International Trade
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 29, 2025
Next Week: May 9, 2025, Understanding the Basics of PA Ag Exemptions for Inheritance Tax and Other Real Estate Transfers (rescheduled)
Dairy Policy: USDA Issues Final Rule to Reauthorize Dairy Forward Pricing Program 🌾
On April 23, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published in the Federal Register a final rule (90 FR 16997), effective April 24, 2025, reauthorizing the Dairy Forward Pricing Program, which “allows farmers to voluntarily enter into forward price contracts with handlers for pooled milk used for Class II, III, or IV purposes under the Federal Milk Marketing Orders . […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 22, 2025
This week—Fri. Apr. 25: Understanding the Basics of PA Ag Exemptions for Inheritance Tax and Other Real Estate Transfers
National Agricultural Policy: USDA Cancels ‘Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities,’ Announces ‘Advancing Markets for Producers’ 🌾
On April 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the agency is cancelling its Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) program, initiated in 2022 under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act. USDA states that “the majority of” PCSC “projects had . . . high administration fees which in many instances provided less than half of the federal funding directly to farmers” and that the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—February 11, 2025
Webinar Next Week—Feb. 18, 2025, Quarterly Dairy Legal Webinar: HPAI in Dairy Cattle: Regulatory Measures Thus Far
Local Agricultural Policy: Pennsylvania Governor’s Proposed 2025–26 Budget Appropriates $255 Million for Agriculture 🌾
On February 4, 2025, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro presented his proposed 2025–26 state budget and enabling legislation, which includes $255 million for agriculture, down 2.3% from $261 million in 2024–25 (full PDF; budget in brief; line-item summary). However, the proposed budget appropriates $25 million for the Agriculture Innovation and Development Grant Program—which also includes “$2,000,000 for a county-based ‘digester’ pilot program”—a total increase […]
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—January 7, 2025
Agribusiness: Fifth Circuit Reinstates Corporate Transparency Act Injunction After Brief Reversal, Government Files Petition for Certiorari 🌾
On December 26, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order vacating its December 23 stay of the district court’s preliminary injunction of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirements, reinstating the pause on the January 1, 2025 compliance deadline for entity owners to file with the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). See Agricultural Law in the Spotlight article: Fifth Circuit Reinstates Corporate Transparency Act Injunction After Brief Reversal, Government […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—September 16, 2024
This Week:
- Right to Repair and Agriculture, Center Director Ross Pifer presents with the National Agricultural Law Center, Online Wed. Sep. 18, 2024
- 2024 Pennsylvania Agricultural Law Symposium, In-person Thurs. Sep. 19, 2024
International Trade: Chile Approves Agreement on U.S. Meat and Cheese Imports, Terminology 🌾
On September 3, 2024, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the National Congress of Chile had approved an agreement “regarding market access to Chile for a number of U.S. cheese and meat products and how Chile will treat prior users of certain terms for cheeses.” Previously, in June […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 30, 2024
National Agricultural Policy: House Agriculture Committee Advances Farm Bill 🌾
On May 23, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture passed (33-21) the “Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024” (H.R.8467), the House version of the 2024 Farm Bill. Previously, on May 17, 2024, the House Committee published a discussion draft and summary of the bill, also announced by the Committee. On May 1, 2024, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry announced a summary of its Farm Bill draft, titled the “Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—February 26, 2024
Explore the Center’s updated Waters of the United States Virtual Resource Room and Waters of the United States Issue Tracker!
Water Quality: Federal Court Vacates EPA, FWS Actions Allowing Florida to Assume Clean Water Act Wetland Authority 🌾
On February 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion granting summary judgment to the plaintiff environmental group and vacating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) November 2020 “programmatic” biological opinion (BiOp) and incidental take statement (ITS), which supported the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) December 2020 approval of Florida’s assumption of Clean […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—January 18, 2024
Ag-Gag Statutes: Eighth Circuit Reverses Injunctions for Two Iowa ‘Ag-Gag’ Laws 🌾
On January 8, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued two opinions in separate cases reversing injunctions against two so-called Iowa “ag-gag” laws for First Amendment violations and remanding each case. Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, No. 22-1830 (4:19-cv-00124, S.D. Iowa, filed Apr. 19, 2019) and Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, No. 22-3464 (4:21-cv-00231, S.D. Iowa, filed Aug. 10, 2021). In the first opinion (22-1830), the plaintiffs had challenged Iowa’s “Agricultural Production Facility Trespass” law (Iowa Code § 717A.3B), […]
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 […]
