Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with the President-Elect of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Mark Eisele, about regulatory battles NCBA has been fighting for ranchers.
“It has been a very busy year, but a very good year,” Eisele said. “We had some wins in Congress, and we are fighting the good fight…”
Regarding regulatory battles NCBA has been fighting such as with the Endangered Species Act, Eisele said a big problem is that the EPA is always in danger of being sued, so sometimes regulations are not in the best interest of farmers and ranchers.
“The places they are finding endangered species and species of concern are on private ground mostly, because people already do a good job taking care of it,” Eisele said.
Turning the page to the new Waters of the U.S. definition, Eisele said NCBA will be keeping an eye on how things progress. Eisele emphasized how a WOTUS rule that is easy for producers to understand, and follow is critical.
“It is a terrible burden to place on producers because it is actually open for some interpretation and that is the problem,” Eisele said. “We have had examples where producers have, in good faith, made changes, gotten their permits from the state, talked to the state engineer, had technical design done by conservation districts or NRCS, and then find themselves in jeopardy facing big fines.”
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