Agricultural Finance
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending May 21, 2021
Organic Agriculture: USDA AMS Reopens Comment Period on Origin of Livestock Rule Under National Organic Program 🌾
On May 12, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) posted in the Federal Register a proposed rule titled, “National Organic Program; Origin of Livestock; Reopening of Comment Period” (86 FR 25961). The posting re-opens the comment period for the April 2015 proposed rule requiring that organic milk products be derived from animals under “continuous organic management from the last third of gestation onward.” However, newly certified organic dairy producers may transition livestock into […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—week ending July 17, 2020
Dairy Policy: PA Milk Marketing Board Executes Dean Foods Bond Claims
On July 8, 2020, the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board (PMMB) issued multiple consent orders establishing over $9.2 million in claims against the Milk Dealer Corporate Surety Bonds of four Dean Foods subsidiaries for failing to pay dairy farmer cooperative Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) for Pennsylvania-produced milk delivered to Dean Foods facilities during the course of the Dean Foods bankruptcy. Bond claims were filed against Dean Dairy Holdings, LLC ($900,198.79); Garelick Farms, LLC Burlington ($3,262,196.63); Suiza Dairy Group, LLC ($13,420.80); and Tuscan/Lehigh Dairies, Inc.— Lansdale and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – November 14, 2019
Dairy Policy: Dean Foods Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Petition and Discloses Sale Negotiations to Dairy Farmers of America
On November 12, 2019, Southern Foods Group, LLC d/b/a Dean Foods, and forty-two (42) affiliated companies (collectively referred to as “Dean”) filed Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. All of the bankruptcy proceedings are being jointly administered under Case No. 19-36313. The firm of Epiq Corporate Restructuring, LLC, is retained as Dean’s bankruptcy administrative agent and maintains a website disseminating all legally-required public information about the proceedings, including the court dockets and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – November 7, 2019
Agricultural Finance: Chapter 12 Farm Bankruptcies Increasing
On October 30, 2019, American Farm Bureau (AFB) released a market intelligence report authored by Chief Economist John Newton showing that Chapter 12 farm bankruptcy filings rose 24% in the 12-month period ending September 2019 as compared to the same period one year earlier. There were a total of 580 Chapter 12 filings, which nevertheless remains lower than the recent high of 676 filings in 2011. Individual state and regional filings varied greatly but nine states recorded totals at or above 10-year highs (Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Wisconsin […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—August 29, 2019
Checkoff Programs: Court Dismisses Challenge Regarding Use of Pork Checkoff Funds
On August 23, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the government improperly used funds collected under the pork checkoff program (Humane Society of the United States v. Perdue, No. 18-5188). Under the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act, the government may collect “assessments” from producers for the purpose of “strengthen[ing] the position of the pork industry in the marketplace.” Known as “checkoffs,” these assessments are paid by producers to the National Pork Board (Board) who in turn uses the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—August 15, 2019
Pesticides: EPA Will Not Approve Labels Asserting that Glyphosate Causes Cancer
On August 8, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a press release stating that the agency “will no longer approve product labels claiming glyphosate is known to cause cancer.” According to EPA, such claims are false and as such do “not meet the labeling requirements of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.” EPA’s statement is a direct reaction to California’s Proposition 65 which requires an established list of chemicals determined by the state to “cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.” If a chemical is on the list, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—August 1, 2019
Food Labeling: Plant-Based Food Company Brings Suit Challenging Arkansas Meat Labeling Law
On July 22, 2019, Tofurky Co., a producer of plant-based food products, brought suit in the Eastern District of Arkansas alleging that the Arkansas law prohibiting the labeling of plant or cell-based products as “meat” violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (Tofurky v. Soman, No. 4:19-cv-514-KGB). Under Arkansas Act 501, the term ‘meat’ is defined as “a portion of a livestock, poultry, or cervid carcass that is edible by humans.” The law further states that the term “‘meat’ does […]
