June 24, 2025

Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 24, 2025

This Week—Fri. June 27 at Noon: Pennsylvania’s Clean & Green Program: County-Level Administration

Register Now—2025 PA Agricultural Law Symposium, Sept. 18, 2025, at Univ. Park, PA.

Antitrust: Federal Court Approves $398 Million Settlement in Chicken Processor Wage-Fixing Class Action 🌾
On June 5, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued orders granting approval of a $398 million settlement fund and award of $132 million in attorney’s fees in a 2019 class action suit claiming that multiple national chicken processers conspired to fix and suppress employee wages. Jien v. Perdue Farms, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-02521. The approval defined the settlement class as “[a]ll persons employed by Defendant Processors . . . in the continental United States from January 1, 2000 until July 20, 2021,” but for Pilgrim’s and George’s reduced the time frame “from January 1, 2009 until July 20, 2021.” According to the orders, the settlement “is the second-largest recovery in a wage-fixing case in the United States and the largest financial recovery for an antitrust class action in the Fourth Circuit.” Additionally, the court noted, “Unlike many antitrust class actions, Plaintiffs’ Counsel identified and investigated the allegations in this case without the benefit of a prior government investigation.” See also ALWR—Sept. 13, 2019, “Chicken Processing Plant Workers Bring Class Action Lawsuit Against Chicken Processors” and ALWR—Jan. 14, 2025, “Preliminary Approval Motion Filed for $180 Million Settlement with Chicken Processers in Wage-Fixing Class Action.”

National Agricultural Policy: Pennsylvania Challenges USDA Termination of $13 Million Local Food Assistance
On June 4, 2025, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) determination that the Local Food Purchase Assistance 2025 Cooperative Agreement (LFPA) “no longer effectuates USDA’s priorities” without “identif[ing] what its priorities are or how the program fails to advance them.” Shapiro v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, No. 1:25-cv-00998. According to a concurrent announcement, the program was to provide $13 million to “suppl[y] 14 food banks with fresh, locally grown food,” “directly support[ing] 189 Pennsylvania farms.” The complaint cites letters from USDA terminating the LFPA25 “in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.340(a)(4) and the terms and conditions of the award,” but noting that the same regulation “expressly provides that the federal agency ‘must clearly and unambiguously specify all termination provisions in the . . . award’” and that the agreement “does not specify any circumstances under which the agreement can be terminated.” The complaint seeks vacatur of USDA’s determination.  

Conservation Programs: President Issues Executive Order to Consolidate Wildland Fire Programs
On June 12, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO 14308) directing the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to “consolidate their wildland fire programs” within 90 days. Additionally, the order directs the secretaries to “consider . . . facilitating . . . innovative uses of woody biomass and forest products to reduce fuel loads in areas at risk of wildfires” and “consider initiating rulemaking proceedings to establish . . . best practices to reduce the risk of wildfire ignition . . . including through methods such as vegetation management . . . removal of forest-hazardous fuels along transmission lines, improved engineering approaches, and safer operational practices.”

Nutrition Programs: USDA Approves ‘Non-Nutritious Items’ SNAP Waivers for Six States
As of June 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has approved SNAP Food Restriction Waivers restricting the “purchase of non-nutritious items like soda and candy” from six states:

  • Nebraska (“restricts purchase of soda and energy drinks”)
  • Indiana (“restricts purchase of soft drinks and candy”)
  • Idaho (“restricts purchase of soda and candy”)
  • Utah (“restricts purchase of soda and candy”)
  • Iowa (“restricts all taxable food items as defined by the Iowa Department of Revenue except food producing plants and seeds for food producing plants”)
  • Arkansas (“restricts purchase of soda, fruit and vegetable drinks with less than 50% natural juice, unhealthy drinks, and candy”)

Additionally, on May 14, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott formally requested a waiver to “prohibit the purchase of unhealthy, highly processed food using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits,” although the waiver is not currently listed on FNS’s approval list. According to FNS’s approval list, all states will begin implementing their waivers beginning January 1, 2026, except for Arkansas, which will begin implementing its waiver July 1, 2026.

Agricultural Labor: Federal Court Resumes 2023 H-2A Wage Rule Challenge
On May 29, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued an opinion denying the government’s motion to stay proceedings for 90 days and directing the court clerk to reopen a case challenging the Department of Labor’s (DOL) February 2023 final rule, which amended the H-2A wage rate calculations to include data from non-agricultural occupations. Florida Growers Association, Inc. v. Su, No. 8:23-cv-00889. The court had previously issued a 60-day stay in February “due to the change in presidential administrations,” but found that the government defendants “fail[ed] to demonstrate that an additional stay is appropriate at this time, particularly in light of Plaintiffs’ allegations of ongoing harm,” stating, “These proceedings have now been continued or stayed for more than four months.” See also ALWR—Dec. 22, 2023, “Agricultural Employers’ Group Files Petition Seeking Repeal of 2023 H-2A Wage Rule, Litigation Pending.”

Agricultural Labor: NY Dairy Workers Vote Against Union Representation
At its May 14, 2025 meeting, according to its published agenda and minutes, the New York Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) issued a decision regarding United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) District Union Local One and Merrell Dairy, LLC (CU-6713). According to a press release (PDF) from Grow NY Farms, on March 27, 2025, “workers at Merrell Dairy in Wayne County voted decisively against union representation by UFCW Local One, with a final vote count of 44-2” and, on May 14, “PERB officially dismissed the petition and acknowledged the results of the secret ballot election,” although no published decision is available on PERB’s website. The election follows a prior union certification in May 2023 “granted through a card check process” that was overturned by PERB in November 2024 after the board determined that “Local One ha[d] not submitted evidence of majority support in the unit,” which PERB determined to include “all full-time and regular part-time agricultural workers” and exclude “supervisors, unpaid family members of the employer . . . paid family members of the employer, lead milkers, lead herdspersons, office clerical employees, mechanics/field crop team leaders, and temporary workers.” According to Grow NY, “the corrected process led to a secret-ballot election—the first of its kind under” New York’s Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act.

Technology: Food Standards Australia New Zealand Permits Cell-Cultured Quail as a Food
On June 18, 2025, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), authorized by the two countries’ Joint Food Standards Treaty, published Amendment No. 239 to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, permitting the use of cell-cultured quail as a food. According to FSANZ, the amendment is in response to an “application from Vow Group Pty Ltd,” which “sought approval to use cultured quail cells in combination with other ingredients to make products such as logs, rolls and patties.” Vow announced the approval of its cultured quail, stating that, “in the coming weeks,” the company’s Forged whipped quail, fatty quail, and candlelit quail products will “appear in kitchens across the country—from intimate wine bars to iconic dining rooms.” FSANZ states that its “assessment concluded that the product is safe for human consumption and presents no toxicological, nutritional or allergenic concerns” and that, “to support the introduction of cultured quail and other future cell-cultured foods,” the agency “also developed new standards that establish clear requirements for labelling, production and sale.”

Biotechnology: South Carolina Passes Bill Prohibiting ‘Misrepresentation’ of Cell-Cultured Products
On May 8, 2025, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed into law S103 (PDF), which prohibits any “misleading or deceptive practice related to an artificial or cell‑cultivated food product,” such as “label[ing] any . . . [such] product as . . . animal protein” or “misrepresenting . . . [such] product as being derived from harvested production . . . animal protein” such as “beef, poultry, [or] fish.” The law defines “cell-cultivated food product” as “any food product developed in a laboratory or facility and grown from a biopsy of living animal cells including, but not limited to, livestock, poultry, fish, crustaceans, or other animal protein” and requires that “[t]he front of all . . . [such] food product packaging . . . contain a conspicuous label that indicates that the . . . food product is not beef, poultry, fish, crustacean, or any other animal protein that the artificial or cell‑cultivated food product may resemble.” The law provides that “[e]ach package” in violation of the law “shall be a separate and distinct offense.”

 

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Understanding Agricultural Law Series. A free monthly Zoom webinar series for agricultural and rural business advisors. One hour of substantive CLE credit available for Pennsylvania-licensed attorneys at no charge. All events on Fridays, noon–1 pm (ET). Upcoming:

Conservation Cornerstone: Pennsylvania Right to Farm Laws. Center staff attorney Brook Duer presents with Penn State Extension’s Conservation Cornerstone webinar series.

  • June 24, 2025, 8:30–9:30 am

Quarterly Dairy Legal Webinar Series. A free quarterly Zoom webinar series covering dairy industry legal and regulatory developments with an in-depth focus topic. One hour of substantive CLE credit available for Pennsylvania-licensed attorneys at no charge. All events on Tuesdays, noon–1 pm (ET). Upcoming:

Penn State Solar Law Symposium. Hosted by Penn State Extension and the Penn State Center for Energy Law and Policy, co-sponsored by Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law. 6 PACLE credits available.

  • August 21, 2025, 10:00am–4:45pm. Online.

2025 Pennsylvania Agricultural Law Symposium. In-person at Penn State Dickinson Law, Lewis Katz Building, University Park, Pa. This day-long symposium will offer 6 CLE credits to Pennsylvania-licensed attorneys.

Resources of Interest:

Southern Ag Today, Who Needs Attorneys When You Have AI?, Jesse Richardson—W. Va. Univ. and Tiffany Dowell Lashmet—Tex. A&M Agrilife Ext. (June 20, 2025)

Nat’l Agric. Law Ctr., FDA Updates: June 2025, Emily Stone (June 17, 2025)

Tex. A&M Agric. Law Blog, New Fact Sheet: Key Legal Considerations for Any Carbon-Related Agreement, Tiffany Dowell Lashmet (June 16, 2025)

Ohio St. Univ. Ext. Farm Off. Blog, 2024 Farm Commodity Program Payment Estimates for Ohio Counties as of June 2025, Carl Zulauf, Seungki Lee, and David Marrison (June 19, 2025)

Ohio St. Univ. Ext. Farm Off. Blog, New Ohio Law Incentivizes Energy Generation on Former Brownfields and Coal Mines, Ellen Essman (June 13th, 2025)

Iowa St. Univ. Ctr. Agric. Law & Tax’n, Many New Iowa Laws will be Effective July 1, 2025, Kristine A. Tidgren (June 13, 2025)

Univ. of Ill. Farm Policy News, ICE Reverses Exemption of Ag from Immigration Raid, Ryan Hanrahan (June 18, 2025)

Univ. of Ill. Farmdoc Daily, Farm Bill in Reconciliation: What the Byrd Rule Exposes but Does Not Resolve, Jonathan Coppess (June 18, 2025)

Agric. Law & Tax’n Blog, A Legacy is More Than ‘Stuff’ and … Other ‘Stuff’, Roger A. McEowen (June 15, 2025)

STATE ACTIONS—EXECUTIVE & LEGISLATIVE

PENNSYLVANIA EXECUTIVE AGENCIES (Pa. Bulletin Vol. 55, No. 25—June 21, 2025):  

Center for Rural Pennsylvania

55 Pa.B. 4192 Notice: “Applications Sought to Fill Positions on Subcommittees of the Pennsylvania Rural Population Revitalization Commission”

Department of Agriculture

55 Pa.B. 4192 Notice: “Fertilizer Nutrient Values”

55 Pa.B. 4192 Notice: “Most Effective Basin-Public Private Partnership; Grant Solicitation and Application Procedures”

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

55 Pa.B. 4195 Notice: “Proposed Project Between the Game Commission and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of State Parks”

Environmental Quality Board

55 Pa.B. 4188 Proposed Rulemaking: “Legal Authority for Delegation of Federal Plans in 40 CFR Part 62”

Pennsylvania Milk Board

55 Pa.B. 4306 Notice: “Sunshine Meetings for Fiscal Year 2025-2026”

PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE

HB 179 “An Act authorizing the provision or sale of Pennsylvania milk in Pennsylvania schools.” Re-committed to Rules [House] (June 16, 2025)

HR 5 “A Resolution designating September 18, 2025, and September 18, 2026, as “State Grange Day” in Pennsylvania and celebrating the Pennsylvania State Grange on its 152nd and 153rd anniversaries.” Reported as committed [House] (June 16, 2025)

HR 221 “A Resolution designating the week of June 16 through 22, 2025, as “Pollinator Week” in Pennsylvania.” Adopted (199-4) [House] (June 17, 2025)

FEDERAL ACTIONS—EXECUTIVE & LEGISLATIVE

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY PRESS RELEASES

EPA and Army Wrap Up Initial Listening Sessions, Move Toward Proposal to Revise 2023 Definition of WOTUS (June 17, 2025)

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Leaders Praise EPA’s Proposed New Renewable Fuel Standards to Strengthen U.S. Energy Security, Support Rural America, Expand Domestic Fuel Production (June 16, 2025)

EPA Proposes New Renewable Fuel Standards to Strengthen U.S. Energy Security, Support Rural America, and Expand Production of Domestic Fuels (June 13, 2025)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA) PRESS RELEASES

Secretary Rollins Announces Bold Plan to Combat New World Screwworm’s Northward Spread (June 18, 2025)

Secretary Rollins Takes Bold Action to Put American Farmers First, Cuts Millions in Woke DEI Funding (June 17, 2025)

Secretary Rollins Announces Major Step Forward for the Resolution Copper Project (June 16, 2025)

Make Agriculture Great Again Trade Wins: President Trump Secures Greater Ag Market Access in Brazil, Thailand, and Vietnam (June 16, 2025)

Secretary Rollins Supports EPA’s Record Setting Biofuels Blending Requirements (June 13, 2025)

USDA AGENCY PRESS RELEASES

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

USDA Restricts PACA Violators in Michigan, Texas, and Nebraska. from Operating in the Produce Industry (June 16, 2025)

USDA Restricts PACA Violators in California and Texas from Operating in the Produce Industry (June 16, 2025)

USDA Revises Salable Quantities and Allotment Percentages of Native Spearmint Oil for the 2024-2025 Marketing Year (June 13, 2025)

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

Fire Ants May Offer Insight into Crippling Honey Bee Disease (June 17, 2025)

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

APHIS Supports Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Management and Research (June 20, 2025)

Secretary Rollins Announces Bold Plan to Combat New World Screwworm’s Northward Spread (June 18, 2025)

Farm Service Agency (FSA)

Nominations Now Open for Farmers and Ranchers to Serve on USDA Farm Service Agency County Committees (June 16, 2025)

Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)

Constituent Update (June 20, 2025)

Salmonella Verification Testing: June 02, 2024 through May 31, 2025 (June 20, 2025)

Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)

Export Sales to Unknown Destinations (June 20, 2025)

Export Sales to Unknown Destinations (June 17, 2025)

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

USDA to Survey Cattle Operations (June 20, 2025)

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

Notice: Gain of Function Research Reporting for USDA (June 20, 2025)

NIFA Invests Nearly $1.2M in Response to Hurricane Helene (June 18, 2025)

‘Buzz me in:’ Bees Wearing Itty Bitty QR Codes Reveal Hive Secrets (June 16, 2025)

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Healthiest Haylands and Pastures for the Appalachian Region (June 18, 2025)

Fence Around the Water: The Conservation Efforts of the Wandering Lamb Farm (June 17, 2025)

It Takes A Village (June 17, 2025)

Then and Now: The Power of Agriculture (June 16, 2025)

Beyond the Surface: How NRCS Engineers Help Plan and Maintain Iowa Watersheds (June 16, 2025)

FEDERAL EXECUTIVE AGENCIES (Federal Register: June 6-13, 2025):

Department of Agriculture

90 FR 25583 Notice: “Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request [Food and Nutrition Service: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Work Requirements and Screening]” (June 17, 2025)

90 FR 25202 Notice: “Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Reinstatement [National Agricultural Statistics Service: Local Food Marketing Practices Survey] ” (June 16, 2025)

90 FR 25202 Notice: “Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request [Rural Business-Cooperative Service: Rural Innovation Stronger Economy Grant Program]” (June 16, 2025)

90 FR 25201 Notice: “Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request [Food Safety and Inspection Service: Importation and Transportation of Meat, Poultry and Egg Products]” (June 16, 2025)

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

90 FR 26224 Proposed rule: “Import Regulations for Horses; Pre-Export Examination” (June 20, 2025)

90 FR 25017 Notice: “Addition of El Salvador and Belize to the List of Regions Affected with Screwworm” (June 13, 2025)

Environmental Protection Agency

90 FR 26288 Notice: “Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; NSPS for the Phosphate Fertilizer Industry (Renewal)” (June 20, 2025)

90 FR 25784 Proposed rule: “Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program: Standards for 2026 and 2027, Partial Waiver of 2025 Cellulosic Biofuel Volume Requirement, and Other Changes” (June 17, 2025)

90 FR 25614 Notice: public hearing: “Public Hearing for Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program: Standards for 2026 and 2027, Partial Waiver of 2025 Cellulosic Biofuel Volume Requirement, and Other Changes” (June 17, 2025)

Farm Service Agency

90 FR 25873 Final rule: “Removal of Obsolete Regulations” (June 18, 2025)

Food and Drug Administration

90 FR 26308 Notice: “Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Interstate Shellfish Dealer’s Certificate and Participation in the National Shellfish Sanitation Program” (June 20, 2025)

90 FR 26309 Notice of availability: “Post-Warning Letter Meetings Under Generic Drug User Fee Amendments; Guidance for Industry; Availability” (June 20, 2025)

90 FR 26055 Notice: “Cheese Products Deviating from Standard of Identity; Temporary Permit for Market Testing” (June 18, 2025)

90 FR 26056 Notice: “Yogurt Products Deviating from Standard of Identity; Temporary Permit for Market Testing” (June 18, 2025)

90 FR 25309 Notice: “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards” (June 16, 2025)

90 FR 25319 Notice: “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Abbreviated New Animal Drug Applications” (June 16, 2025)

90 FR 25335 Notice: “Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; New Animal Drug and Veterinary Master Files” (June 16, 2025)

90 FR 25050 Notice: “Request for Nominations for Individuals and Consumer Organizations for Advisory Committees” (June 13, 2025)

Food and Nutrition Service

90 FR 25203 Notice: “Agency Information Collection Activities: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Reporting of Lottery and Gambling, and Resource Verification” (June 16, 2025)

Forest Service

90 FR 26266 Notice of meeting: “Superior Resource Advisory Committee” (June 20, 2025)

U.S. HOUSE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE

H.R.4062 “To encourage and facilitate efforts by States and other stakeholders to conserve and sustain the western population of monarch butterflies, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committees on Natural Resources and Agriculture (June 20, 2025)

H.Res.527 “Expressing support for the designation of June 2025 as ‘National Dairy Month’ to recognize the critical role dairy plays in maintaining a healthy diet and preserving our Nation’s agricultural economy.” Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture (June 20, 2025)

H.Res.526 “Recognizing the importance of pollinators to ecosystem health and agriculture in the United States by designating June 15 through June 22, 2025, as ‘National Pollinator Week’.” Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture (June 20, 2025)

H.R.4046 “To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program providing for the establishment of Agriculture Cybersecurity Centers, and for other purposes.” Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture (June 17, 2025)

H.R.4038 “To require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to establish a standard for the response time to wildfire incidents, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committees on Natural Resources, Agriculture, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Science, Space, and Technology (June 17, 2025)

H.R.3824 “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2025” Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment (June 13, 2025)

U.S. SENATE AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY COMMITTEE

S.2112 “A bill to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to modify the definition of hemp, and for other purposes.” Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (June 18, 2025)

S.2103 “A bill to amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to authorize mandatory funding for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative.” Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (June 18, 2025)

U.S. HOUSE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: 

U.S. House Ag. Comm., RE: “A Review of the U.S. Grain Standards Act” (June 26, 2025, 10:00AM ET)

 

Contributors:
Audry Thompson—Staff Attorney
Christina Fraser—Research Assistant