Zero Drift Standard Impossible?

During a recent Ag Minute, guest host Rep. Jean Schmidt, member of the House Agriculture Committee, discussed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) agenda and how it could harm the entire agriculture industry. Rep. Schmidt and her Republican colleagues on the Agriculture Committee, sent a letter to the EPA expressing concern over its most recent policy proposal, mandating a zero-drift standard for pesticides.

Here is a transcript of what Rep. Schmidt said: “The bureaucrats over at the Environmental Protection Agency are at it again. This time they are trying to change the labels on the pesticides that farmers and ranchers use to protect their crops. The change they want to make will mandate a zero drift standard that is impossible for producers to achieve.

Instead of mandating an unachievable standard, the EPA ought try and help farmers and ranchers reduce drift through a focus on outreach, education, research and other efforts to promote the use of drift reducing technologies.

The fact is that the EPA’s reckless agenda could affect the entire American agriculture industry with endless litigation. The rewrite of the pesticide labels could saddle consumers with higher costs and restrict access to the safest, most abundant and affordable food supply in the world.

I, along with my Republican colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee, sent a letter to the EPA conveying our concerns about this proposed spray drift policy. I would encourage you to call your Member of Congress, and encourage them to stand up to the Obama administration’s misguided policy.”