Anxiety levels among some members of the agricultural community were off the proverbial charts going into the unveiling of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s report on Thursday.
The concerns were well-founded, based on the body of work done by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as an environmental lawyer, over the past decade. Kennedy, now U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, is long-known for opposing herbicides and other crop protection products, having helped win a 2018 lawsuit filed against Monsanto, the original producer of Roundup (glyphosate).
Yet, when the details of the 68-page NAHA Report became public, the hammer many members of the agricultural community expected would slam down on herbicides was more akin to a hard smack from a fly swatter.
AgriTalk Host Chip Flory credits the work of USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins – who has championed agriculture’s efforts to produce feed, fuel and fiber for American consumers and the global economy – as a key reason the Report was subdued on the topic of pesticides, namely glyphosate and atrazine. Flory talked with Rollins last week, well before the Report was released.
“I think the most important thing I can say here is that the comments about pesticides, based on what Secretary Rollins told me, I believe they were going to be much scarier for the farm community than what they ended up being,” Flory told U.S. Farm Report Host, Tyne Morgan.
“I think this MAHA Report and the lack of an attack on glyphosate and atrazine, I think this is all the evidence we need to prove that she very much has a say in what’s happening with this administration,” Flory adds.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall agrees with Flory, but added he was “deeply troubled” by what he read in the Report.
“We suspect USDA had a prominent role in the report’s recognition that farmers are the critical first step in the food system, but as a whole, the report falls short,” Duvall says in a prepared statement.
In addition to Rollins, there were call outs by farmers and more than 300 agriculture organizations advocating for the preservation of science-based systems and credible data in their evaluations of products and practices essential to food and agriculture, leading up to the Report’s release.
Ag Weighs In On Report’s Muted Criticism Of EPA, USDA
The muted attack by the Report on crop protection products was not lost on ag industry groups, including the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), which noted in a prepared release that the expected finger pointing at atrazine, glyphosate and chloripyrifos was “hidden in the Report.”
Specifically, the Report calls out the three products on page 35 of the Making Our Children Healthy Again Report, as part of its list of “exposure pathways” that can contribute to chronic disease in children.
The Report also soft-pedals its criticism of the U.S. regulatory system, noting: “…Regulatory and medical systems around the world largely evaluate chemicals or chemical classes individually and may be neglecting potential synergistic effects and cumulative burdens, thereby missing opportunities to translate cumulative risk assessment into the clinical environment in meaningful ways. The cumulative effect of multiple chemical exposures and impact on children over time is not fully understood.”
Ag groups including ARA, CropLife America and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) released statements in support of the U.S. regulatory system.
“[The MAHA Report does] not reflect the wealth of evidence developed over decades by federal agencies such as the EPA and USDA on the safety of crop inputs and food production methods. These institutions have consistently reaffirmed the safety and efficacy of the systems that help feed our country and the world,” says the NCFC.
Farmers And Ag Groups Need To Be At The Table
The National Farmers Union (NFU) praised the MAHA Report for its focus on the health and well-being of children, while also shedding light on the lack of opportunity farmers and other members of the agricultural community had to participate in the Report’s development.
“We urge the administration to include the voices of family farmers and ranchers … and to ensure that solutions are rooted in sound science, fairness and transparency,” NFU says in a prepared statement.
Jon Doggett says agricultural groups tried to get a seat at the table to provide input for the Report but were largely shut out of discussions.
“That really concerned a lot of people, and my phone started blowing up earlier this week. The ag groups were trying to get in to talk to (Secretary Kennedy), trying to have a conversation about what this is, and that didn’t happen,” says Doggett, former CEO of the National Corn Growers Association and now principal for Camas Creek Consulting.
What farmers want, with regard to the discussions around agricultural products, is decisions that are based on peer-reviewed, established science that’s well-documented, Doggett adds.
“They want a regulatory process that is transparent and allows agriculture to have an input, whether it’s on pesticides, seed oils, ethanol or whatever,” he says. “[There] needs to be good science used, and so far we haven’t seen the Department of Health and Human Services come through very well with good science.”
There is still time for agriculture to have a voice in the process. The Executive Order creating the MAHA Commission directs a second report, providing policy recommendations, be issued within 80 days.
Individuals who want to share their perspectives with the Trump Administration and Congress can submit a letter at https://www.farmervoicesmatter.org.
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