As of Aug. 28, the Waters of the United States rule has been implemented, other than in 13 states that received a temporary injunction as the result of a ruling by a North Dakota federal district court judge. 

WOTUS has been seen by agriculture organizations as an overreaching land grab by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, and though implementation has begun the debate rages on in farm country.

The Animal Science Department at Purdue University and BEEF magazine presented a “Beef Roundtable” video discussion of WOTUS as it pertains to beef producers. Ron Lemenager, Purdue Extension beef specialist, and Burt Rutherford, BEEF senior editor, co-hosted the August edition of the “Roundtable” featuring Steve Foglesong, Black Gold Ranch and Feedlot at Astoria, Ill., and Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Though this video was broadcast prior to the Aug. 28 WOTUS implementation, the discussion by the four reveals what producers need to be aware of as they operate under the new rules as they stand. The discussion also focused on the confusion that the ruling has the potential to create as producers attempt to simply do business as usual. Action to repeal WOTUS, and send the EPA back to the drawing board, is being pursued in Congress.

The video if the WOTUS discussion on the “Beef Roundtable” can be found here.