and with current supply chain disruptions that continue to plague the country’s entire economy, the products that can are in extremely short supply.
The groups questioned why EPA’s decision came with virtually no communication and no answers to important questions like how were counties selected, how are the endangered species identified to trigger a prohibition of use selected, and why are portions of counties in some states subject to the ban while other states are facing whole county prohibitions on use?
“Farmers are angry, and rightly so,” the letter states. “The Biden administration needs to start to communicate with producers about these questions and account for the competitive disadvantage their decision has placed on farmers in these counties.”
In addition, the groups asked the administration to create a more open and transparent process as to how it intends to use the Endangered Species Act to evaluate agricultural products in the future.
Online Extra
My first recommendation in your journey is to start out with a local farming friend or mentor along with joining an organization like Ohio Farm Bureau.
We’re just so thankful for the Farm Bureau and the foundation for helping put this together. And of course, the Boyert family for the vision they had with this grant. It’s jumping us forward 10 years. It’s unbelievable.
I could not have done it without the resources I have found through Farm Bureau.
It wasn’t until I joined the Wilmington College Collegiate Farm Bureau that I truly saw how my passion could translate into leadership, advocacy and a career.
The issue of property taxation remains as one of the biggest challenges our members face today. Ensuring agricultural property is valued for its agricultural potential and not development is critical to the continued success of Ohio agriculture.
Through the Select Partner program, we became educated in farm insurance and weren't just selling policies. It became more and more clear why farmers need an advocate like Ohio Farm Bureau.
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