Dairy Policy
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—August 14, 2023
Animal Welfare: Massachusetts to Develop Rule, Will Delay Enforcement for Question 3 ‘Transshipped Pork’ 🌾
On August 7, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered an electronic order granting a joint stipulation and motion to extend stay for six months in a case filed in August 2022 challenging Massachusetts Question 3, which prohibits the in-state sale of pork not compliant with the state’s animal confinement standards. Massachusetts Restaurant Assoc. v. Healey, No. 4:22-cv-11245. According to the joint stipulation, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) will propose regulations to address “transshipped whole pork meat,” out-of-state […]
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—July 24, 2023
Water Quality: States and EPA Jointly Move to Dismiss Chesapeake Bay Water Pollution Suit 🌾
On July 12, 2023, all parties involved in Chesapeake Bay Foundation v. Environmental Protection Agency filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia a joint stipulation notifying the court of the parties’ voluntary dismissal, without prejudice, of all claims. Chesapeake Bay Foundation v. EPA, No. 1:20-cv-02529. The case was initially filed in September 2020 by Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and several environmental groups against EPA seeking to compel the agency to enforce Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay nutrient and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 10, 2023
Agricultural Antitrust: Federal Court Denies Poultry Producers’ Motion to Dismiss, Antitrust Price-Fixing Litigation Will Continue to Trial 🌾
On June 30, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a memorandum opinion and order denying 23 of the 38 separately filed motions for summary judgment in the consolidated class-action case In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:16-cv-08637. The court stated, “The evidence against the following Defendants is sufficient for a reasonable jury to find by a preponderance of the evidence that these defendants reached an agreement to restrict supply in order to increase price: […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 3, 2023
Food Labeling: USDA Issues Grant of Inspection to Upside Foods, Furthering Commercial Cell-Cultured Chicken Sales
On June 21, 2023, Upside Foods announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued the company a Grant of Inspection (GOI), marking the completion of the pre-market regulatory review process required for the company to produce and sell its cell-cultured chicken in the United States. The USDA approval follows Upside’s receipt of a “No Questions” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 16, 2022, and a label approval from USDA on June […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 12, 2023
International Trade: U.S. Initiates USMCA Dispute Settlement Consultations with Mexico on GMO Corn Ban 🌾
On June 2, 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States has requested dispute settlement consultations with Mexico under Articles 31.2 and 31.4 of the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) concerning Mexico’s prohibition on the import of genetically modified corn for human consumption. The USTR announcement follows a June 1, 2023, letter from 62 Congress members urging the USTR to “immediately proceed with a formal USMCA dispute.” USTR’s request for dispute settlement consultations follows unsuccessful technical consultations […]
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—May 29, 2023
Water Quality: U.S. Supreme Court Provides Definitive Clarity to Definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) 🌾
On May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Sackett v. EPA, et al., No. 21-454, reversing and remanding the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and stating, “[W]e hold that the [Clean Water Act] extends to only those “wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are ‘waters of the United States’ in their own right,” so that they are “indistinguishable” from those waters,” citing its own earlier plurality decision in […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 22, 2023
Water Quality: Consent Decree Directs Ohio EPA to Develop Western Lake Erie Watershed TDML 🌾
On April 25, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Toledo Division issued a consent decree directing the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) to develop a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the Maumee River Watershed. Environmental Law & Policy Center v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, No: 3:19-cv-00295. In February 2019, the plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that the Ohio EPA failed to take proper action, or implement an effective TMDL, to combat phosphorus and other nutrient […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 15, 2023
Animal Welfare: U.S. Supreme Court Finds California’s Proposition 12 Swine Confinement Standards Constitutional as Applied to All California-Retailed Pork Regardless of State of Origin 🌾
On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of National Pork Producers Council, et al. v. Ross, et al., No. 21-468, affirming the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (No. 20-55631) and dismissing all claims that California’s Proposition 12 swine production confinement standards made applicable to all pork products sold in California, regardless of state-of-origin, violated the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause.
Dairy Policy: NMPF Files FMMO […]
