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Ohio Farm Groups to EPA Administrator Jackson: Don't De-Stimulate Ohio's Farm Economy |
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DELAWARE, Ohio, Feb. 18 / V-Newswire/ -- As U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson visited Columbus on Thursday to highlight jobs and economic growth in Ohio under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, farm groups including the Ohio Corn Growers Association (OCGA) and American Agri-Women urged Jackson not to "de-stimulate" the state's farm economy by allowing her cabinet to remove an essential tool from modern agriculture production. OCGA Executive Director Dwayne Siekman emphasized the need to keep modern farming and Ohio's economy thriving by allowing continued use of the popular herbicide, atrazine. It's an essential tool that farmers rely on to produce a high-quality, abundant feed, fuel and food supply. "It's the most studied herbicide that the EPA has already ruled as safe. EPA just completed the re-registration of atrazine based on the strength of abundant data and rigorous review over many years by scientific experts," Siekman said. Future use of atrazine could be in question as the EPA under Lisa Jackson conducts an unusual and unprecedented re-review of the popular herbicide in response to unfounded claims by some environmental activists and anti-farming organizations -- a move that seems political to farm groups. Farmers have used atrazine for more than 50 years to keep weeds and grasses from robbing water and nutrients from crops. It is used on more than one-half of all U.S. corn, two-thirds of sorghum, and 90 percent of sugar cane. It is one of the primary elements that make Ohio and American agriculture so phenomenally productive. "Atrazine is an essential tool that Ohio corn growers rely on to produce a high-quality, abundant supply of animal feed, fuel and fiber and contribute $2 billion a year in crop production to our state's economy," Siekman said. "We have the utmost confidence in its efficiency and safety and at $28 per acre in cost savings, its loss would result in a huge hit to farmers and Ohio's economy." Today, 40% of the world's food supply would not exist without the use of atrazine and other crop protection products. Furthermore, atrazine also is the most widely used corn herbicide in conservation tillage systems, which can reduce soil erosion by as much as 90 percent, protecting water from sediment, the number one pollutant of US waterways. "For over 40 years, my family has relied on atrazine to help our soil conservation by cutting down on intensive tilling and dramatically improving our production yields," said American Agri-Women Past President Marcie Williams. "Without it, our costs would dramatically increase. Atrazine has withstood the scrutiny of 6,000 scientific studies, including a thorough review and re-certification at EPA just three years ago. Our members around the country who rely on atrazine would be significantly impacted if media hype about its safety were to trump regulation based on science." EPA's unusual re-evaluation of atrazine appears guided by politics, not science $28 per Ohio farm acre at risk if valuable herbicide is banned |
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