Dairy Policy
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 […]
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—January 30, 2023
WOTUS: Ag Groups Challenge New WOTUS Rule 🌾
On January 18, 2023, several agricultural advocacy groups and the state of Texas filed complaints in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Galveston Division seeking to vacate the recently published final rule defining “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Am. Farm Bureau Federation v. U.S. EPA, No. 3:23-cv-00020. Among these advocacy groups are the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Pork Producers Council, and others. The advocacy groups argue that the new final rule […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending December 16, 2022
Agricultural Labor: Fifth Circuit Finds No Federal Jurisdiction In Worker Suit Against Swift Beef For Inadequate COVID Protections 🌾
On December 7, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion vacating and remanding the federal district court’s orders in an action filed by Swift Beef Company employees alleging that they contracted COVID-19 due to the company’s “fail[ure] to provide a safe work environment.” Garcia v. Swift Beef, No. 22-10050; Garcia v. Swift Beef Company, No. 2:20-cv-00263 (N.D. Tex). The case was originally filed in Texas state court but Swift Beef removed it claiming […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending November 25, 2022
Biotechnology: USDA Secretary Releases Statement on U.S.-Mexico Corn Trade After Meeting with Mexican President 🌾
On November 28, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) published a statement from Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding a meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador addressing his December 2020 decree, which called for the phased-out Mexican use of both glyphosate and genetically modified (GE) corn for human consumption by January 31, 2024. Mexican corn production is approximately 60% of its domestic consumption; corn is Mexico’s top imported U.S. agricultural commodity, and Mexico is the second […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending November 11, 2022
Agricultural Antitrust: Federal Court Denies Tyson’s Motion to Dismiss Poultry Renderers’ Antitrust Suit 🌾
On November 8, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued an order denying a motion to dismiss filed by River Valley Ingredients, LLC; Tyson Poultry, Inc.; and Tyson Farms, Inc.—the defendants in an antitrust case filed by three southeast poultry rendering companies. American Proteins, Inc. v. River Valley Ingredients, LLC, No. 2:22-cv-00091. According to the complaint, filed May 11, 2022, River Valley and Tyson acquired ten-year exclusive contracts with Wayne Farms and Koch Foods, two of the plaintiff […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—Week Ending October 28, 2022
Antitrust: Court Approves $42 Million Smithfield Settlement in Pork Antitrust Litigation 🌾
On October 19, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota issued an order approving a $42 million settlement between Smithfield Foods Inc. and the commercial and institutional indirect purchasers in the civil class action pork price-fixing case, In Re Pork Antitrust Litigation, D. Minn., No. 18-cv-1776. This multi-district litigation is comprised of three separate class actions and classes of plaintiffs: (1) direct purchaser wholesalers; (2) commercial and institutional indirect purchasers; and (3) consumer indirect purchasers. Smithfield is currently in the process of gaining court […]
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 […]
