While in Washington, D.C., the National Association of Farm Broadcasters had the chance to talk with Congressman Tracy Mann. Farm Director KC Sheperd is featuring comments from the Kansas Republican talking about some of the latest issues concerning agriculture, including the Waters of the U.S. Rule, the lesser prairie chicken, and more.
Mann first talked about threats from the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) regarding regulating on the use of atrazine.
“These products are safe; they have been used for decades,” Mann said. “My big thing is to follow the science, not the political science, but the science, and provide certainty.”
Mann said he does not support the Biden administration’s position on fossil fuels and the biofuel industry.
“I co-sponsored legislation for year-round E15,” Mann said. “It is way past time, in my view, that we approve E15 year-round. We have Republican and Democrat administrations that have been okay with it. We just need to move forward and get that done.”
The legislation to repeal the WOTUS rule was co-sponsored by Mann, he said, and it will need to continue to be fought in the courts as that legislation to repeal did not pass.
This next farm bill, Mann said, will need to reflect the record high prices producers are being faced with.
“We do farm bills every five years for a reason, and that is so that the bill is long enough to provide some certainty but short enough that it can respond and react to changing market conditions and dynamics for our ag producers,” Mann said.
Looking at the regulations on lesser prairie chicken, Mann said the population of the bird reflects rainfall amounts. Because many states are facing intense drought, Mann added that the population of the lesser prairie chicken is down.
“I have been very vocal about the administration- the process they have used to make this decision, the way they have not been very forthright with a lot of the information they have been providing,” Mann said. “We have been fighting this tooth and nail. Now it is in the courts as well.”
Stepped-up basis is another controversial topic at the moment, Mann said, as it can be a “farm killer.”
“If you change the stepped-up basis, this is not a game changer for our family farming operations,” Mann said. “It is a game-ender for thousands of our family farms.”
