Hot Topics in Agriculture

Food safety

• Share why food safety is important to you. We all feed our families with agricultural products, but not everyone may know the things farmers do to improve food safety.
• Share that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) works to ensure public health regarding meat, poultry and egg consumption.

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Farm Bill

• Some people may have questions on what the farm bill is, especially since new policy was expected to be completed by 2023. Now, that timeline may be pushed due to Speaker of the House changes and federal budget disagreements.
• Let them know about some of the titles included in the farm bill like nutrition, crop insurance, trade, commodities and conservation. Share why those areas of focus are important to your farm.

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Antibiotics and growth hormones

• Highlight that antibiotics are used to treat and prevent disease in animals, resulting in a product that is safe to consume.
• Illustrate the strict guidelines farmers must follow to ensure that antibiotics do not remain in the final product distributed to consumers. This process is heavily regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

• GMOs are often another concern of consumers. Acknowledge that you understand why it’s important to them, and then explain the facts around GMOs.
• Explain that farmers have been cultivating plants to improve existing crops and create new ones for thousands of years.

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Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS)

• Explain that WOTUS refers to a regulatory definition of waters that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority to regulate.
• Talk about the proposed definition from 2015 that provided the EPA with gross overreach and how it would have covered seemingly all waters, not just navigable waterways as Congress intended in the Clean Water Act.

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Rising health care costs

• A lot of farm families struggle to pay for the high cost of health insurance being self-employed.
• In 2020, the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation to allow INFB to launch INFB Health Plans, a suite of more affordable health care offerings, including individual or family plans, dental and vision plans, or Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans.

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Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion

• The newest building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds is called the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held July 28, 2023, for the structure, a $50 million, 197,000-square-foot, multi-use facility that replaces the almost century-old Swine Barn at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center.

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