Wicker, GOP colleagues urge Biden to ensure farmers have access to pesticides

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) joined three Republican colleagues in urging President Joe Biden to support crop protection products like pesticides, which the lawmakers say are key to making no-till farming practical and efficient at a commercial level. 

If such tools are not available, American farmers will be forced to revert to full tillage methods, which would ultimately set yields and conservation efforts back decades, according to a June 2 letter the lawmakers sent to Biden. 

“The bottom line is, pesticides are necessary to continue an efficient, economical, and sustainable system of food, fiber, and biofuels production,” wrote Sen. Wicker and his colleagues, who included U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC). “Importantly for your administration, they are necessary to sequester the carbon released from other industries. To maintain good conservation practices and the benefits they offer, it is important growers can reasonably access and use pesticides.”

The senators emphasized how the Biden administration — through the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) — is specifically hindering the use of substances like glyphosate, an herbicide that is used to kill weeds, especially annual broadleaf weeds and grasses that compete with crops.

Sen. Wicker and his colleagues also argued that the administration’s decisions appear to be based more on politics than science. For instance, they cited a recent Biden administration filing that urges the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up a case regarding the use of glyphosate, even though for more than 40 years it has not been found to be carcinogenic by leading health and safety regulators, including the EPA, according to their letter.

“Your administration has taken an interagency, blanket posture of denying or limiting access to critical crop protection tools, even during times of record inflation, rising food prices, and global food insecurity,” wrote the lawmakers. “We ask that you direct all levels of your administration to work hand in glove with farmers as they work through supply chain challenges. This includes directing your DOJ, EPA, and USDA to ensure farmers have meaningful access to the tools they use to feed the world.”