(NAFB) – Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says there’s no truth to the talk that the Biden Administration wants to take land away from people and discourage consumers from eating beef to help fight climate change.

Vilsack says the president wants to protect 30 percent of the nation’s land by 2030 but doesn’t plan to use eminent domain to take possession of that land. The Hagstrom Report says Vilsack told ag journalists that the talk of a land grab is really off base.

“There’s no intent to take away land from farmers,” he says. “The goal is to give farmers more opportunities.”

Vilsack also talked about rumors that the Biden Administration plans to limit how much beef Americans eat. Vilsack says there is no effort in place to limit the intake of beef coming out of the White House or USDA.

“In the political world, games get played, and issues get brought into play,” Vilsack says.

The rumor seems to have started thanks to a University of Michigan study on beef. The study says cutting the intake of all animal-based foods by 50 percent and replacing that with equivalent quantities of plant-based food would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent.

“There’s no policy paper in the administration suggesting that people eat less meat,” he adds.