The U.S. Envonmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jointly released a proposed rule earlier this year to clarify protection for streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act. But many agriculture groups say it achieves the exact opposite.

In July, the National Farmers Union raised several questions about the rule, mostly regarding which bodies of water would fall under jurisdiction. NFU is requesting the EPA provide specific examples and definitions.

The American Farm Bureau Federation claims the proposed rule, the way it’s currently written, would allow the EPA to regulate everything from puddles to ephemerals. The rule will also make it more difficult to farm or change a farming operation to remain competitive and profitable, the group says.

EPA officials say some of these claims are untrue, and the agency is working to provide more clarity on the proposal. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers held a question-and answer-session about the proposal last month for American Soybean Association members.

The proposed rule is currently open for public comment and will close on Oct. 20.

IN OTHER NO-TILL NEWS…

• Founder and former Precision Planting CEO Gregg Sauder launched a new company, 360 Yield Center, to offer a farming system that focuses on capturing yields beyond benchmarked goals. Using a from-the-roots-up systems approach, the company creates field-specific prescriptions for each farm.
• The new Intego Suite System from Valent offers a novel seed fungicide chemistry for protection against Pythium and Phytophthora in soybeans. The system contains two modes…