One industry that is normally not at the top of the talking points of the presidential campaign is agriculture. In a past interview with "Prairie Farmer," Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sat down and hashed out their future AG policy. All quotes below are sourced from the interview in "Prairie Farmer."
When asked about overregulation, Trump responded with, "Our nation’s regulatory system is completely broken. Terrible rules are written by unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who often know nothing about the people they are regulating. The regulators have all of the power, and our nation’s farmers are often forced to endure costly, burdensome and unwise regulations that are bad for American farmers and consumers. In many instances, extreme environmental groups have more influence in setting the regulations than the farmers and ranchers who are directly impacted. Clinton will do the bidding of the radical environmentalists. Whether through excessive land-use restrictions that impact farmers and ranchers, environmental requirements that impose enormous costs on farmers, or over-reaching food product regulations, federal regulatory burdens have increased dramatically in recent years. This must change."
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Clinton and Trump also touched on the Waters of the U.S. regulation that was started by Obama. Shocker, Hillary was for it, Trump was against it. This rule would give federal agencies regulation over any water in the U.S. including a small creek, or puddle on a farmers land.
The final question of the interview is the one that showed me the most information from both of the candidates. They asked how both Clinton and Trump would promote policies that protect the environment while protecting land owners' interest.
Trump responded with, "America is blessed with abundant natural resources and beautiful wildlife. Our nation has a proud tradition of conservation and stewardship. This is more true for farmers than anyone else. Farmers care more for the environment than the radical environmentalists. Regrettably, many of our federal environmental laws are being used to oppress farmers instead of actually helping the environment."
If I wasn't going to vote for Trump already, that last comment would have secured my vote. Trump understands that government regulation is slowing the progress of agriculture while hurting the thousands of family farms across the nation.
With Trump in office, we have now set agriculture on the right path to become more efficient and sustainable. He has already chosen Sonny Purdue as the secretary of agriculture, the former governor of Georgia with a strong background in agriculture, putting us on the right track.
For more information and to watch the interview, click here.
