Farmers Voice Concern AT WOTUS  Hearing

Farmers Voice Concern AT WOTUS Hearing

Susan Allen
Susan Allen
With today's Farm and Ranch Report I'm Susan Allen. Earlier this month farmers had a chance to voice their concerns regarding changes to the Waters of the U.S. Rule. The EPA held a public hearing in Kansas City, Kansas, to gather input on the new WOTUS proposal. Darrick Steen is an environmental consultant for the Missouri Corn Growers Association. He says farmers from his state and others told the EPA they need clarity...

STEEN: We were pretty vocal about the shortcomings, about growers not being comfortable about the consequences of wrong decisions.

Bottom line, farmers need a rule that allows them to easily determine what a WOTUS is when they pull into a field.

STEEN: We are talking about creekbeds, smaller streams, flood planes or river bottoms where there may be confusion or uncertainty about whether an area might be a wetland.. Part of the problems is that growers need to be able to act quickly. The can't wait three months for a decision to determine whether something is jurisdiction. They have to be able to plant, to harvest in a given season.

It's important for farmers to make their voice heard in the process. The 60-day comment period will close April 15th and comments can be submitted online.

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