With planting season in full swing, Missouri farmers like you are focused on making every acre count. But at the same time, a serious threat is bearing down on agriculture—one that could take away the critical technologies you rely on to get the job done.
Trial lawyers and anti-ag activists are backing a wave of lawsuits against essential, proven crop protection tools, putting the future of modern agricultural production—and operations just like yours—at risk. These baseless legal attacks are forcing domestic manufacturers to consider taking products off the market in the U.S. entirely, within a matter of months. This would be a direct hit to operations all across the state.
The stakes could not be clearer—or higher. While all tools are at risk, glyphosate has been the first of this legal onslaught. As you know, this product fights problematic weeds that would otherwise significantly reduce crop yields and eat through profits. With more than 90% of soybean acres in Missouri relying on glyphosate, this tool is estimated to save growers statewide $358 million annually. If trial lawyers succeed in litigating away this crucial tool, your input costs could rise by as much as 150%. And those costs won’t stop at the farm gate—research shows it could cause food inflation to double at the grocery store.
If that sounds alarming, it is—and unfortunately, it gets worse. The source fueling these lawsuits is a single, discredited report from a subagency of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.)—an outlier opinion of an organization that the U.S. recently pulled out of. Despite credible allegations of data manipulation, trial lawyers have seized on this opinion and filed tens of thousands of lawsuits, from which they stand to make billions of dollars. And it will be Missouri’s agricultural communities and consumers that ultimately pay the price.
Trial lawyers and foreign bureaucrats at the W.H.O. should not be dictating agriculture policy, period. That’s why agricultural leaders across the state are fighting back. Groups like the Missouri Soybean Association, Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Corn Growers Association, Missouri Agribusiness Association, and many others have joined the Modern Ag Alliance to rally behind House Bill 544, which protects your access to federally approved crop protection products.
To be clear, glyphosate-based herbicides have been proven safe to use by more than 50 years of health and safety assessments and over 1,500 scientific studies. If it wasn’t safe, we wouldn’t use it on our farm, and neither would anyone else. This is not about product safety, it’s about what is or is not on the label. What HB 544 does is reaffirm our science-based pesticide labeling laws, providing the certainty that growers need to continue feeding America.
HB 544 is now being considered by the Missouri Senate, and lawmakers need to hear directly from those who know what’s at stake. No one is better positioned to explain just how essential these tools are to your operation—what it means for your farm, your yields, and your ability to stay competitive.
Please contact your state senator and urge them to vote yes on HB 544, or click here to send a letter.
Elizabeth Burns-Thompson is the Executive Director of the Modern Ag Alliance, a diverse coalition of more than 100 agricultural organizations advocating for U.S. farmers’ access to essential crop protection tools. To learn more about the Alliance, visit MODERNAGALLIANCE.ORG.
