The Farmer's Daughter USA

Hi, I'm Amanda! My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm also a practicing attorney.

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No More EPA Spending to Attack Family Farmers

April 4, 2017

There used to be a time, not that long ago, that it was seen as completely plausible for a federal agency to give away taxpayer dollars to a program slandering farmers.

Not so anymore.

At least not according to Ray Sterling, who is currently serving as special assistant to President Trump for agriculture, trade, and food assistance. In a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Mr. Starling said: “This administration will not allow the EPA to give taxpayer dollars to activist groups who then turn around and put up billboards that attack our farmers and ranchers.”

Mr. Starling’s comments were directed at the EPA’s “What’s Upstream” scandal. Last spring, we learned that a significant portion of a $3 million grant from the Agency was being used to fund an advocacy campaign aimed at animal agriculture. Billboards, bus placards, radio ads, and an interactive website were purchased with the money. The “What’s Upstream” campaign’s purpose was to bring awareness to the alleged water pollution caused by “unregulated” agriculture. In particular, the billboards showed photographs of cows standing in a stream of water (something not allowed in the State of Washington) and stated: “Unregulated agriculture is putting our waterways at risk!”

After Senators James Inhofe and Pat Roberts called out the EPA for its funding of the campaign, the Agency admitted it had improperly funded the billboards and they were voluntarily taken down. The Senators called for a full investigation into the EPA’s grant and how the money was spent. According to Capital Press, we’re still waiting for a final report.

For farmers, Mr. Starling’s remarks are refreshing and, hopefully, the administration will keep this promise.

When non-farmers want to know why there seems to be such animosity between the agricultural community and the EPA, this is it right here. Of course, the EPA does a lot of good and worthwhile things. The oversight and regulation of pesticides is an important framework that allows farmers to use pesticides safely, protects our environment, and instills confidence in consumers. But that doesn’t mean we cannot have a nuanced approach that recognizes the EPA does some good things, and needs to be reigned in other ways (despite what partisanship might tell us). We can have it both ways.

Programs like the one that financed the “What’s Upstream” propaganda are the type of federal spending that deserves to be axed. We do not need a federal agency funding attack campaigns against family farmers. The campaign never should have received funds from the EPA. Nor should it take a couple Senators causing a ruckus for the Agency to realize this was a bad idea and stop it.

Farmers need to stay vigilant, despite these promises, but it sure would be nice for the EPA to work on our side for a change.

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Filed Under: Animal Agriculture Tagged With: animal agriculture, EPA, federal government, regulation, regulations

Comments

  1. Karen says

    April 4, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    My fingers are crossed,too.

  2. Lana says

    April 5, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    Thank you for posting this. The mainstream media would never consider this news, but we need more advocates like you!

  3. Lori says

    April 10, 2017 at 1:26 pm

    So refreshing to be in the midst of a conversation and actually be able to state facts in a calm and confident manner, knowing Your Right and therefore I’m right. Sometimes its stunning, with some silence before the next opinion comes about…
    Love,Lori

Hi, I'm Amanda. My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm an attorney and I'm passionate about agriculture!

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thefarmersdaughterusa

Amanda | The Farmer's Daughter USA
I'm a proud farmer's daughter & advocate for modern agriculture. U.S. farmers are leaders in sustainability.

Amanda Zaluckyj
Just a reminder. #agriculture #usagriculture #far Just a reminder.

#agriculture #usagriculture #farmers #usfarmers #farming #farmfamilies #sustainableag #sustainableagriculture #sustainable #sustainability #farmerscare #homegrown #localagriculture #knowyourfarmer #shoplocal #madeintheusa #madeintheus #americanagriculture
Happy Thanksgiving! I realized this morning that Happy Thanksgiving!

I realized this morning that it's been 20 years since I performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What a trip!

I hope you and yours have a lovely day! 🦃
Honestly, what is she even doing?? #Mischa #dogsl Honestly, what is she even doing??

#Mischa
#dogslife
She's got me. #dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime She's got me. 

#dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime
Some of you see this picture and appreciate the vi Some of you see this picture and appreciate the view. Our grain cart driver (mom) just sees that scary hill to drive up. 🫣

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #harvest23🌾
Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today. 🤣

Oh, lawyer jokes. Listen, if you can't make fun or yourself and have a little fun, what are you even doing?
It's true. My puppy. 💜💜 It's true. My puppy. 💜💜
The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the b The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the beans still have very high moisture content. It's so high the granary won't accept them. So we'll have to dry them.

The big concern with soybeans is that the pods won't pop open. If that happens, they'll be discarded  out the back of the combine with the other plant material. Obviously not what we want to happen. After testing a bit, enough were opening that we felt like we should just get started.

Slow going, but at least it's going!

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #fearfree #cleanfood #foodsafety #dietfads #FactsNotFear #cleaneatingdiet #foodlabels #truth #cleaneating #Harvest2023
We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture content.

We're currently about 4 weeks behind. But we can't start because our crops are still too wet. The moisture content is the amount of water in each kernel or soybean. If there's too much, they can spoil in storage. If it's really too high, then combine has a hard time handling it.

For corn, the sweet spot is about 15%. We have a dryer system on the farm that can help finish the kernels to the correct moisture level. But the dryer takes a lot of energy to run, so its cost prohibitive if the moisture content is too high. And if we try to sell the crop when it's too wet, we'll take a price hit at the grain elevator. So either the granary dries it, we dry it, or Mother Nature dries it. Right now, it's still too wet for after-harvest drying.

The other complication is that IT. JUST. KEEPS. RAINING. That doesn't help because the corn doesn't have a chance to dry out, and it maintains that moisture. We need some warm, dry days to speed up the process.

So, for now, we're still waiting...

#harvest23
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