Rural America (RI) — A coalition of over 100 ag groups is expressing concern about a soon-to-be-released federal report on how chemicals and other factors may be contributing to rising levels of childhood diseases.
The “Make America Healthy Again” or MAHA report will come from the agency lead by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who said this week there’s not a word in the draft he’s seen that should worry the American farmer. Scott Henry of Nevada, a fourth-generation Iowa farmer, suggests that it’s hard to believe because Kennedy has compared farmers to terrorists in the past.
Last year as a presidential candidate, Kennedy said toxic chemicals like glyphosate — the main ingredient in Roundup — are contaminating the US food supply. Henry says the impact of anti-agricultural activists like Kennedy could be severe if farmers are no longer allowed to use Roundup to control weeds.
Henry says it’s scary that science may not drive future decision-making about Roundup, which has been approved for use by the EPA for decades. Without Roundup, Henry and other farmers say yields will drop and costs will rise.
Modern Ag Alliance executive director Elizabeth Burns-Thompson says while the report hasn’t been issued yet, the ag community wants to get their concerns about Kennedy on the record now.
In 2020, Kennedy said the company that makes Roundup is the enemy of every admirable American value. Tuesday, during a US Senate hearing, Kennedy said the Trump Administration will not do anything that would put farmers out of business. During an event last week, one of Kennedy’s top advisors said the report won’t forbid the use of farm chemicals, but many of the leading herbicides and pesticides used in the US have been phased out or banned in every other country in the world and the report will offer policies to solve the issue of toxins in the environment.
KIWA Staff Photo
