WASHINGTON, D.C. – Waters of the United States and climate change are two big concerns facing farmers and ranchers with the incoming administration, said Burton Eller, National Grange legislative director. Eller did not expect a big change in farm policy but who comes in as the secretary of agriculture may affect farmers’ comfort level.

“The Grange is nonpartisan and nonpolitical but if Marcia Fudge from Ohio comes in, food stamps and WIC (Women, Infants and Children) and support programs will be the main focus,” Eller said. “If former North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp is coming in, she will still be focusing on feed and nutrition but she has a great background in agriculture. I won’t say ag is concerned if Miss Fudge comes in, but she won’t have the connection to food and agriculture production and distribution.”

How the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA define the waters of the United States pertaining navigable waters on agricultural, forest and open land is a concern for producers, Eller said. The Trump administration revised and reissued the Obama era clean water legislation.

“I think where agriculture sees their first big challenge is that some members of Congress and the administration may want to revise that rule again and make it tougher than landowners are comfortable with,” Eller said. “The control was too much; it invaded private property rights.

“Farmers and ranchers maybe are a little offended by some of this because they consider themselves the original environmentalists,” he said. “The water, land, soil, air and animals under their watch. To say that farmers can’t be trusted to manage the water on their land … can Big Uncle do better? No!”

How the United States addresses climate change is also a major concern, Eller said.  There are all kinds of figures swirling around the issue. We need to use science, and U.S. data, not worldwide data.

“The United States is not destroying Amazon forests, it’s not letting half the soil run down in the Yangtze River in China, it’s not polluting the waters from India,” Eller said. “Why we would be using worldwide figures? We need to use U.S. data. America is planting cover crops, using controlled grazing. What should we do about it and how should we get control? How are we doing on carbon sequestration?

“Let’s sequester carbon, let’s reduce greenhouse gases,” Eller said. “Let’s make sure we have the science and the technology to understand what we’re doing.”

Land grant colleges are saying they are not sure about the metrics to all of this, he said. Researchers need to understand how to measure carbon sequestration accurately and how much to pay for it. They need to learn the right ways to measure methane and greenhouse gases.

“Then can we use the conservation programs of the USDA to help accomplish this?” Eller said. “There’s a lot of money in the Farm Bill in conservation. Can we use that to address a lot of these carbon methane and climate change issues with a cost-share program or something? It’s got to make economic sense to the farmer and rancher otherwise it is not going to go far.”

The Grange is a family, community organization with its roots in agriculture.  Founded in 1867, the Grange was formed as a national organization with a local focus. For information, visit www.grange.org.