Farmers Who Use Pesticides Gain Legislative Support

Legislation advances to provide support for farmers who use pesticides

By State Senator Page Walley

With our district being an agricultural leader for the state, this past week our General Assembly focused on several issues of importance to our land owners, farmers and foresters. 

Our Senate Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Committee passed Senate Bill 527 to protect farmers’ options to use safe pesticide products. We were fortunate to have several of our local Tennessee Farm Bureau members in attendance when the legislation passed.

It establishes that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the sole authority on pesticide product labeling. This bill protects companies whose products are in accordance with the EPA labeling requirements.

In 2008, the EPA clearly determined that Glyphosate is not a carcinogen and has no risks to public health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label. Despite this determination and other repeated studies, various concerns about international liability, public health, and falsified data remain. This does not change that the EPA has labeling authority and its position that glyphosate is not a carcinogen or a risk to public health when used appropriately. Manufacturers should not have to label this product as such.

Glyphosate, or Round Up, is just one of many chemical products affected by this legislation. Manufacturers will be responsible for ensuring their labels are reflective of the EPA’s position on this product. If they are not compliant or willfully withhold information from the EPA, they will be subject to corrective action such as lawsuits. 

These products are a tool that the farmers use and are vital to the operations.  If that tool is not available, it puts the farmer in a hard place and limits what they can use.

This bill aims to protect farmers’ options in the products they use. Products like glyphosate are currently being used across the state and there are no known personal injury lawsuits at this time. Senate Bill 527 is supported by Tennessee Farm Bureau, the Modern Ag Alliance, Tennessee Soybean Association, and others. 

Tennessee farmland preservation legislation passes Senate

Provides protection for Tennessee farms and agricultural heritage for generations to come 

Our Tennessee Senate passed legislation last week to further protect Tennessee farmland from overdevelopment. 

Senate Bill 207 would establish a $25 million Farmland Preservation Fund to provide grants for property owners who voluntarily place their farm or forestry land into an agricultural easement with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. The program aims to make farmland preservation financially feasible for family farms, ensuring they remain in agricultural use for future generations.

This bill is designed to support Tennessee’s hardworking farmers. For many, their land has been in the family for generations, and they want to ensure it remains farmland—not a strip mall or subdivision. However, financial barriers often make preservation difficult. By providing access to the governor’s proposed grant fund, we can give farm families the resources they need to keep their land in agriculture and in the family, making conservation a realistic and economically viable option.

While property owners can already place their land in a conservation easement through various entities, rising land prices provide little incentive to do so. The Farmland Preservation Fund aims to provide this incentive, making it more financially viable for Tennessee farmers to preserve their land.

Participation in the program is entirely voluntary, allowing property owners to receive compensation for the difference between their land’s agricultural value and its highest market value. Farmers who take part in the program would still maintain the freedom to develop their land for agricultural purposes and maintain full farming operations without restrictions on output.

Tennessee is losing farmland to development at an astounding rate. Over a 20 year period, from 1997 to 2017, Tennessee lost 1.1 million acres of farmland to development. Since 2017, another 432,941 acres of farmland has been lost. This is equivalent to Tennessee losing 9.8 acres of farmland per hour, up from 6.3 acres per hour in the previous two decades.

In Tennessee, agriculture-related industries employ 324,000 individuals and contribute $89 billion into the economy. 

Reallocation of funds to support Farm to Tap program

Lastly, to further support the state’s brewing agriculture industry, our Senate State and Local Government Committee, which I co-chair, passed Senate Bill 788. The bill reallocates an estimated $363,000 from the beer barrelage tax revenue, shifting 3% from the general fund to the Department of Agriculture to support the use of Tennessee agricultural brewing products and promote the state’s brewing industry. This creates a permanent funding mechanism for the Farm to Tap program and has no impact on taxes designated for highways, litter control, or the Department of Mental Health.  

I will continue to keep you updated on legislative news from our General Assembly. You can also watch legislative proceedings live at www.capitol.tn.gov. Please reach out to me with any comments, questions or concerns at (615) 741-2386 or sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov.