Modern Ag Alliance Works To Keep Farm Tools Available

Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Executive Director for the Modern Ag Alliance, is leading efforts to advocate for U.S. farmers' continued access to the tools they rely on to grow our food while facing increasing obstacles.

"The list of challenges facing agriculture today is, frankly, growing by the day," she noted.  "Just this last year, we've seen data that there was a 55% year-over-year increase in farm bankruptcies. Yet there's a rarely mentioned potential catastrophe that's on the horizon for U.S. agriculture and farmers; the future of critical crop protection tools like glyphosate, which farmers have relied on to ensure we have robust and affordable food supplies, is at risk thanks to a barrage of meritless lawsuits from trial lawyers.  If we allow the litigation industry to win this battle, farmers input costs will double and making difficult decisions that will affect not only their livelihoods, but our food security and ultimately, food prices for Americans all across this country.”

What is the Modern Ag Alliance, and what is the organization doing to help protect and preserve tools for farmers?

“We are a broad coalition of 95-plus agricultural organizations from coast to coast, advocating for farmers’ continued access to critical crop protection tools like glyphosate," Burns-Thompson said.  "Across the country, we're working with policymakers and regulators to support common sense legislative solutions that provide the clarity needed and consistency in pesticide labeling regulations to ensure that these products remain available for American farmers. For example, tools like glyphosate - without said tools - net farm income is anticipated to dip by nearly $2.89 billion year over year, putting even more small farmers and farmers all across the country at risk of bankruptcy.”

Several states she said are already considering legislation to help farmers preserve these tools, and she gives an update.

“That's right, we've been working with lawmakers from across the country. Legislators in multiple states are choosing to side with farmers over the litigation industry and anti-ag activist organizations, all at the core of we're working to provide certainty needed to protect the future of these critical crop protection technologies," Burns-Thompson said.  "The bills, at their fundamental core, simply reassert that existing federally approved labels are the law. Nothing more.

“The most important thing to remember at the end of the day is this is about supporting the backbone of our food system and American agriculture," she continued.  "Legislators need to act now to stand with our farmers and protect their access to these critical tools. These tools that they need to safely and effectively grow our food, secure that food supply, and keep prices affordable for you and I.”

To learn more about the Modern Ag Alliance, or to help their effort fight for the tools farmers can use, check out the Organization's Website.

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