The Biden administration issued a water law reversal on the last working day of 2022, creating further change in the longstanding issue of how to define navigable waters of the U.S., including streams, runoff and ponds used in agriculture.
The EPA and Department of the Army finalized its waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule on Dec. 30 with language that reverts water protections back to their 2015 legal definitions before the Obama and Trump administrations made their own changes.
“Following extensive stakeholder engagement, and building on what we’ve learned from previous rules, [the] EPA is working to deliver a durable definition of WOTUS that safeguards our nation’s waters, strengthens economic opportunity and protects people’s health while providing greater certainty for farmers, ranchers and landowners,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a press statement.
The agencies’ statement described the new rule as “reasonable and familiar framework” to invested parties and the public.
However, the move is seen by many as a legal strategy by the EPA to give the rule some legal precedent before the Supreme Court rules sometime in 2023 just how far the federal government can prohibit and regulate some water uses. Some groups questioned the move as clear federal overreach and unnecessary given the small time frame before clarity is provided by the nation’s high court.
“Although we recognize [the] EPA’s attempt at clarifying through a roster of exemptions, its rule ignores the voices of nearly all in American agriculture who have long been seeking clarity on this issue, especially regarding the debate over what is and is not a navigable water,” said Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
Mary Thomas-Hart, chief counsel for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, called the move a “whiplash of shifting WOTUS definitions” that, while aiming to protect bipartisan exclusions agreed upon over seven years ago, still creates uncertainty.
“The rule fails to clearly exempt isolated and ephemeral features from federal jurisdiction and relies on ‘case-by-case’ determinations to assess whether a feature is federally regulated,” she wrote in a statement.
Inflation affecting retail beef prices
Though retail beef prices are lower than a year ago, prices remain historically higher as inflationary challenges affect the overall U.S. economy and projected fewer cows heading into 2023, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service livestock economist David Anderson.
“Retail beef prices are lower than a year ago even though the total Consumer Price Index number is 7.1 percent higher than last year,” Anderson says. “[Retail beef prices] have been lower for several months now. However, the level of prices remains high in comparison to the past several decades.”
Anderson says there are indications that retail consumers are looking at alternative beef cuts as a cost-savings measure.
“I think there’s evidence that consumers are switching to less expensive items,” he says. “For example, maybe buying fewer ribeye cuts and more less-expensive steaks or more ground beef. Overall, beef demand remains good, and people continue to buy.”
With the start of the new year, beef production continues at a record pace due to drought conditions across much of the country. Pending official statistics, the U.S. appears on pace to have produced over 28 billion pounds of beef in 2022. Meanwhile, wholesale beef prices are well below a year ago, which Anderson believes will slowly translate into lower retail prices.
