Farmers thank Sen. Roberts for his hard work for agriculture  

Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas has been a tremendous leader in working to pass a uniform, national voluntary labeling standard for foods produced with agricultural biotechnology.  

Last week his bill, which offered a common-sense solution to an urgent problem and would have secured the food industry for farmers, food manufacturers and consumers, was blocked in the Senate. Unfortunately, too many of Senator Roberts’ colleagues refused to stand up to anti-GMO extremists and stand with American farmers and families. 

Chairman Roberts’ proposal represented a bipartisan national solution to the growing GMO labeling debate. It would have established clear labeling standards administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, giving consumers more ingredient information without unfairly targeting a technology deemed perfectly safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization, among many others.  

Both Democrats and Republicans agree that a national patchwork of Vermont-style labeling is an unworkable situation that would lead to significantly higher prices for working families, farmers and small businesses—not to mention chaos in the food supply chain and grocery marketplace. 

We applaud Sen. Roberts for his determination to protect farmers. More than 800 agriculture and food industry organizations, including over three dozen groups in Kansas alone, backed the Senator’s bill. This broad support—from individual farmers to large trade associations—shows the depth of opposition to mandatory GMO on-package labels. Congress must act to ensure a uniform, voluntary labeling standard that rejects fearmongering and falsehoods. 

We know that Sen. Roberts will continue his fight in defense of our family farms and against this threat to modern agricultural technology. 

Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau Federation

Rich Felts, President, Kansas Farm Bureau