Agricultural News
American Farm Bureau Delegates Support Regulatory Reform and Trump Pick for EPA, Scott Pruitt
Wed, 11 Jan 2017 05:46:22 CST
Delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation's 2017 Annual Convention today approved a host of public policy measures designed to help assure a prosperous future for farmers, ranchers and everyone who depends on them for food, fuel and fiber. Delegates also supported an Oklahoma proposal of support for Scott Pruitt to be the Trump Administration's EPA Administrator.
Delegates covered the full range of rural policy over the day-long session. Resolutions passed included important measures covering regulatory reform, crop insurance, the inclusion of food assistance in the upcoming farm bill, school nutrition, biotechnology, energy and more.
"The actions taken today by our farmer and rancher delegates from across the nation represent the culmination of our year-long grassroots policy process," said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. "It also provides us a roadmap for actions AFBF will take to implement our policies throughout this year, and I am optimistic about those prospects."
Regulatory Reform
Delegates approved policy supporting regulatory reform, including legislation to eliminate "judicial deference," which has essentially nullified the power of the courts to serve as a check on agency abuses. Also on the topic of regulations, delegates approved policy to oppose agency advocacy campaigns in support of their own proposed regulations. Both of these issues are likely to be include in a bill now working its way through the US House, H.R. 5.
Delegates passed a sense-of-the-body resolution calling for comprehensive regulatory reform, driving home the importance of the issue for farmers and ranchers. The delegates also passed unanimously support for EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt. In a resolution that was offered by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau delegates, the AFBF Delegate body approved the following language supporting the Oklahoma Attorney General:
""Be it resolved that the delegates of the American Farm Bureau Federation support Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as the nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. As a state attorney general, he successfully challenged regulatory overreach such as the Waters of the United States rule and other climate-related issues."
New language was also approved to require the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies to coordinate and cooperate in a meaningful way with state and local governments in making land management plans and decisions as required by Congress. They also supported mandatory recusal for federal officers who face conflicts of interest in their work.
Hunger and Nutrition
Delegates overwhelmingly approved language supporting efforts to fund nutrition programs including food assistance and school lunches through the same, unified farm bill that funds farm safety-net programs. Keeping nutrition programs tied to what is traditionally called the farm bill dates back to the 1970s when then Kansas Senator Bob Dole was a key player in linking farm programs and food assistance to build a broader base of support for a Farm Bill in Congress. Critics of farm policy separated Nutrition out from the other parts of the Farm Bill for a time during the debate that culminated in the 2014 Farm Law- but Congressman Frank Lucas as Chairman of the House Ag Committee led efforts to relink SNAP and other Nutrition Programs to the Farm Bill which helped secure bi partisan passage of that measure.
Delegates also called on Congress to support incorporating all types of domestic fruits and vegetables into the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for schools. Delegates supported the use of fresh and locally grown product when available.
Farm Support
Delegates reaffirmed strong support for risk-management and safety-net tools to defend against volatile commodity markets.
Immigration
Delegates reaffirmed support for flexibility in the H-2A program that would allow workers to seek employment from more than one farmer.
Big Data
Delegates reaffirmed support for the protection of proprietary data collected from farmers, voting that farmers should be compensated when their data is used by third parties. Delegates also supported sale of proprietary data to third parties.
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