January 27, 2025

Agricultural Law Weekly Review—January 28, 2025

Agribusiness: Supreme Court Stays BOI Injunction But Reporting Requirements Still Paused 🌾
On January 23, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion staying the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas’s December 5, 2025 injunction in Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland and again reinstating the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and the act’s Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements. James R. McHenry, III, Acting Attorney General, v. Texas Top Cop Shop, No. 24A653. However, another nationwide injunction of the law, issued in a separate case on January 7, 2025, is still effective. Smith v. United States Department of The Treasury, No. 6:24-cv-00336 (E.D. Tex.). For background, see Fifth Circuit Reinstates Corporate Transparency Act Injunction After Brief Reversal, Government Files Petition for Certiorari. For more on the current ruling and BOI status, see the following articles:

Biofuels: Executive Order Directs EPA to Consider Year-Round E15 Sales
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Declaring a National Energy Emergency.” Among several actions, the order directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator to, “after consultation with, and concurrence by, the Secretary of Energy . . . consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow the year-round sale of E15 gasoline to meet any projected temporary shortfalls in the supply of gasoline across the Nation.”

International Trade: Argentinian Decree Grants Food Code Compliance to U.S. Imports and ‘High Health Surveillance’ Countries
On January 20, 2025, the President of Argentina issued, in the country’s Official Gazette, Decree 35/2025 (English PDF), which “simplifies administrative procedures” food imports. Also announced (English PDF) by Argentina’s Ministry of Health, the decree “establishes that [Argentine Food Code] requirements will be considered satisfied if the food products and packaging have a certification issued by countries” with “high health surveillance,” which includes the United States along with “Australia, New Zealand, Canada . . . Israel, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or the European Union bloc.” According to the announcement, “to enter the country, only an Import Declaration will have to be completed, without the need for the competent national health authority to request additional requirements.” The decree became effective January 21, 2025.

Food Safety: GAO Report Recommends USDA Action to Increase Meat, Poultry Safety Standards
On January 22, 2025, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report titled “Food Safety: USDA Should Take Additional Actions to Strengthen Oversight of Meat and Poultry.” According to the report, although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2018 “designated Salmonella in ‘not ready-to-eat’ breaded stuffed chicken products [as] an ‘adulterant’ . . . if present at certain levels,” the agency has not since “finalized any new or updated standards for Campylobacter and other illness-causing pathogens in meat and poultry products.” The report recommends that USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) (1) “develop a prioritization plan to fully document which products to address” and establish policies to limit Salmonella in meat and Campylobacter in turkey, (2) “review the public health impacts of delaying proposed pathogen standards,” and (3) “offer education materials, such as signage, to its regulated plants on sanitation.” Additionally, GAO recommends that both FSIS and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) update their memoranda of understanding with each other “to clearly identify specific pathogens of concern and each agency’s responsibilities in coordinating and responding to these pathogens’ occurrence in outbreak investigation activities.”

Antitrust: Cargill to Pay $32.5 Million to Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs in Turkey Antitrust Settlement
On January 15, 2025, the In Re Turkey Antitrust Litigation Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois a memorandum in support of their motion for preliminary approval of a $32.5 million settlement with Cargill in a case claiming that the company, along with data company Agri Stats and multiple other turkey integrator and producer defendants, conspired to suppress production and fix turkey prices. In Re Turkey Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:19-cv-08318. Additionally, on January 22, 2025, the court issued an opinion granting class certification for both the Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs and the Commercial and Institutional Indirect Purchasers. According to a January 16 minute entry, the court will hold a hearing on January 30, 2025, on the motion for preliminary approval of the Cargill settlement.

Animal Welfare: Colorado Supreme Court Holds Habeas Corpus Inapplicable to Nonhuman Animals
On January 21, 2025, the Colorado Supreme Court published an opinion holding that the state’s “habeas statute only applies to persons, and not to nonhuman animals.” Nonhuman Rights Project v. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, No. 24SA21. The plaintiff animal rights group had “filed a Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of . . . five elderly African elephants that live at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo . . . to secure their transfer to a ‘suitable elephant sanctuary.’” However, the court determined that state law defines “person” as “any individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency . . . ” (C.R.S. § 2-4-401(8)) and found that the General Assembly’s use of “person” in the habeas corpus statute demonstrated its intent to only apply the statute to humans. The court affirmed the “the district court’s holding that the elephants do not have standing because . . . habeas corpus relief in Colorado is available only to persons, not nonhuman animals” “no matter how cognitively, psychologically, or socially sophisticated they may be.”

Biosecurity: FDA Publishes Summary of Prevention Strategy to Prevent Enteric Viruses in Berries
On January 17, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the publication of the agency’s summary of its strategy to “prevent human norovirus and hepatitis A outbreaks in fresh and frozen berries.” According to the announcement, although “no enteric virus outbreaks associated with domestic berries have been reported in 35 years, there have been reported outbreaks linked to imported fresh and frozen berries.” FDA states that “key factors to consider in preventing outbreaks include proper hygienic practices of field workers, management of sanitary facilities, measures to prevent cross-contamination of fruit in field and processing operations, and measures to monitor and limit viral carriage of farm and facility workers.”

 

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Podcasts:

Farmland Legal Energy Podcast

The Inflation Reduction Act and Agriculture

An Introduction to Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land

Dust Pollution in Rural Pennsylvania

Introduction to Precision Agriculture

Resources of Interest:

Nat’l Agric. Law Center, Soil for Sale? State Legislative Efforts to Restrict Foreign Investments – Part 2, NALC Staff (Jan. 23, 2025)

Nat’l Agric. Law Center, Soil for Sale? State Legislative Efforts to Restrict Foreign Investments – Part 1, NALC Staff (Jan. 21, 2025)

Southern Ag Today, Estimated Total Economic Impacts from Trade Policy Shifts-Worst-Case-Scenario Revisited, R. Jamey Menard (Univ. Tennessee Institute of Agric.) (Jan. 23, 2025)

Southern Ag Today, Where Does My Food Come From? What Google Searchers Want to Know, Time Woods (Univ. Kentucky) (Jan. 24, 2025)

Tex. A&M Agric. Law Blog, Enrollment Periods for Crop and Dairy Safety-Net Programs Announced, Tiffany Dowell (Jan. 20, 2025)

STATE ACTIONS—EXECUTIVE & LEGISLATIVE

PENNSYLVANIA EXECUTIVE AGENCIES

(Pa. Bulletin Vol. 55, No. 4—Jan. 25, 2025): 

Department of Environmental Protection

55 Pa.B. 797 Notice—Applications: “The Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law and the Federal Clean Water Act Applications for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits and Water Quality Management (WQM) Permits Under the Clean Streams Law and Federal Clean Water Act”

55 Pa.B. 887 Notice: “Proposed Designation Recommendations for the 2024 Primary Annual Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard; Public Hearing”

PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE

SB 186 “An Act providing for the abrogation of regulations relating to the CO2 Budget Trading Program.” Referred to ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY. (Jan. 24, 2025)

HB 313 “An Act amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in registration of vehicles, further providing for vehicles exempt from registration.” Referred to AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. (Jan. 23, 2025)

HB 311 “An Act amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in registration of vehicles, further providing for vehicles exempt from registration; and, in inspection of vehicles, further providing for operation of vehicle without official certificate of inspection.” Referred to AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. (Jan. 23, 2025)

FEDERAL ACTIONS—EXECUTIVE & LEGISLATIVE

U.S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA) PRESS RELEASES

U.S. Department of Agriculture Announces Key Natural Resources and Environment Appointments to Lead on Wildfire Prevention (Jan. 24, 2025)

USDA AGENCY PRESS RELEASES:

Farm Service Agency

USDA Designates Counties in Maryland as Primary Natural Disaster Areas Due to Drought and Excessive Heat; Additional Contiguous Areas in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia (Jan. 22, 2025)

Farm Service Agency, University of Nebraska-Lincoln to Host Commodity Crop Safety Net Informational Webinar on Jan. 30 (Jan. 22, 2025)

Food Safety and Inspection Service 

Constituent Update – January 24, 2025 (Jan. 24, 2025)

Salmonella Verification Testing: December 31, 2023 through December 28, 2024 (Jan. 21, 2025)

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Notice: Funding Opportunities Under Review (Jan. 23, 2025)

Natural Resource Conservation Service

NRCS Plant Materials Centers Support the National Seed Strategy (Jan. 24, 2025)

Illinois EQIP 2025 Application Deadline Established (Jan. 23, 2025)

NRCS Oregon Announces Funding Available Through the Conservation Stewardship Program (Jan. 22, 2025)

FEDERAL EXECUTIVE AGENCIES (Federal Register—Jan. 20–26, 2025):    

Agricultural Marketing Service

90 FR 8006 Notice—Comment Period: “Request for Extension of an Information Collection-Agritourism Directory” (Jan. 23, 2025)

Food and Nutrition Service

90 FR 8114 Proposed Rule: “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Quality Control Review Handbook Incorporation by Reference” (Jan. 24, 2025)

Forest Service

90 FR 6922 Proposed Rule: “Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska-2026-27 and 2027-28 Subsistence Taking of Wildlife Regulations” (Jan. 21, 2025)

Natural Resources Conservation Service

90 FR 7654 Notice—Comment Period: “Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Odessa Subarea Special Study Project in Adams, Franklin, Grant, and Lincoln Counties, Washington” (Jan. 22, 2025)

Environmental Protection Agency

90 FR 7135 Notice: “Notice of the Final Biofuels and the Environment: Third Triennial Report to Congress” (Jan. 21, 2025)

90 FR 7133 Notice—Comment Period: “Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Water Act Claim” (Jan. 21, 2025)

90 FR 7037 Proposed Rule—Comment Period: “Pesticides; Petition Seeking Rulemaking To Modify Labeling Requirements for Pesticides and Devices” (Jan. 21, 2025)

90 FR 6967 Proposed Rule—Comment Period: “Clean Water Act Methods Update Rule 22 for the Analysis of Contaminants in Effluent” (Jan. 21, 2025)

U.S. HOUSE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: 

H.R.734 “To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 with respect to the issuance of quality control guidance issued by the Secretary of Agriculture.” Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. (Jan. 24, 2025)

H.R.718 “To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture from transferring certain Federal land, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Committee on Agriculture (Jan. 23, 2025)

H.R.694 “To suspend normal trade relations with the People’s Republic of China and to increase the rates of duty applicable with respect to articles imported from the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committees on Ways and Means, Agriculture, Armed Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce (Jan. 23, 2025)

H.R.690 “To prohibit the use of Federal funds to implement Salmonella framework for raw poultry products.” Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. (Jan. 23, 2025)

H.R.641 “To establish an interagency committee on soil carbon sequestration research, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (Jan. 23, 2025)

H.R.471 “Fix Our Forests Act” Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. (Jan. 23, 2025)

H.R.622 “To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to increase funding for the conservation stewardship program, and for other purposes.” Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. (Jan. 22, 2025)

H.R.620 “To amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to prevent harm and disruption to the United States agriculture industry by protecting against foreign influence over agriculture production and supply chains, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committees on Financial Services and Agriculture (Jan. 22, 2025)

H.R.605 “To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to reauthorize and improve the Water Source Protection Program, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committees on Agriculture and Natural Resources (Jan. 22, 2025)

H.R.598 “To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to provide that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior are not required to reinitiate consultation on a land management plan or land use plan under certain circumstances, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committees on Natural Resources and Agriculture. (Jan. 21, 2025)

H.R.582 “To establish a community protection and wildfire resilience grant program, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, Natural Resources, and Agriculture (Jan. 21, 2025)

H.R.575 “To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the delivery of technical assistance, and for other purposes.” Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. (Jan. 21, 2025)

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

H.R.375 “Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act of 2025” Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (Jan 24, 2025)

S.231 “A bill to amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to authorize the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to carry out research and development on a single index insurance policy, and for other purposes.” Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (Jan. 23, 2025)

S.228 “A bill to amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to ensure that producers who rely on acequia systems have access to drought protections, and for other purposes.” Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (Jan. 23, 2025)

S.222 “A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to allow schools that participate in the school lunch program to serve whole milk, and for other purposes.” Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (Jan. 23, 2025)

H.R.197 “Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2025” Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (Jan. 22, 2025)

H.R.204 “ACRES Act” Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Jan. 22, 2025)

H.R.187 “MAPWaters Act of 2025” Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Jan. 22, 2025)

S.156 “A bill to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the delivery of technical assistance, and for other purposes.” Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (Jan. 21, 2025)

 

Contributors:
Audry Thompson—Staff Attorney
Riley Amdor—Research Assistant
Victoria Dutterer—Research Assistant