At the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s (NASDA’s) 2025 Annual Meeting, the PFAS and Agriculture Policy Workgroup released the nation’s first comprehensive set of federal recommendations to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination of agricultural land.

The NASDA 2025 Annual Meeting took place in Rogers, Arkansas on September 14–18, convening U.S. commissioners, directors, and secretaries of agriculture to collaborate on leading advancements, challenges, and opportunities impacting the agricultural industry.

The PFAS and Agriculture Policy Workgroup is led by the American Farmland Trust, and consists of 16 farmer, commodity, conservation, research, and health groups. The recommendations were developed by the workgroup in collaboration with state departments of agriculture and NASDA.

The recommendations, which aim to advance a range of nonpartisan, pragmatic solutions while centering the needs of farmers and farm families, are:

1. Congress, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) should provide health, financial, and technical support to PFAS-impacted farmers and ranchers
2. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should protect farmers from unreasonable liability and third-party lawsuits under the Superfund Act, formally known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
3. EPA and USDA should reduce additional PFAS contamination of agricultural land
4. Congress, USDA, and other federal agencies should coordinate and invest in PFAS research
5. USDA and other federal agencies should implement a coordinated education and risk communications strategy.

At the Annual Meeting, NASDA CEO Ted McKinney remarked on the recommendations. "State departments of agriculture have been working directly with farmers and ranchers as PFAS have steadily emerged across the U.S.,” he said. “NASDA is proud to support these pragmatic recommendations as they offer much-needed solutions for protecting farmers, ranchers, and their families and keeping farms and ranches safely open for business. NASDA encourages the Administration and Congress to find opportunities to adopt these nonpartisan policies to maintain the safety and abundance of the U.S. food supply.”