Wilton Simpson, agricultural leaders scathe banks for plotting ESG onto American farmers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, along with 11 other state agricultural officials penned a letter on Monday to America’s six largest banks, accusing them of colluding to force ESG, or environmental and social governances criteria, onto American farmers and ranchers.

“We hold serious concerns over commitments made by your bank as part of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, and the potential impacts on the agriculture sector; specifically, food availability and price increases on consumers, credit access for our farmers and agriculture product producers, and overall negative economic consequences,” the letter reads.

Along with Florida, agricultural leaders from Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia signed on.

“We remain committed to safeguarding the interests of consumers, American farmers, ranchers and agriculture producers in our states, as well as stewarding the lands and animals that ensure our nation’s food security,” the letter states.

Additionally, state leaders vowed continually to “encourage, promote, and advance the interests of agriculture.” They include regulating animals, food, fuel, plants, soil, and pesticides.

The leaders asked for “more information” after accusing banks of troubling environmental commitments targeting farmers. It also warns banks of undermining the nation’s food supply while putting “grave consequences” on consumers.

“Implementing these commitments would have severe consequences for American
farmers—including cutting America’s beef and livestock consumption in half, switching to
inefficient electric farm equipment, and moving away from the nitrogen fertilizer necessary for
American agriculture to thrive,” the letter reads.

State leaders accused banks of seeking emissions targets on agriculture by 2024 or sooner.

“Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture requires a complete overhaul
of on-farm infrastructure—one of the goals of the NZBA,” the letter states. “This would have a catastrophic impact on our farmers.”

The letter listed impact areas to include “switching to electric machinery and equipment, installing on-site solar panels and wind turbines, moving to organic fertilizer, altering rice-field irrigation systems, and slashing U.S. ruminant meat consumption in half costing millions of livestock jobs.”

It also warned of increases on food prices and decreases in production.

“The “green premium” from low-emissions ammonia alone is predicted to increase fertilizer costs by up to 60% and food prices by up to 26%, even according to net zero proponents like the World Economic Forum,” the letter states.