Boo Hoo….Delaware “farmers” face more than 120 regulations

Filed in National by on July 30, 2017

A new study of farm regulations by the Delaware Soybean Board has revealed that farmers are required to comply with more than 120 separate regulations to operate an agricultural business in the First State.

Make no mistake. These farms are industrial operations. They need to be well regulated. When you hear legislators moan a groan about this study come election time (and you will) please know that they are not feeling sorry for Ma and Pa down on the farm – they are looking for ways to help their multi-national business clients cheat the system.

“The results demonstrate that Delaware farmers work in a highly regulated environment,” said Jay Baxter, chairman of the board and farmer from Georgetown. “The web of regulations touches nearly every facet of farming operations today.”

The review was commissioned to help farmers be aware of all the various regulations and multiple agencies involved in the business of agriculture. It has been posted on the board website.

The report, a compilation of federal, state and county regulations which directly or indirectly relate to a farm operation, lists regulations by subject and agency. Multiple agencies have jurisdiction over various parts of a farm operation, including the departments of agriculture, finance, transportation, motor vehicles, labor, land-use planning and zoning, natural resources and environmental control, occupational safety and health administration, and Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, and Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

“We strive to continually improve the way we farm and comply with all the rules,” said Baxter. “With so many statutes and so many agencies involved at the federal, state and local levels, it is time-consuming and difficult to track. We wanted to provide our farmers a reference of regulations to do some of that work for them.”

Delaware farmers plant about 180,000 acres of soybeans each year, and the crop generates approximately $60 million in value to the state. Delaware’s agricultural industry contributes about $8 billion per year to the Delaware economy.

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Jason330 is a deep cover double agent working for the GOP. Don't tell anybody.

Comments (5)

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  1. Foghorn Leghorn says:

    Is this story supposed to offset this?

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4742712/Why-chickens-washed-chlorine.html

    Unlike in the UK and Europe, there are no minimum space requirements for breeding chickens in the US. America also does not have any rules governing lighting levels in the sheds and, crucially, its farms have no maximum allowed level of ammonia, which indicates how much urine and faecal matter is present. This means there is no limit on how much can fester inside the sheds.

    There is no legal requirement to wash US chickens in chlorine or other disinfectants, but 97 per cent of its birds are cleaned in this way after slaughter.

    The article says US chickens are “too fat to stand and their flesh rots while they’re alive.”

    120 regulations doesn’t seem like a lot when you’re farming animals. I thought there would be more.

  2. jason330 says:

    That is gross. By the time Trump and his Food and Drug Administration pick are finished “tearing down the wall of FDA regulations” I’m sure I’ll be a vegetarian.

  3. mediawatch says:

    No, Jason, you won’t be a vegetarian. If Trump ever succeeds in tearing down more agricultural regulations, you wouldn’t dare eat any fruits and veggies either.
    Just hope the water is pure and flavor it with Kool-Aid.

  4. SussexAnon says:

    “The web of regulations touches nearly every facet of farming operations today.”

    The same can be said about building a house. That doesn’t make it a bad thing. Or should we just pump the chicken shit directly into the bay and save time destroying our environment?

  5. mouse says:

    Miss Prissy