NAAA Joins Broad Coalition of National Agricultural Groups Supporting Modern Agricultural Technologies to Federal Lawmakers in Wake of Recent Activist and Senator Claims

In response to significant misunderstandings made publicly by politicians regarding the tools farmers, ranchers, public health officials, and land managers need to produce necessary food, bioenergy, and fiber supplies, NAAA has joined a broad coalition of national agricultural groups communicating to key federal lawmakers the risk- and science-based statutory authorities in place that support the safe and proper use of these important tools.  The communication (click here to read) was sent to the chairs and ranking members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Agriculture Committees, Congressman GT Thompson (R-PA), Congressman David Scott (D-GA), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Boozman (R-AR), respectively.

Necessitating the response to congressional agricultural leaders by national agricultural producers stemmed from public comments made in social media and elsewhere that GMOs and pesticides are to blame for numerous health issues.  These claims were made from former presidential candidate and environmental activist Robert Kennedy, Jr., and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).  Kennedy’s statements  may be found by clicking here.  Senator Cruz’s social media post, can be found by clicking here.

The agricultural group’s communication defending the safety of U.S. agricultural products states:

“Products of biotechnology, for example, are thoroughly regulated by USDA, FDA, and EPA to ensure they do not pose environmental, food or feed safety risks. For pesticides, EPA rigorously ensures all uses do not pose unreasonable risks to human health or the environment. Under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), Congress established a default 10x safety factor for any pesticide food tolerances, meaning limits would need to be set 10-times lower than where they might ever be expected to pose human health risks. USDA’s Pesticide Data Program, which tests pesticide residues on food products, consistently finds more than 99 percent of tested foods have residues well below these already conservative limits. The science- and risk-based systems for biotechnology and pesticides used by the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, and many other nations are superior to hazard-based regulatory systems used by the EU and advocated for by some. These hazard-based systems greatly overstate risks and unnecessarily restrict essential tools needed by farmers, other users, and consumers.

To exemplify…concerns with losing uses of these tools, in April 2021, the Sri Lankan government imposed a nationwide ban on synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. The impact of this edict was harsh and swift. Crop yields crashed more than 50 percent across the country, with some farmers experiencing 95 percent yield loss.  Yield losses in rice, a major food staple in Sri Lanka, required the previously self-sufficient nation to import more than $450 million in rice to meet its food needs. Significant reductions in tea yields (an important export crop for the country) caused huge drops in exports and government revenues.  The policy, which inflicted economic turmoil and food insecurity, was reversed seven months later in November 2021.”