Glyphosate Debate
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. At least one senior U.S. Senator is blasting the EPA.
At a recent Ag Committee hearing, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley asked Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack if EPA consulted him before urging the Supreme Court not to hear a challenge to California restrictions on the herbicide glyphosate …
GRASSLEY … “And the solicitor general argued even against the EPA authority that the law requires. Were you consulted on that in any way?” Vilsack “Senator, we weren't.”
Grassley feels he should have said more …
GRASSLEY … “I made a mistake by not saying to Vilsack, but it wouldn't have been finding fault with Vilsack because he wasn't consulted, but I should have said it's a sad commentary that with the impact that this is having on American agriculture, that he wasn't, that Vilsack and the USDA weren’t consulted.”
Vilsack told Grassley he’s stressed to EPA that its crop protection decisions be science-based, and that they listen to producers …
GRASSLEY … “Sometimes, I sense that he's caught between what he knows is best for Iowa agriculture and what this administration might be pushing. I felt that particularly when you talk about the 30 percent by 2030 of land that will be taken out of production and put into conservation projects.”
Grassley says Vilsack felt that goal doesn’t fit in well with agriculture’s production needs.
