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Governor Ricketts says FDA should cut red tape to help ag grow

Nebraska’s Governor Pete Ricketts says to grow opportunities for his state, agriculture needs to grow. “One of the focuses for my administration has been cut the regulatory red tape. Take down those obstacles for job creators. Make it easy for us to be able to create jobs and innovate.”

Ricketts participated in the USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum in Washington D.C. Thursday, and says The USDA has taken the right approach when regulating plants. “If it’s something you can do with plants that you can do through natural selection, going back to like Gregor Mendel, right?, the father of modern genetics in the 19th century when he did his work on pea plants that really started this work on genetics, if you can do that same sort of thing, it’s not really something that needs to be regulated.”

Panelist Barb Glenn with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture says the picture for livestock and poultry is less clear because of the regulatory landscape.  “We’re talking about animals already on the ground resistant to Avian Influenza, resistance to PRRS virus or Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus, and in addition, Foot and Mouth Disease.

Glenn says to realize the potential of animal biotechnology, the FDA’s regulatory program needs to evolve.