Agricultural News
GMO Labeling, Crop Insurance and TPP - Federal Farm Policy Update with AFBF's Dale Moore
Wed, 27 Apr 2016 21:10:03 CDT
There was no shortage of agricultural topics to discuss with American Farm Bureau's Dale Moore during the National Farm Broadcasters Washington Watch earlier this week. Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays caught up with Moore, who serves as executive director of public policy for AFBF.
GMO labeling is a current hot topic, as the Congress attempts to preempt a Vermont labeling law that goes into effect July1. Moore says a federal preemption would prevent a patchwork of state laws dictating similar but different rules and regulations for GMO foods.
"There needs to be a clear federal standard as to what is a GMO and what is not a GMO-derived product," he says. "This is not about safety; this is not about public health. This is about consumers wanting this information."
AFBF supports a voluntary labeling standard and believes it opens the doors to better engage and educate consumers.
"The science has proven over and over again that these products are safe," Moore says. "As soon as you put the mandate part in there, that starts to raise the flag that there's something in here that is wrong with the technology."
While some companies have already started labeling foods to meet the Vermont law, Moore says other states that have different labeling regulations have taken issue with the Vermont-approved labels, saying that they "view the Vermont label as one that it unlawful because it is false and misleading based on our rules."
Another important issue to Farm Bureau is preventing any changes being made to the current Farm Bill, especially to crop insurance programs. Moore says it wasn't too long ago that a $3 billion cut to crop insurance was being proposed.
"For whatever reason now, we have a bull's-eye painted on crop insurance by those folks who are kind of the self-appointed farm policy enforcers," Moore says. "We're just encouraging folks to follow the leadership of our House and Senate leaders on the agriculture front to keep the Farm Bill closed."
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear Moore's full interview, including comments on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
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