TWO US senators are trying to stop the US Environmental Protection Agency from charging farmers fees for the greenhouse gases emitted by livestock.
The EPA proposal, unveiled last year, would charge farmers for the methane coming out of their livestock>The cost to producers would be substantial, according to a statement released by Senator John Thune, Republican-South Dakota, one of the authors of the Bill aiming to stop the plan.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, Senator Thune's release said, estimated the EPA proposal "would cost a medium-sized dairy farm with 75 to 125 cows between $US13,000 and $US22,000 a year. It would cost a medium size cattle farm with 200 to 300 cows between $US17,000 and $US27,000."
The Farm Bureau, in its own statement, said it was grateful to the authors of the Bill, Senators Thune and Charles Schumer, Democrat-New York.
The group said the EPA proposal would cost farmers $US175 for each dairy cow, $US87.50 for each beef cow and $US21.87 for each hog.
The EPA proposed "requiring farmers to purchase expensive permits," Senator Thune said, who promised his Bill would "ensure that the 'cow tax' never becomes a reality".
The Bill seeks to amend the Clean Air Act by adding that "no permit shall be issued under a permit program under this title for any carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, water vapour, or methane emissions resulting from biological processes associated with livestock production".
Senator Thune said the EPA proposal, if it were ever to be implemented, would cost ranchers hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
"Cattle and dairy production is vital to the economy of South Dakota and to our nation," Senator Thune said, "and in these difficult economic times, it would be disastrous to enact policies that would increase food prices for all Americans".
Bill Tomson, Dow Jones