Animal Welfare
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—February 4, 2025
National Agricultural Policy: Temporary Restraining Order Issued Against Federal Funding Pause After Memo Rescission 🌾
On January 27, 2025, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued memorandum M-25-13 directing “Federal agencies [to] . . . temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance . . . including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” The next day, on January 28, two separate complaints were filed seeking an injunction against the memorandum: one filed by several interest groups in the […]
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 […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—November 5, 2024
Pesticides/Herbicides: Massachusetts State Court Grants Summary Judgment for Monsanto on FIFRA Preemption 🌾
On October 21, 2024, the Essex County Superior Court of Massachusetts issued a memorandum and order granting summary judgment to Monsanto/Bayer on the issue of preemption, finding that the plaintiff’s state law failure to warn claim was preempted by the labeling requirements of the Federal Insecticide and Fungicide Act (FIFRA), which “provides that a state shall not impose . . . any requirements for labeling or packaging in addition to or different from those required under” FIFRA. Cardillo v. Monsanto, No. 2177CV00462. The court stated that “while […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—August 21, 2024
This Friday Aug. 23—Understanding the Basics of the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program
Pesticides: EPA Emergency Order Halts Use of Pesticide Dacthal 🌾
On August 7, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register a notice of Emergency Order (89 FR 64445) immediately suspending the registration and use of all pesticides containing dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal), citing the danger the substance poses to pregnant women and unborn babies. Also announced by EPA, the agency states that it “has determined that continued sale, distribution, or use of DCPA products during the time required to cancel […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 15, 2024
This Week—Register Now!
- Tues. July 16: Overview of U.S. State Milk Pricing Systems, Part 2
- Wed. July 17: “HPAI in Poultry and Cattle: How Can We Miss You if You Won’t Go Away?”
Water Quality: Oklahoma Court Holds State Ag Department Must Consider Environmental Impacts of Animal Operations 🌾
On June 28, 2024, the Oklahoma District Court for Delaware County issued an order granting partial summary judgment against the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (OKDAFF) in an action filed by a group of landowners alleging that OKDAFF’s issuance of certain Poultry Feeding Operation registrations violated the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 10, 2024
Avian Influenza: USDA Announces Additional Funding, New Voluntary Bulk Milk Testing Pilot Program 🌾
On May 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the agency is providing an additional $824 million in funding and resources to address and prevent the spread of H5N1 (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A) in livestock and poultry. Additionally, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has launched a new Voluntary H5N1 Dairy Herd Status Pilot Program as an alternative to the testing and reporting requirements mandated by APHIS’s April 24, 2024 Federal Order. USDA states that participation in the pilot […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 24, 2024
Food Labeling: Iowa Passes Law Prohibiting Meat Terms on ‘Manufactured-Protein’ Products, Requires Schools to ‘Prevent Purchase’ 🌾
On May 15, 2024, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law SF 2391, titled “an Act prohibiting the misbranding of certain food products, and providing penalties.” The law defines “cultivated-protein food product,” “insect-protein food product,” “plant-protein food product” and “fabricated egg product” as “manufactured-protein food products” and provides that such products are misbranded if labeled with an “identifying meat term” or “identifying egg term” unless the label also contains, “in close proximity to [the] identifying . . . term,” a “conspicuous and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—February 20, 2024
Pesticides/Herbicides: EPA Issues Existing Stocks Order for Three Dicamba Products After Registration Vacatur 🌾
On February 14, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an existing stocks order for the dicamba-based herbicides XtendiMax, Enginia, and Tavium following vacatur of the herbicides’ registrations. See ALWR—Feb. 13, 2024, “District Court Issues Order Vacating Three Dicamba Registrations.” The order permits the “limited sale and distribution of dicamba [over-the-top] products that were already in the possession of growers or in the channels of trade and outside the control of pesticide companies as of February 6, 2024.” Also announced by EPA, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—January 8, 2024
Animal Welfare: California’s Proposition 12 Fully Effective January 1, 2024, Producer Certification Required 🌾
On January 1, 2024, California’s Proposition 12 and implementing regulations became fully effective, establishing the state’s Animal Care Program and requiring third-party certification for producers (HSC §§ 25990-25994 and 3 CCR §§ 1320-1327.3). According to a publication from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), as of January 1, 2024, (1) “[p]roducers are required to have a valid Certificate of Compliance,” (2) “[c]overed products sold are required to be from producers with valid Certificates of Compliance,” and (3) “[d]istributors are required to […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—December 15, 2023
Antitrust: Federal Jury Finds Egg Producers Liable for Price-Fixing and Conspiracy, Damages Awarded 🌾
On November 21, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a minute entry of a jury verdict finding the defendant egg producers liable in an antitrust case alleging that numerous egg producers—including United Egg Producers, Inc., United States Egg Marketers, Inc., and Cal-Maine Foods—“unlawfully agreed to and did implement their conspiracy to control supply and artificially maintain and increase the price of eggs through a series of collective actions.” Kraft Foods Global v. United Egg Producers, No. 1:11-cv-08808. The case […]
