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Iowa ag leader hopeful Trump will tackle over-regulation

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says he’s hopeful President-elect Donald Trump will lessen some of the regulatory burdens on agriculture – like WOTUS, the Waters of the US rule.  “We certainly expect this administration to say ‘no WOTUS’ and no new WOTUS like this,” he says.  “If WOTUS was being introduced to ‘clean up the definition of what is a Waters of the US’ then maybe that can be done through legislation now.”

He tells Brownfield he’d love for the EPA to positively lead any effort to clarify the definition of a “waters of the US”.

Northey says it would be helpful to have someone who understands agriculture leading that agency.   “Boy you look at the EPA and look at the opportunities to encourage renewable fuels, to be able to help ethanol,” he says.  Or increasing the opportunity to move products through the pipeline at EPA.”

He says he’s hopeful the tone of the EPA will change over time and the agency will release some of its responsibility back to the states.

Brownfield spoke to Northey at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Agriculture Conference.

AUDIO: Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture