It’s raining outside and there’s not much work Alan Meadows can accomplish on a mid-Monday in early March.
Meadows sits anxiously in her workspace, her cat Kitty sitting across from her at the table. His mind is not about the weather or how the upcoming growing season will affect his 4,000 acres, but about the Tennessee state legislature.
Glyphosate, a chemical known colloquially as “Roundup,” is a weed suppressant that has been used for years in row crop fields in Tennessee and has been the subject of controversy for two years. A bill in the Tennessee General Assembly would provide liability protection to pesticide and herbicide companies. But now House Bill 809/Senate Bill 527 is stalled, and Republican lawmakers aren’t sure they can reassure farmers about the widely used product. Farmers fear that lawsuits over the product could prevent the chemical from being used in Tennessee.
“You know, as a producer, having access to certain technologies and pesticides, glyphosate, is very important,” says Meadows, whose family has farmed in Tennessee since the 1800s. “This is one of the most important uses for agriculture. It’s the basis of every trail that crosses my fields. It’s a broad-spectrum herbicide and something we’ve been using for many years. It’s very important to me that we continue to have access to a tool like that.”
Rep. Rusty Grylls (R-New Bern) has had such a hard time getting the bill through the House that he’s not sure it will pass this session. Since this is an election year, Grylls will need to force the bill through before the House gavel, or revive it for a new fight in 2027 — assuming he is re-elected.
Grylls and Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) pushed the bill to pass in the Senate in 2025. Currently, Roundup’s label does not tell users that it may be carcinogenic. The law continues to allow individuals to sue pesticide manufacturers for alleged harm caused by pesticides, but limits the ability to hold manufacturers accountable for failing to warn of risks when their labels were approved by the EPA. (The World Health Organization’s Cancer Agency ranks glyphosate as a probable carcinogen, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says glyphosate is “unlikely to be a human carcinogen.”)
Alan Meadows
“At this point, the future path of the bill remains uncertain,” Grylls said. “We continue to work with farmers and other stakeholders to find the best way to address the concerns raised. We cannot allow a situation where manufacturers stop providing the products that farmers rely on to protect their crops. If we begin to lose access to new technology and modern farm equipment, we risk putting American farmers out of business and could ultimately become dependent on foreign countries for our nation’s food supply.”
This leaves fifth-generation farmers in a difficult position. As a member of the Tennessee Soybean Association, Meadows appeared at the state Capitol in Nashville, hoping that lawmakers would listen to him and the hundreds of other people in the state who say they are dependent on the chemical.
Meadows says this crossroads has been reached in part because society no longer believes in science. He says there are members of the Make America Healthy Again movement, which is an extension of the Department of Health and Human Services. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda was causing problems in passing the bill in the House of Representatives. During a recent visit to Nashville, Kennedy was asked if he was actively opposing the bill, and he said he had nothing to do with it.
“It’s very frustrating,” Meadows said. “I say our voices aren’t being heard, because if we were, we would have already taken action. We’ve been delayed a year, but if our voices were being heard, I think it would become law. This is not rocket science. It’s very simple. It’s been proven time and time again. I feel like farmers’ voices in general aren’t what they used to be. There aren’t as many of us as there used to be.”
State Sen. Stevens said President Donald Trump’s executive order could also be a solution to the General Assembly’s problems. He said the 1950 Defense Production Act addressed domestic production of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate at the federal level. Because the measure moves the issue into the realm of national security and provides a federal framework for securing supplies, he said it has forced Congress to step back and assess what role, if any, the states should continue to play.
“We understand and respect the concerns raised regarding accountability and public health,” Stevens said. “These are legitimate issues that need to be considered carefully. My position has always been that we can support our farmers and our food supply while also enabling businesses to operate responsibly and transparently. The recess in the House of Commons gives us time to continue the dialogue and find the right balance.”
When asked about countermeasures, sceneGov. Bill Lee, whose family has been farmers for generations, also said he wasn’t sure about the bill. He said he had not yet read the text of the bill and needed to do so before considering it.
Alan Meadows
Still, Lee echoed Stevens’ comments about the right balance between public health, science and agriculture.
“Agricultural products are obviously very important to our industry, and I think it’s extremely important to protect the public from products that are potentially harmful to them,” Lee said. “So finding that right balance is what we aim to do. I don’t know what this bill does in terms of balance, but that’s the goal, right? (The goal is) effective tools that are safe for the public, and that’s what we should aim for.”
At the time of publication, it is unclear when the bill will be referred to another committee. Unfortunately for Meadows, the bill remains languished in the House.
Hamilton Matthew Masters contributed reporting.
