This Is NOT OK! Gov’t Sneaking in Pesticide Immunity for Big Ag

Good morning. I was headed out to do tomatoes and then I checked on this Farm Act that is being pushed through— this Farm Bill that is being pushed through the NC Senate, and now it's going to the Ag House Committee, and they're just not doing the will of the people. It's really sad. So now instead of being out doing what I love, I'm going to have to try and email these people and let them know, hey, this isn't okay. You've got to stop. You can't do this. Like, we don't want pesticide immunity. The only people that want this are the people whose pockets are being lined, and they're framing it as, oh, these pesticides, we need them. Oh, if they are having frivolous lawsuits, then they can't provide us with the services we need, the pesticides we need. No, no. There's over 181,000 Bayer alone, just Bayer, which is Monsanto lawsuits happening right now, not in North Carolina, but in the like I don't know if it's the whole world or just the United States, whatever. It doesn't matter. All I know is that that's going to take some pressure off them. They are a billion-dollar industry. I'm just really frustrated. Now, instead of going outside in the cool of the day, I'm going to email the Ag Committee. I have to get on there because it's, it's a deadline. It's 11:00 today. You're seeing this a week later, so Who knows what they're gonna do. Um, I've been sharing on my stories on Instagram all about this. What I do, how I do this, is I go to— this is the ag, these are all of the ag committee representatives— and, um, I go to them, I click on each single one. I am making a document with all of their emails in it so then I can mass email them at one time instead of emailing them one at a time. And as I'm doing this, I'm remembering their names so that when they are up for reelection, we can talk about what they did. I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna find out who voted for this farm bill, and we're not gonna forget. We're not gonna forget. We the people, we care about our state. And it's just extremely frustrating. And this isn't just about me. This is about all the children that are coming up. Like, it's not even just about pesticides. It's about chemicals. And they say, oh, all they have to do is this rigorous EPA. There's no rigorous There's no rigorous— it is literally register your product. You don't even have to, to like prove its safety. Just register it with the EPA and then you're good to go. It's beyond maddening. It's beyond maddening. If I had a product that I was selling that was harming people, they wouldn't give me anything. We can't even call it a section because we don't even know. They're being very tricky about this. They're being very tricky. They're trying to push it through. Let's just get it pushed through. Let's not, let's not allow the public, let's not allow the people to have a voice here. It's ugly. Okay, I've sent my email and now I'm gonna be calling. I've got my phone here and I will be calling each and every one of them. First, I'm gonna make sure that that, um, see who's on the committee that is actually in my district. I'm going to start with them. If there isn't, if there isn't, then I'm just going to start at the top and I'm just going to let them know, hey, this is not okay. You guys are not allowing, um, democracy here. You are just pushing it through. You are catering to, um, to Bayer. And other chemicals, other chemical companies that are lobbying to not have to be responsible for the harm that they cause. And that's not okay. Yeah, I'm just— I'm really, really frustrated and like, I'm so shocked. I'm shocked that it's gone this way. I guess I shouldn't be because these people in Raleigh don't care about us. I mean, they don't, and I've known this for a long time, but I think that I just wanted them to do what was right. And I've spent hours, hours every week calling and emailing senators, and it didn't matter. There was one for sure who really tried, but you know, they just rolled right over her. So I just talked to my house representative, and I feel very emotional because this is for our children. And I talked to her assistant, and her assistant said that their phone is ringing off the hook, which is great, and that makes me so happy. But also, I'm just so sad because this is for our children. Like, we're doing this for our kids. Like, I It's not about me, it's about my children. I want them to have the best start of life, and if there are chemical companies out there that are just allowed to run rampant, and you know, it's just disheartening. It's just disheartening. I just wish that people would listen to moms, I guess. I don't know, like, I find myself overcome with emotion because I just want the best for my children. So I just hope that these House representatives are listening to us. Oh, and I let my senator know too. I was pretty disappointed. Oh, I just talked to, um, two representatives that are very against it, so that makes me feel so much better. It's still just so disheartening. Just gives me some hope that other people are questioning it and saying, wait a minute, this is not okay. So fingers crossed that, that this is going in the correct direction. I've called a significant amount of representatives and I need to get outside. Before it gets too hot because the tomatoes are calling. And I'm almost done. I've probably got, what, 15, 20 tomatoes left to stake up, if that many. So I'm gonna get out there. Justin's gonna come out and do beans and then, um, weed the beans. And then I'm going to come back in and finish calling before 10 AM. So that is what is on my to-do list. On the farm, it can be pretty boring because, I mean, how long is this going to take me to get the tomatoes done? You know, it's just a lot of the same old, same old. We are done!

Woohoo!

It is officially done. Now I get a week off, and then I'll be back because there'll be more. I feel like I I need to clip these top ones so that doesn't get as bad as it got before. I came back for a quick potty break. I got some laundry started, got a little drink. Henry changed into some shorts. Very productive. I am gonna get Henry settled in with the brothers. He wants to go be with the brothers, so I've got to find them, which I think they're up on the mountain. It feels cooler weather-wise. I don't know what time it is because I don't have my phone or a watch. Oh, I think I hear them, but it's just, it's just a less intense, but I know it's coming. We're about to get hit with 90 degrees. The week you see this, we'll be having 90-degree weather. Okay, we found Josiah. There he is. I am now headed to the broccoli to see— we can see— where did I put that? Justin gave me his knife. Did I leave it? Oh no, here it is.

Shoo!

Gave me his knife to harvest any broccoli that I see. It's mainly harvested. Very little. Oh, there's a nice head. That is the end of the broccoli harvest. We have this, so I'm gonna start pulling these broccoli plants and throwing them into the pigs right now because then it'll just, you know, give them time to eat their broccoli. And, um, and then we'll push more over to them type thing. Oh, our cabbage is going to be done. We're going to need to start making sauerkraut. And then also I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to fry it and save it in super cubes as well. I think that's like pre-do it. I don't know, I need to look it up, see what other people are doing. Those are collards. See what other people are doing with the broccoli— I mean, not broccoli, cabbage— in order to preserve it. All right, I'm gonna set you guys down. Where should I set you? I'll set you over here. Okay, let's check them out. Let's see how much they like it. Oh, look! They will eat the leaves, I bet. I doubt they will eat the stalks. We're inside. This is the last of the broccoli. I can't believe it. I can't believe we did so much. That's good, that's good.

Can you get down in there?

Yep.

That was handy. Maybe use something different than a battery and a light. Little hammer. This freezer is kaput. We have a couple options. We could put some boiling water in there in a bowl and shut the door. We can leave this open and let it thaw out for a couple of hours. This, no problem, it's melting pretty fast. That, it's just full of ice blocking airflow. This is not working as efficiently as it could be. And what told us we have a real problem is every few days we have a puddle of water here. Let's let that do while we live our life. We don't do anything fast as homesteaders, do we? We just have— we just manage. So why don't we go make lunch, pick up Lily, and come back, and that ought to be thawed. Get out of the sink! Get out of the sink, boy! Okay, we are back to get Lily. Apparently Lily's old horse is here. Yeah, there he is. Hey, you skittish little thing. He just couldn't handle— he just couldn't handle the homestead life. You think she'll go in? What is her deal all of a sudden? You want me to try to get— she's really acting like she wants to. I don't get it. She was real— whoa, she was real good about that. Wasn't that— was— hey, you got to stay calm. Here she comes. Oh girl, good job, good job. Just be impatient. She don't want to commit. She don't want to commit, huh?

The rear?

Yeah.

Well, she still is exactly right though. The rear— so bucking, you can fly off, right? Rearing, you're going to— you could possibly get landed.

Come on, come on, come on, come on. Trying to buck it now. There it is, there it is, there it is. One more leg.

As far as you can put it.

One more leg. So close. Hey, Lily, these guys got some experience.

Luna doesn't need this. So your horse will follow your shoulder, right? So you put your shoulders where you want your horse to go. Just walk. See, you walk your horse, walk your horse, and don't look at— don't look back. Stay with her, but you want her to— don't look back. Don't ever look back.

Okay, that's good enough.

Stop. Okay, a horse that doesn't stop is being very disrespectful, cuz are in your space. So when you turn, that horse is doing exactly— that horse is doing exactly what Lily Wright is—

yeah, Lily is telling her to do.

Wow. Stay right behind her. Behind the horse. Keep walking, keep walking.

They're going to show us how to do it.

Okay, all good.

Keep walking, keep walking, keep walking. Stay right there, stay there, stay there. Come on, come on. All right, come back out. Go, go, little— go, keep walking, keep walking. We don't have our lines with— we don't have a line with. Go, go, go! There you go.

Okay, now he's got a lunge whip. There it is! Look at that, guys. How do we train her to get used to this trailer? I'll just do that every time. Do it. Maybe just go out every day and do that.

Do it and then take her off and let her go play in the pasture. Every time you put on the trailer, you're taking her somewhere to work. Work.

I see.

You see what I'm saying?

Yeah.

Every time you've taken her, you've taken her to work, even if this is the first show.

Would it make sense to start feeding her her daily snacks in there?

We're not big on giving them feed, food, or treats.

Okay.

Going in.

Oh, okay.

Because you never know. I see.

That's true.

I see. But you know, you got—

okay, good.

You know, you got things like—

good.

No.

Well, that was very nice of those kind people to come and school us and putting on a horse. Don't do snacks, they said. The horse is afraid, they're not wanting to eat, and you might not have snacks, and you might not have a snack. Get that lunge whip, get you far enough away from the hind end, or if the horse jumps back, they say— oh, and he said do this at home. Yeah, put her in for 5 minutes, then let her back out. You're telling her we're not always going somewhere scary. I'm gonna drive you, Rebecca, and show you something special on our way out. Okay. See if it doesn't bring back memories. Look over there to the right. Keep looking.

Where?

Keep looking.

What?

Okay.

What?

Now look.

Look at what? The phone booth?

Does it work?

Need a quarter to call your mom?

Oh, there's no phone booth.

We are back home and getting a delivery of sheetrock we paid for delivery inside, but they didn't know anything about that. Storm is looming. We're gonna have to go rip our loins and pick these up ourselves. Okay, well, we got rained out. It's pouring the rain, but sunshine. All right, boys, you think we got it? We got it in it. We did it! Y'all hanging drywall tomorrow, 9 AM? All right, Randolph, put them to work in the morning.

It is the afternoon. I am now just getting around to preserving this broccoli. It's been a long day of a lot of other things, um, calling, emailing senators— or not senators, House representatives. They did not talk about it in the 11 o'clock meeting like they were gonna. So this is a very small harvest, so I'm just gonna use one pot and it will be a lot less intense. I'm gonna put ice in this. It'll be my ice water. Ooh, I need to set my timer. Let's just say it's been a crazy day.

It's evening. Our freezer isn't quite unfrozen, but there's some stubborn ice back in there, so— why does that pop off? That's just— gunk of ice. We'll have to hit that in the morning. Rebecca's got an update on the hearing today in our count— our state, but first, the clip of the day. Raised in a Barn, coming this weekend.

As long as they're being respectful and following by the rules of the house and things of that nature, then they are welcome to stay. But they have to be productive. Like, they're not going to sit on a video game. They don't have to like go out and get a job at Waffle House or Chick-fil-A or whatever, you know what I mean?

Or Lowe's, like, in some janky apartment.

Yeah, they can stay here, work on some— because entrepreneurial, like forging their way— you're more than welcome to stick around. So the Farm Bill came before the House, um, Ag Committee, and there was an amendment to the Farm Bill that was put before the committee, and it was to delete the um, limited liability is what they called it, um, and to delete those lines completely from the Farm Bill. And we got that amendment passed, 21 votes for let's delete it to 13 votes to let's keep it in. So as of now, it's out, but we're unsure of of what's happening because they had switched the bills. It was SB 639 and then it became— it was SB 639 in the Senate and then it became S-401 in the House.

Close it out.

Happy day!