U.S. Rep. John Rose Leads a Bipartisan Letter Defending Farmers from Overburdensome Regulations

Washington, DC—Today, farmer and United StatesRepresentative John Rose led 117 Members of Congress in sending a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler expressing concerns that a proposed rule mandating extensive climate disclosures by public companies would negatively affect farmers.

The proposed rule on “Enhanced and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” would require public companies to include climate-related information in their annual reports. This could potentially include disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, climate-related risks, processes for identifying climate-related risks, and other downstream supply chain information. This poses a significant threat to farms as it could prevent them from being able to sell their products to public companies as most do not have the resources necessary to gather all the information required by the proposed rule.

The agriculture sector of the U.S. economy provides nearly every raw product that goes into the supply chain, with a valued contribution of over $1 trillion to the U.S. GDP. While farmers and ranchers would not be required to report directly to the SEC, in reality many of the regulatory burdens of this rulemaking could fall on farmers as a condition of doing business with public companies covered by this disastrous rule.

U.S. Representative John Rose released the following statement: 

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington who have never stepped foot on a farm should not have such an intrusive and detrimental influence on how farmers take care of their land,” Rep. Rose said. “The SEC has clearly overstepped its bounds and proposed a rule that would have devastating effects on our farmers. They should listen to farmers and reverse this terrible proposal before putting our entire nationwide supply of safe and affordable food and agricultural products at risk.”

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall released the following statement:

“The Securities and Exchange Commission plays an important role in protecting investors, but its reach has never extended to America’s farms. The bipartisan letter sent to the SEC recognizes the proposed rule’s overreach of an agency whose mission should be focused on Wall Street,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “We appreciate the lawmakers who have stepped forward to raise concerns about the proposed rule, which has the potential to significantly increase costs and uncertainty for America’s farmers and ranchers.”

Tennessee Farm Bureau President Eric Mayberry released the following statement:

“We are extremely concerned about the impact the SEC proposed rule could have on our farmers,” said Tennessee Farm Bureau President Eric Mayberry. “We have never been more committed to producing a safe and affordable food supply while continuing to protect our natural resources with climate-friendly, science-based smart practices, and this rule could have serious unintended consequences for our family farmers by forcing them to comply with extremely burdensome regulations they cannot afford.”

You can read the full letter sent to the SEC here.

Background:

On March 21, 2022, the SEC proposed a rule that would require public companies to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports. Specifically, the proposed rule requires a registrant to disclose information about its direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1) and indirect emissions from purchased electricity or other forms of energy (Scope 2). In addition, a registrant would be required to disclose greenhouse gas emissions from upstream and downstream activities in its value chain (Scope 3) if it is material or if a company has set climate-related targets. Most notably for agriculture, the Scope 3 disclosures could impede farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to conduct business with public companies. You can read more about how this would impact the agriculture industry from Farm Bureau here.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, American Soybean Association, National Grange, and American Seed Trade Association all expressed their support for the letter.

Rep Rose. was joined in the letter by Reps. Robert Aderholt (AL), Rick Allen (GA), Mark Amodei (NV), Kelly Armstrong (ND), Jodey Arrington (TX), Brian Babin (TX), James Baird (IN), Troy Balderson (OH), Jim Banks (IN), Andy Barr (KY), Jack Bergman (MI), Stephanie Bice (OK), Andy Biggs (AZ), Dan Bishop (NC), Mike Bost (IL), Kevin Brady (TX), Mo Brooks (AL), Ken Buck (CO), Budd, Ted (NC), Tim Burchett (TN), Mike Carey (OH), Jerry Carl (AL), Earl Carter (GA), Ben Cline (VA), Michael Cloud (TX), Andrew Clyde (GA), James Comer (KY), Eric Crawford (AR), Dan Crenshaw (TX), Warren Davidson (OH), Rodney Davis (IL), Scott DesJarlais (TN), Neal Dunn (FL), Jake Ellzey (TX), Ron Estes (KS), Randy Feenstra (IA), A. Ferguson (GA), Michelle Fischbach (MN), Charles Fleischmann (TN), Virginia Foxx (NC), Russ Fulcher (ID), Louie Gohmert (TX), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), Lance Gooden (TX), Paul Gosar (AZ), Sam Graves (MO), Mark Green (TN), Michael Guest (MS), Brett Guthrie (KY), Diana Harshbarger (TN), Vicky Hartzler (MO), Yvette Herrell (NM), Clay Higgins (LA), J. Hill (AR), Ashley Hinson (IA), Richard Hudson (NC), Bill Huizenga (MI), Chris Jacobs (NY), Dusty Johnson (SD), Mike Johnson (LA), Jim Jordan (OH), John Katko (NY), Trent Kelly (MS), David Kustoff (TN), Darin LaHood (IL), Doug LaMalfa (CA), Jake LaTurner (KS), Debbie Lesko (AZ), Julia Letlow (LA), Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO), Elaine Luria (VA), Tracey Mann (KS), Thomas Massie (KY), Lisa McClain (MI), Tom McClintock (CA), Daniel Meuser (PA), Mary Miller (IL), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA), John Moolenaar (MI), Alexander Mooney (WV), Barry Moore (AL), Markwayne Mullin (OK), Gregory Murphy (NC), Troy Nehls (TX), Ralph Norman (SC), Jay Obernolte (CA), Steven Palazzo (MS), Gary Palmer (AL), Greg Pence (IN), Bill Posey (FL), Guy Reschenthaler (PA), Harold Rogers (KY), Mike Rogers (AL), Matthew Rosendale (MT), David Rouzer (NC), Chip Roy (TX), Austin Scott (GA), Pete Sessions (TX), Elissa Slotkin (MI), Adrian Smith (NE), Pete Stauber (MN), Bryan Steil (WI), Greg Steube (FL) Glenn Thompson (PA), William Timmons (SC), David Valadao (CA), Beth Van Duyne (TX), Ann Wagner (MO), Tim Walberg (MI), Jackie Walorski (IN), Steve Womack (AR), Brad Wenstrup (OH), Bruce Westerman (AR), Roger Williams (TX), Robert Wittman (VA), Lee Zeldin (NY).

U.S. Representative John Rose is currently serving his second term representing Tennessee's Sixth Congressional District and resides in Cookeville with his wife, Chelsea, and their two sons, Guy and Sam. The Sixth District includes Cannon, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, White, and Wilson counties as well as portions of Cheatham and Van Buren counties. Representative Rose is an eighth-generation farmer, small business owner, and attorney, and currently serves on the House Financial Services Committee.