The American Farm Bureau Federation has presented a set of recommendations to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission aimed at improving health outcomes and supporting farmers in producing safe, healthy, and affordable food. Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said, "Farmers and ranchers share the goal of advancing health in America," emphasizing the importance of healthy farms in achieving this objective. He added that investing in research, encouraging innovation, and reducing overregulation are crucial steps toward this goal.
The Farm Bureau's letter outlines four key areas for recommendations to the MAHA Commission. These include promoting American innovation and sustainability by adopting precision application technologies, funding mechanization and automation improvements, supporting plant biostimulants and biologicals, and fostering public discussions on regenerative agriculture.
Another focus is smart regulatory reform to support farmers and ranchers. This involves modernizing agricultural labor programs, protecting domestic markets from foreign competition, reintroducing whole milk into school meals, enabling direct purchases from farms by schools and food banks, and facilitating small- to medium-sized farms' access to local markets.
Public investment in agricultural research is also recommended. The Farm Bureau suggests investing in USDA agencies focused on research and projects benefiting fruit, vegetable, and nut crop growers.
Additionally, improvements in pesticide regulation are advised to support innovation in new discoveries. This includes increasing resources for pesticide regulatory offices.
The Farm Bureau is part of the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA), which also submitted a report to the MAHA Commission earlier this week. FACA's recommendations emphasize maintaining healthy soil as well as clean air and water for agricultural producers and forest owners.
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