Agricultural Labor
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—October 9, 2023
Agricultural Labor: Federal Court Denies Preliminary Injunction of February 2023 H-2A Wage Rule 🌾
On September 26, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina issued an order denying a preliminary injunction against 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. USA Farm Labor v. Su, No. 1:23-cv-00096. The court found that the plaintiff farm employer group “ha[d] not made an adequate showing . . . that the Agency has exceeded its statutory authority or that its construction of the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—October 2, 2023
National Agricultural Policy: GAO Decision Finds USDA’s Use of Commodity Credit Corporation Funds Lawful 🌾
On September 20, 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a decision concluding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “did not violate the [Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)] Charter Act or the Antideficiency Act when it used CCC funds for programs that were not specifically included in its [FY 2021] budget submission to Congress” because the “Government Corporation Control Act (GCCA) does not require corporations to delineate specific programs in their budget submissions prior to carrying them out.” Additionally, the GAO decision found that […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—September 25, 2023
Pesticides: Federal Court Approves Settlement in 2011 EPA Pesticide Registration Dispute 🌾
On September 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order approving a stipulated settlement agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and plaintiff environmental groups, resolving a longstanding dispute over EPA’s registration of 382 pesticide active ingredients. Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 3:11-cv-00293. Also announced by EPA, the settlement “resolves all outstanding claims” of the “megasuit,” filed in 2011 and partially settled in 2019, “which was ultimately reduced to 35 […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—September 11, 2023
Antitrust: Federal Court Dismisses Monopsony Claims Against Tyson Fresh Meats 🌾
On August 28, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington issued an order granting Tyson Fresh Meats Inc.’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former cattle feeder, Cody Allen Easterday. Easterday v. Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., No. 4:23-cv-05019. Easterday alleged that the company created a monopsony market in the Pacific Northwest where cattle feeders “have no reasonable choice but to contract with [Tyson]” in violation of the Packers and Stockyard Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Washington Consumer Protection Act. The […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—August 7, 2023
Agricultural Labor: Department of Labor Announces Heat Hazard Alert 🌾
On Thursday, July 27, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a heat hazard alert. According to a White House fact sheet, the hazard alert is the first of its kind and was issued at the request of the President in response to the extreme heat affecting most of the United States. The hazard alert describes employers’ obligations to protect their workers from heat-related illnesses and injuries. Additionally, DOL states that “OSHA will intensify its enforcement . . […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 31, 2023
Dairy Policy: USDA Will Hold Hearing on Federal Milk Marketing Order Pricing 🌾
On July 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule (88 FR 47396) announcing that, on August 23, 2023, the agency will hold a public hearing to discuss proposals to amend the pricing formula for all eleven Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs). According to an announcement from AMS, the agency has received 40 proposals, but during the hearing will only consider 21 proposals which “directly impact the uniform pricing formulas.” The proposals aim to […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—March 13, 2023
Biotechnology: U.S. Trade Representative Announces USMCA Technical Consultations On Mexican GMO Corn Ban 🌾
On March 6, 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it is requesting technical consultations with Mexico “regard[ing] certain Mexican measures concerning products of agricultural biotechnology,” i.e., Mexico’s February 13, 2023, decree prohibiting import of genetically modified corn for human consumption. USTR initiates the technical consultations under Article 9.19 of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Chapter of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). According to a statement issued by USDA Secretary Vilsack, the United States “remain[s] firm in […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—March 6, 2023
COVID-19: SCOTUS Denies Tyson’s Petition to Keep COVID Cases in Federal Court 🌾
On February 21, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) denied Tyson Foods, Inc.’s (Tyson) petition to keep in federal court several negligence cases alleging that the 2020 COVID-related deaths of workers employed at Tyson’s Waterloo, Iowa plant were caused by Tyson’s negligence. Tyson Foods, Inc., et al., Petitioners v. Hus Hari Buljic, et al. No. 22-70. Tyson filed its petition following the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals’s opinion remanding the cases to state court in Fernandez v. Tyson Foods Inc, et al, No. […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—February 27, 2023
Agricultural Labor: D.C. Court Declines to Enjoin 2022 H-2A Regulation Revisions 🌾
On February 16, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a memorandum opinion denying a preliminary injunction against the November 14, 2022, H-2A final rule. National Council of Agricultural Employers v. United States Department of Labor, No:1:22-cv-03569-RC. The case alleges that the Biden Administration’s 2021 Inauguration Day withdrawal of the Trump Administration’s previous version of the H-2A final rule and publication of its own version on October 12, 2022, violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The underlying legal challenge remains […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—February 13, 2023
Agricultural Labor: Third Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Meatpacking Plant Workers’ Challenge to OSHA Finding of ‘No Imminent Danger’ 🌾
On January 31, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion affirming the district court’s dismissal of a complaint filed in July 2020—during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic—by workers at a Dunmore, Pennsylvania-based meatpacking plant operated by Maid-Rite Specialty Foods, Inc. Jane Doe I v. Eugene Scalia, No. 21-02057; Jane Does I, II, III v. Scalia, No. 3:20-cv-01260 (M.D. Pa.). The workers sought an emergency writ of mandamus to compel the […]
