“America’s food security is national security.”
That was Senator Mike Braun (IN) speaking about his newly introduced legislation—The Farm Transition Act of 2024.
The bill, co-sponsored by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, is a bipartisan effort to break down barriers around farmland ownership, estate planning, and transitioning farming operations.
Braun stated this is a “big priority” for Hoosier farmers: “With one in three farmers preparing to retire in the next decade, we cannot afford to stand back and watch as the nation’s agricultural industry reaches a tipping point without a plan to feed the future.”
According to American Farmland Trust data from 2021, 40% of all farmland in the U.S. was owned by people aged 65 and older. Based on this statistic, 370M acres of farm ground will change hands in the next two decades.
The proposed legislation would reauthorize the Commission on Farm Transitions and seek to prevent farmland from being bought up by foreign entities and large corporations. “We need to make it easier for folks to get into farming and encourage family farms to go from generation to generation,” said Braun.
Speaking of her home state, Senator Baldwin echoed Braun’s sentiment. She noted she was proud to “usher in the next generation of Wisconsin farmers, ranchers, and growers.”
Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Wisconsin Farmers Union have already expressed their support of the legislation.
Where this goes: A similar piece of legislation, also sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans, is working its way through the House of Representatives. We’ll see if the bipartisan nature of these bills will push one of them over the finish line and onto the president’s desk.
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Congress to EPA: What’s Your BEEF with Meat Packers?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering new regulations that take aim at meat and poultry processors.
And some members of Congress have a BEEF with the EPA’s proposals.
The proposed rules: In late January, the EPA released the details of its proposed “Clean Water Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Meat and Poultry Products Point source category.”
Huh?
Basically, the EPA formally published its proposals to combat wastewater contaminants that come from slaughterhouses.
Okay… that makes more sense.
At the heart of the rules proposal is a concern from environmental groups about nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants that originate from slaughterhouses. In some cases, the wastewater goes directly into waterways. In other cases, the water goes to municipal wastewater treatment facilities.
But not everyone is on board with the EPA’s suggestions…
Congress responds: Last week, two U.S. representatives—Eric Burlison (MO) and Ron Estes (KS)—pushed back against the EPA and introduced the “Banning EPA’s Encroachment of Facilities (BEEF) Act.” If passed and signed by President Biden, the law would prohibit the EPA from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing the rule.
According to the lawmakers, the proposed rules place undue burden on small processors—costs that can be absorbed by larger companies.
Soundbite: “The… proposed regulation isn’t just an attack on family-run small businesses, it’s an attack on rural communities,” said Burlison. “These meat and poultry processors are the lifeblood of our communities. The BEEF Act… lets these hardworking Americans do what they do best, produce safe, affordable food for our families.”
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