National Agricultural Policy
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—March 26, 2025
This Week: Fri. Mar. 28, 2025, Understanding the Basics of the Clean Water Act & Ag: Impaired Waters & TMDL Process
National Agricultural Policy: USDA Announces $10 Billion for Direct ECAP Payments 🌾
On March 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced (PDF) that the agency “is issuing up to $10 billion directly to agricultural producers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) for the 2024 crop year” to “help agricultural producers mitigate the impacts of increased input costs . . . falling commodity prices . . . and ‘market uncertainty.’” According to the announcement, the […]
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 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—November 26, 2024
Avian Influenza: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Publishes Order Requiring Bulk Milk Testing 🌾
On November 20, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) Secretary Russell Redding issued a general quarantine order—effective immediately and published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on November 23, 2024 (54 Pa.B. 7570)—requiring bulk testing of milk from Pennsylvania farms for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Also announced by PDA, the order requires all in-state milk processors “receiving bulk raw milk directly from a Pennsylvania dairy farm or milk cooperative” to “begin collecting and submitting samples of raw milk taken from each compartment of each […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—November 21, 2024
Avian Influenza: USDA Confirms first HPAI in Swine 🌾
On October 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that the agency had confirmed the first detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI/H5NI) in swine in the United States, located in an Oregon non-commercial backyard farming operation. According to the announcement, the premises included “a mix of poultry and livestock, including swine” that “shared water sources, housing, and equipment,” which the department states “has enabled transmission between species [in other states].” APHIS states that “the animals were not intended for the commercial […]
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—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—July 3, 2024
Environmental Policy: Federal Agencies, USDA Publish 2024 Climate Adaptation Plans 🌾
On June 20, 2024, the White House announced the publication of updated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plans, developed by twenty-four federal agencies. The agencies’ updated plans for 2024–2027 were developed in coordination with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2024–2027 Climate Adaptation Plan, also announced by the agency, USDA identifies numerous threats to agricultural productivity, water quality, lands, and infrastructure and outlines adaptation actions to address climate change […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 26, 2024
This Friday! June 28, 2024: Understanding the Basics of the Clean Water Act & Agriculture
National Agriculture Policy: Federal Court Enjoins USDA’s ‘Socially Disadvantaged Farmers’ Consideration 🌾
On June 7, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas published a memorandum opinion and order enjoining the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from providing financial relief to farmers “based on its ‘socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher‘ designation” under the 2022 Emergency Relief Program (2022 ERP). Strickland v. USDA, No. 2:24-cv-00060. […]
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 […]
