Austin, TX — Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry said agribusiness must find ways to resolve government infringement on private property rights and overregulation to remain strong into the 21st century.
“One of the biggest problems agriculture faces is that the average person is far removed from the farm,” Perry said. “Less than 2 percent of the U.S. population lives on a farm, and the U.S. Census is not even going to count us anymore. Urbanization, while it has led to much positive change, has created widespread ignorance about a way of life and an industry essential to this country’s high standard of living.”
Perry said that lack of knowledge has lead to misunderstandings and unfounded claims that challenge not only farmers’ stewardship but their skill, which produces the most abundant, affordable food supply in the world.
“Out of this climate, unfortunately, sometimes comes bad government policy,” Perry said. “The Endangered Species Act is up for reauthorization and is an example of how a law with a noble purpose - protecting God’s creatures from unnatural extinction,— can be hijacked until it is now a threat to another noble end or government — private property rights.
“In Texas, rural landowners provide more than 95 percent of all wildlife habitat in the state. But today, under the Endangered Species Act, private solution to wildlife preservation too often are overlooked, or, even worse, actively discouraged, and agriculture must bear the devastating economic impact of this piece of legislation.
“Excessively broad regulatory definitions make landowners adversaries by the mere presence on the land—despite the fact that farmers and ranchers coexisted compatibly with the species long before anyone even thought about these regulations,” Perry said.
He said TDA has worked hard to bring together all affected parties to discuss solutions on a local level. The cases involve the Attwater’s prairie chicken in the Gulf Coast and the Comache Springs pupfish and Pecos gambusia in the Trans-Pecos area in West Texas.
“We were able to come up with solutions that everyone — from the landowner to the endangered species itself - could live with,” Perry said. “Getting local people involved and letting them figure out what’s best for their community has a better chance of working than government sitting in an ivory tower dictating solutions based on bureaucratic reports and lobbyists’ demands.”
Government over regulation is becoming an increasing burden to the agricultural community, Perry said. “Some farmers are so overburdened with forms, they say they need to hire someone just to do their paperwork. We’re working to reduce the confusion, frustration and expanse of complying with our laws.”
Perry said his staff is working to make Texas’ Right-to-Know law similar to the federal Worker Protection Standard. TDA strives to reduce paperwork necessary to comply with pesticide regulations whenever possible and make the laws easy to understand.
“We need to put common sense back into government,” Perry said. “This is the only way government can help agriculture - and Texas - maintain its premier position in the 21st century.”
Texas Department of Agriculture
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