“By passing SB 144, Georgia’s legislature sent a strong signal that lawmakers across the country must stand with farmers and safeguard their access to critical crop protection tools,” Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the Modern Ag Alliance, which advocates for farmers’ access to crop protection products, said in a statement.
The Georgia Farm Bureau appreciates those lawmakers “who stood alongside the agriculture community on this issue and supported farmers.”
And Bayer hopes this bill will inspire other states to take similar action, the organization said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Other stakeholders, however, want Gov. Kemp to veto the bill.
Will Harris from White Oak Pastures, a farm in Bluffon, Ga., for example, says the bill does a disservice to the public and to producers.
“Chemical companies and legislators are claiming that this Bill is pro-farmer, because it protects farmer access to pesticides. This claim is false - farmers deserve to have the right to sue chemical manufacturers when their land, property, or family is injured by chemicals,” he said in a Facebook post. “Pesticide companies have no incentive to be honest about the risks of their products.”
On X, Amy Kremer, the chair of Women for America First, said “the legislature has sold us out and is doing the bidding of big ag and pesticide companies.”
Lawmakers in states like Iowa, North Dakota, and Tennessee have similar legislation in the works.
A U.S. House Rep introduced a bill in 2023 on this topic.
Rep. Dusty Johnson’ s (R-SD) Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act outlined that states couldn’t impose different labeling requirements that go against EPA findings.