Farmers should be exempt from DOT regulations

By Staff
Jason Cannon, Franklin County Times
Following a recent meeting of the Alabama Cattlemen's Association Board of Directors at the ACA building in Montgomery, cattlemen from around Alabama converged on the Alabama State House to meet with their legislators.
The discussions focused on the Department of Transportation's requirement bill currently before the Alabama Senate that relieves farmers of excessive regulations common only in the commercial trucking industry.
This includes hauling certain items, like hay and feed, to weight limitations that the farmers can haul in their trailers without applying for additional permits and licenses.
We believe farmers should be exempt from these additional expenses.
Farmers are among the hardest hit when prices begin to fluctuate.
When the price of fuel sky-rockets, it hits farmers even harder. Not only do their vehicles run on fuel, but so do their tractors, combines and heavy machinery.
Many farmers also have to pay for heating oil to keep their chicken houses or greenhouses warm in the winter.
The recent jolt to the price of corn will cause more hardship as it becomes more difficult to feed livestock when your working on a budget. We encourage our lawmakers to support these exemptions for our farmers. Times get tough for all of us but they tend to hit our farmers first and hardest. The state doesn't need the additional revenue bad enough to burden our farmers.