The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture is asking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to delay enforcement of its new requirements for storage of anhydrous ammonia. NASDA wants OSHA to delay the enforcement to July of 2018. Iowa State Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey says the whole rule needs to be thrown out and redone. He says it was based on an unrelated event.

He says implementation of the regulation will also cause many problems.

Northey says the cost of the rule comes at a time when farmers and ranchers are already struggling financially and can’t really handle the extra burden.

Northey says the rule will hurt the smaller, independent retail fertilizer dealers the most.