Michigan farmers rally with tractors at state Capitol over added regulations
Farmers brought their tractors and drove laps around the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday to protest what they're calling government overreach.
Jesse Meerman's family has been farming land outside of Grand Rapids for well over 100 years. On Tuesday, Meerman and his five daughters came to Lansing with four of the tractors they use to farm the land. He said they're noticing more environmental regulations from the Michigan Department of Environments, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).
"It's making it more and more difficult for farmers to do their jobs, things that we've historically done," he said.
Meerman said the additional regulations are making it even harder to stay afloat.
"We really aren't going to be left with a lot of farms in a generation," he said.
Meerman noted that one of the regulations that's making things difficult is one that centers around how farmers handle manure.
"For thousands of years, it's been used as fertilizer and now they're wanting to treat it like an industrial waste product," he said, adding that the process to clean up manure is very pricey. "To treat it as industrial waste is going to put most of us out of business."
Many farmers testified inside the Capitol on Tuesday to address lawmakers directly about EGLE's regulations. Meerman said he feels the biggest challenge to farmers is too many regulations.
"I see that as the biggest threat, government overreach, you know. We have a relationship with our customers. We feel like our customers, they do the inspecting, and of course, we don't want to pollute the stream we live there, too. It seems like the motive is to make us stop doing business," he said.
