Crop Insurance
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 5, 2023
Farmland Preservation: Appraiser Pleads Guilty to Agricultural Conservation Easement Fraud 🌾
On May 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a North Carolina land appraiser, Walter “Terry” Douglas Roberts II, pleaded guilty to fraudulently inflating the value of at least eighteen agricultural conservation easements “by at least 70%,” allowing landowners to claim fraudulent tax deductions. United States v. Lewis, No. 1:21-cr-00231 (N.D. Ga.). The DOJ stated that the inflated appraisals led to more than $460 million in fraudulent tax deductions that resulted in $129 million in lost tax revenue.
Dairy Policy: FMMO Petitions on Make Allowances Clarified
On […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 10, 2023
Water Quality: Stay Granted in Litigation on Petition to Compel Revision of Clean Water Act CAFO Regulations 🌾
On April 3, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit entered an order staying a petition for writ of mandamus filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by several environmental groups, pursuant to a joint stipulation filed by the parties in the case of Food & Water Watch, et al v. USEPA, No. 22-70226. According to the terms of the stay, EPA must respond by August 15, 2023 to a 2017 petition asking the agency […]
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—Week Ending October 21, 2022
Animal Welfare: Utah State Jury Finds Animal Activist Not Guilty of Burglary and Theft for Taking Two Piglets from Smithfield-Owned Swine Operation 🌾
On October 8, 2022, a Utah state court jury found Wayne Hsiung not guilty of theft and burglary for removing two piglets from a swine production facility owned and operated by Smithfield Foods’ Circle Four Farms while conducting an undercover investigation of the facility in March 2017. Utah v. Hsiung, No. 181500061 (5th Dist. Utah). Hsiung, a member of the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, was indicted and arrested in May 2018, although […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending September 2, 2022
Agricultural Data: USDA Announces 2022 Census of Agriculture Details 🌾
On August 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) announced that the agency will soon be mailing and accepting questionnaires for the 2022 Census of Agriculture. The Census of Agriculture includes all sizes of urban and rural farm operations that produced and sold at least $1,000 worth of agricultural products. The census will survey producers on multiple issues, including land use and ownership, producer characteristics, farming practices, and income and expenses. The 2022 survey contains new questions on hemp production, hair sheep, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending December 3, 2021
Pesticides/Herbicides: EPA Publishes Pesticide Registration Review Schedule Through 2025 🌾
On December 2, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the agency’s pesticide registration review schedule through fiscal year 2025, which the agency states it will now update quarterly rather than annually, the agency’s historical precedent. Although the 2007 amendments to the Federal Insecticide Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) require EPA to review all registered pesticides every fifteen years, EPA anticipates that it will extend its review beyond October 1, 2022 for some pesticides registered before October 1, 2007 due to pandemic challenges. According to the announcement, of […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending October 8, 2021
Biofuels: Biofuel Advocacy Group Files Supreme Court Petition for Review of E15 Vacatur 🌾
On October 7, 2021, biofuel advocacy group Growth Energy filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s July 2021 vacatur of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule allowing year-round sales of fifteen percent ethanol fuel blend (E15). Growth Energy v. American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, et al., No. 21-519. Growth Energy previously filed for a rehearing of the case, which was denied by […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending July 30, 2021
Animal Welfare: Federal Appeals Court Upholds California’s Proposition 12 With Five Months Until Its Effective Date 🌾
On July 28, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in Nat’l Pork Producers Council, et al v. Karen Ross, et al, No. 20-55631, holding that California’s Proposition 12 in-state production animal confinement standards and in-state sales restriction for products not produced in accordance with them, do not violate the United States Constitution’s Commerce Clause. In upholding Proposition 12’s constitutionality, the Court affirmed the earlier decision upholding Proposition 12 issued by the U. S. District Court for […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – Week Ending June 4, 2021
COVID-19: Congressional letter calls for Emergency Temporary Standard and FY 2022 Budget Outlines Intent for Infectious Disease Rulemaking 🌾
On June 2, 2021, one-hundred and six members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to President Biden urging the issuance of an OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) addressing worker protection from COVID-19 in the workplace. The request cited the March 15, 2021 deadline for such a standard included in January 21, 2021’s Executive Order (E.O. 13999) and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) delay in reviewing the draft ETS sent to the White House on April […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—week ending January 8, 2021
COVID-19: USDA Announces Fifth Round of Food Box Purchases
On January 4, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a fifth round of food purchases of $1.5 billion for the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The funding for this fifth round was provided through the COVID-19 relief funding legislation signed into law on December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (see “$900 Billion Appropriations Act Includes $13 Billion in COVID-19 Relief for Agriculture,” ALWR—week ending January 1, 2021). USDA will solicit offers from more than 240 suppliers with previous Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA) and issue awards by January 19, 2021. USDA states that it will amend the BOA to include pre-cooked seafood products, which may now be combined […]
