May. 23, 2022
Dear Chair Gary Gensler, It is often said that cattle producers are America’s original conservationists. We care for millions of acres of land while safeguarding water and air quality. It is in our best interest to be good and sustainable stewards of the land so our business can last a lifetime, and hopefully, generations to come. Unfortunately, the SEC’s proposed rule S7-10-22 places a burden on family farmers and ranchers far outside the authority of the SEC. By mandating the disclosure of scope three emissions, the SEC is indirectly placing a burden on every farmer or rancher whose goods are sent to publicly traded processing companies, restaurants, or retailers. The federal government has already acknowledged that collecting data will be nearly impossible. Further, this rule fails to protect cattle producers who, in good faith, submit inaccurate data—an issue which is highly likely considering that there is no agreed-upon methodology for measuring agricultural GHG emissions. This creates unavoidable legal risk for every family farmer or rancher. As a cattle producer, I urge you to limit the proposed rule to only scope one and scope two emissions. Please do not ignore the immense cost and disruption this rule will pose to family farmers and ranchers, who are already investing heavily in conservation practices and who lack the resources to comply with this highly technical rule. The SEC should be responsible for regulating major publicly traded companies, not private companies like small farms and ranches. Thank you for listening to America’s cattle producers. Sincerely, Dean Klahr