Agricultural Labor
Agricultural Law Weekly Review —January 9, 2020
Dairy Policy: Borden Dairy Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
On January 5, 2020, Borden Dairy Company, headquartered in Dallas, TX, and seventeen affiliated companies (collectively “Borden”) filed Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The bankruptcy proceedings are being jointly administered under Case No. 20-10010. Borden’s bankruptcy claims agent has established a website for public access to the court dockets, filings, notices and other legally required disclosures at www.donlinrecano.com/borden. A thirty-one page declaration of Borden CFO Jason Monaco filed in support of the bankruptcy petitions contains a lengthy narrative account of the firm’s history […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review —November 28, 2019
Agricultural Labor: House Judiciary Committee Acts on Farm Workforce Modernization Bill
On November 20, 2019, the United States House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee passed out of committee H.R. 5038, titled “Farm Workforce Modernization Act,” by a vote of 18-12. The passage out of the Judiciary committee is a first step for the bill which was introduced on November 12, 2019, with 25 Democratic and 23 Republican co-sponsors. It remains under consideration in three other House committees. The bill is the first farm workforce bill to be advanced out of any committee in 2019 and may become a focus of farm workforce […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – September 26, 2019
On September 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the publication of a final rule lifting a requirement that employers seeking H-2A worker certification advertise available job openings in print newspapers (20 CFR 655). In accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), employers seeking to hire foreign workers on H-2A nonimmigrant provisions must demonstrate the lack of “able, willing, and qualified” candidates within the United States. This “labor market test” required employers to place at least two separate print advertisements in an area newspaper with one appearing on a Sunday […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – September 13, 2019
Water Quality: EPA Seeks Comment on Water Quality Trading Policy
On September 5, 2019, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced that the agency is seeking comment on guidance issued in the memorandum, Updating the EPA’s Water Quality Trading Policy to Promote Market-Based Mechanisms for Improving Water Quality. Specifically, EPA requests comment on one of the principles outlined in the memo which states that EPA “encourages simplicity and flexibility in implementing baseline concepts.” The memo asks stakeholders to consider the best way to apply the load allocation baseline in order to improve water quality. Under the Clean Water Act, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—August 8, 2019
Pesticides: California Couple Agrees to Reduced Roundup Damage Award
On July 26, 2019, Plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod agreed to reduce a jury award from over $2 billion to over $86 million for alleged harm caused by Monsanto Company’s glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup (Pilliod, et al. v. Monsanto Company, et al. Case No RG17862702). The Pilliods alleged that exposure to Roundup caused them both to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. On May 13, 2019, a California jury found that Monsanto Company’s actions regarding its product Roundup entitled Mr. Pilliod to over $37 million for economic and noneconomic loss and $1 billion in punitive […]
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 […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 25, 2019
Pesticides: Court Reduces Jury Award in Roundup Case
On July 17, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California reduced a jury damage award regarding the herbicide Roundup from over $80 million to over $25 million (Hardeman v Monsanto Company, 3:16-cv-00525). Previously, a jury found that plaintiff Edwin Hardeman’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was caused by Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup. According to the jury, Monsanto had negligently failed to warm Mr. Hardeman of the risks associated with Roundup. As a result, Mr. Hardeman was awarded $5,267,634.10 in compensatory damages and $75,000,000 in punitive damages. The court ruled, however, that while “[t]he […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 18, 2019
Dairy Policy: PA Milk Marketing Board Proposes Extension to Notice Requirement to Terminate Dealer-Producer Contracts
On July 13, 2019, the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board (MMB) published notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin of a proposed rule to extend the Commonwealth’s dairy dealer-producer contract termination notice requirement from 28 days to 90 days (49 Pa.B. 3606). According to MMB, the proposed extension is to allow dairy producers additional time to secure alternate outlets for their products prior to a termination. The proposed rule, however, does provide dealers with an exception to the 90-day termination notice requirement if the dealer experiences “financial hardship, […]
