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Farm Bureau president says updated WOTUS rule doesn’t provide certainty for farmers

The president of the American Farm Bureau says the EPA’s updated version of its Waters of the US rule is disappointing.

Zippy Duvall says farmers need certainty. “Farmers and ranchers are tired of this ping pong back and forth between one rule to the next,” he says.  “Because we have to make long-range plans and you can’t do it bouncing back and forth between one rule until the next.”

However, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the Environmental Protection Agency did what the Supreme Court asked.  “They recently complied with the Court’s instructions,” he says.  “Wo it’s now providing farmers with the predictability and stability and responded to some of the concerns that were most top of mind by farmers and the Farm Bureau, for example.  That’s been handled by the Court.”

Duvall says Congress may need to step in to provide a legislative fix that gives farmers and ranchers the certainty they need.  

Duvall and Vilsack made their remarks at the 2023 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, IL.