Please stand with farmers and support HB 2476

Dear [legislator_greeting],

 

As one of your constituents, I urge you to support Kansas farmers and HB 2476. Absent legislative action, a potential crisis is on the horizon for American agriculture that will impact farmers across the country and, more importantly, all our dinner tables. At risk is the availability of Kansas farmers’ #1 tool to manage invasive weeds and keep yields high. Safe, approved crop protection products are essential to Kansas farmers’ ability to keep costs low and ensure an affordable and abundant food supply. Without one of the most widely-used crop protection tools, food inflation could more than double—forcing us to pay even higher prices at the grocery store.

 

Yet, despite the clear science behind the safety and benefits of this technology, the litigation industry is targeting farmers’ best defense against weeds with relentless, and often meritless, lawsuits based on a single discredited report from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.). Ultimately, these reckless lawsuits threaten our food supply, farmers’ livelihoods, and will lead to higher prices. The Trump administration recently backed labeling uniformity. Kansas lawmakers need to lead and provide much needed certainty for our farmers. HB 2476 protects Kansas farmers and the tools they rely on to grow our food. All it says is that the federally approved label is the law and that a company can’t be subject to relentless litigation for following the law.

 

Similar legislation has already been enacted in Georgia and North Dakota, and contrary to claims by anti-ag activists and other critics, this bill is not blanket immunity for anyone, as lawsuits unrelated to the label are unaffected. Moreover, this bill simply codifies existing Kansas law by placing into statute existing Kansas case law holding that EPA-approved pesticide labels satisfy all state warning requirements. We can’t allow trial lawyers and foreign bureaucrats to set agriculture policy in Kansas. DRAFT FOR CONSIDERATION Please stand with farmers and support HB 2476.