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Farmers need crop protection tools

A western Illinois farmer says producers need access to crop protection tools to continue to feed growing populations.

Brady Holst, who farms in Hancock County and serves on the Illinois Soybean Association board of directors, says the recent Make America Healthy Again Commission report is concerning.

“The regulatory process, it seems like it’s difficult and there’s a lot of studies done to get those types of things approved.”  He says, “It’s good to have that process for things like this when you have challenges that aren’t necessarily scientifically based.”

KJ Johnson, president of the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association, says agriculture needs a voice in the Commission, especially before its next step of policy recommendations. 

“As I tell all our environmental friends, ‘Do you guys love more conservation? Do you love less tillage?’ ‘Yeah, yeah, absolutely.’ Well, you’re gonna have to have pesticides in there.”  He says, “If you don’t, you’re gonna go to more tillage. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. There’s gonna be one of these two things.”

Holst says any potential further restrictions to herbicides like glyphosate and atrazine, which were mentioned in the report, would greatly impact many farming operations across the country.

As Brownfield previously reported, Calley Means, who works closely with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, wrote on X this (last) week that there’s no plan to do anything rash that would hurt American farmers, but added there needs to be a mature conversation about what the optimal world should look like in ten years and how to get there through pro-growth policies.

AUDIO: Brady Holst – Illinois farmer