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Farm Bureau members concerned about SEC’s proposed rule

Many Farm Bureau members are concerned the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rule on greenhouse gas emission reporting could burden farmers.

The proposed rule, The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate Related Disclosures for Investors, would require a public company to report emissions from its value chain.

American Farm Bureau and other agricultural groups recently submitted comments and recommendations to the SEC including removing the “value chain” concept from the proposed rules, revising the Scope 3 emissions disclosure requirement to allow for agriculture exemptions, removing the requirement that registrants provide disclosures pertaining to climate-related targets and goals; revising the proposed rules so that disclosures of greenhouse gas emissions operate in unison with existing federal emissions reporting programs, and ensuring a final rule doesn’t include location data disclosures for greenhouse gas emissions.

Ohio Farm Bureau member Jason Feldner operates a cow-calf operation and says potential regulations would negatively impact his operation and others.

“I have a relatively small cow-calf operation. I run about 25 cows and my typical market is that I raise calves to sell. The possible extra regulations we may have if the SEC gets involved in reporting greenhouse gas emissions is concerning,” he says. “As a small producer, dealing with larger companies in the cattle industry is something that ultimately happens. We have so few end results for cattle as far as packing capacity and packing companies that it’s really limited The best way to maximize my market opportunities is to sell through local markets. Those auctions allow me to attract a variety of customers and those customers then help me, I believe, achieve the highest profit I can on my animals. My concern is that if I’m limited to reporting my greenhouse gas emissions to large companies that may cause large companies to decide small producers like me aren’t worth the effort. And, reporting that data could be an extra obligation, responsibility, and cost.”

He tells Brownfield times are already challenging.

“Throwing an extra level of regulation in and the potential of fewer people that are interested in my product are of great concern to me,” he says. “All of this seems to me like a very complex thing that in the end is probably going to cause me to come out lower than I am right now.”

Feldner, who serves as the president of Noble County Farm Bureau, is in the nation’s capital this week as part of the Ohio Farm Bureau Washington D.C. Leadership Experience. He discussed these concerns with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown.

“My view is the grassroots view to work with local farmers like (Feldner) and get his input and understanding he could get squeezed by the government or by these big companies and that’s a big concern,” Brown says.

The U.S. Senate Committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs is conducting a hearing on the oversight of the SEC and Chair Gary Gensler is testifying.