Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS) has helped introduce legislation to remove the lesser prairie chicken from the Endangered Species List and prohibit its future relisting.
He explains how the listing has impacted his state’s cattle producers.
“I had a farmer in Morton County, which is about as far south and west in Kansas that you can get, who told me that after these regulations went through, somebody spotted a lesser prairie chicken in his pasture,” Rep. Mann said. “He had to immediately remove all of the cattle in that pasture and each of the adjoining measures as well to protect this bird. It just makes no sense at all.”
Mann says that burdensome regulations are unnecessary when rural Americans are already committed to the cause.
“These programs need to be, these efforts need to be bottom-up, producer-driven,” Mann explained. “I’ve never met a farmer, rancher, or ag producer that doesn’t care about the land, doesn’t care deeply about the environment, doesn’t care deeply about their soil. When you really look at the population of the birds, they go up and down based really on rainfall. In years that we drought, which we’ve had some severe droughts the last three or four years, the population goes down, and when the rainfalls up, the population goes up. But these heavy-handed, top-down, burdensome regulations make no sense.”
It is believed that lesser prairie chicken populations today exceed 30,000 animals in five states.
U.S. aquaculture may gain competitive ground as harmful subsidies are phased out abroad, but producers should monitor shifts in import supply chains and trade enforcement closely.
September 16, 2025 01:07 PM
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today issued a new memorandum to modernize and strengthen America’s wildfire prevention and response system.
September 15, 2025 04:56 PM
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Understanding the Big, Beautiful Bill’s complex impact on SNAP benefits – that’s the topic of today’s Firm to Farm blog post by RFD-TV’s legal expert, Roger McEowen.
September 15, 2025 04:37 PM
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Year-round sales of E-15 are another major topic on Capitol Hill, which, according to Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE), is one issue up for debate this session with significant bipartisan support.
September 15, 2025 12:09 PM
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Lawmakers have until September 30 to shore up federal spending for next year, or risk a government shutdown. The Farm Bill is also set to expire the same day.
September 15, 2025 11:57 AM
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American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland joins us to share his reaction to September’s WASDE and discuss the trade uncertainty between China and his industry.
September 12, 2025 02:13 PM
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September 12, 2025 12:19 PM
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Assistance for losses due to flooding and wildfire on non-federally managed land
September 12, 2025 10:47 AM
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) joined us on Champions of Rural America to share his insights on upcoming changes to public land management and how they will benefit agriculture and the Western working class.
September 11, 2025 01:21 PM
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