Pesticides/Herbicides
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 20, 2025
This Week! Wed. May 21: NALC Webinar Will Explore Americans with Disabilities Act Requirements for Farm Operators
Next Week: Fri. May 30: Understanding the Basics of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (free attorney CLE available)
Agribusiness: Pennsylvania Opens Farm Vitality Planning Grant Program, $500,000 Available 🌾
On May 17, 2025, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin a notice (55 Pa.B. 3427) of the standards and requirements for the Agricultural Business Development Center’s (ABDC) Farm Vitality Planning Grant Program. According to the notice, the program will provide grants up to $15,000, limited […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 13, 2025
Next Week! Wed. May 21, 2025, Navigating ADA Compliance for Agritourism Guests, Jackie Schweichler presents with the National Agricultural Law Center
Registration Open! 2025 Pennsylvania Agricultural Law Symposium—Thurs. Sept. 18, 2025
Pesticides/Herbicides: Pennsylvania Superior Court Upholds $175 Million Roundup Verdict Against Monsanto, Finds No FIFRA Preemption 🌾
On May 8, 2025, the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued an opinion affirming a $175 million jury verdict awarded in October 2023 in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in favor of a plaintiff claiming that Monsanto/Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Caranci v. Monsanto, No. 993 EDA 2024 (Pa. […]
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 15, 2025
Today! Apr. 15 at Noon: Quarterly Dairy Legal Webinar—Bovine Disease Controls
Pesticides/Herbicides: Monsanto Files Petition for Certiorari Seeking FIFRA Preemption in Glyphosate Cases 🌾
On April 4, 2025, Monsanto filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States, asking the court to decide whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim. Monsanto Company v. John L. Durnell, No. 24-1068. The petition appeals a decision from the Missouri Court of Appeals upholding a $1.25 million jury verdict awarded to a plaintiff claiming that Monsanto’s glyphosate-based […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 1, 2025
WOTUS: EPA Publishes Rule Requesting Recommendations for WOTUS definition 🌾
On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army published in the Federal Register a proposed rule (90 FR 13428) announcing listening sessions and seeking stakeholder comment on “implementation of the definition of ‘waters of the United States’ in light of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.” Previously, EPA issued an intra-agency memorandum on “proper implementation of ‘continuous surface connection’ under the definition of ‘waters of the United States.’” Also announced by EPA, the rulemaking […]
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—October 11, 2024
Agricultural Labor: Federal Court Partially Enjoins 2023 H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Calculation Rule 🌾
On September 18, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a memorandum opinion partially granting a preliminary injunction against the Department of Labor’s (DOL) February 2023 final rule, which amended the H-2A adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) calculations to include data from non-agricultural occupations. Teche Vermilion Sugar Cane Growers Assoc. Inc v. Su, No. 6:23-cv-00831. In their complaint, the plaintiffs “challenge[d] the DOL’s decision to base the AEWR for H-2A workers who haul sugarcane from the field to […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—September 10, 2024
Deadline Extended! Register by Sept. 12, 2024, noon (ET) for the Pennsylvania Agricultural Law Symposium!
Pesticides: Third Circuit Finds FIFRA Preempts State Law Label Warning Requirement 🌾
On August 15, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a precedential opinion reversing the lower court’s judgment—which was jointly stipulated by the parties for the purpose of appeal—and holding that the state-law duty to include a cancer warning label on the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup is preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). David Schaffner, Jr. v. Monsanto Corp, No. 22-3075; […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 29, 2024
Dairy Policy: USDA Publishes Proposed Rule to Amend Federal Milk Marketing Order Pricing 🌾
On July 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule (89 FR 57580) “to amend the pricing provisions in the 11 Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs)” (AMS-DA-23-0031). Also announced by AMS, the agency issued the proposal following a hearing on the FMMO pricing formula, held August 2023–January 2024. The proposed rule recommends changes to five categories of milk pricing:
- “Milk Composition Factors: Update the factors to 3.3 percent true protein, 6 […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—July 15, 2024
This Week—Register Now!
- Tues. July 16: Overview of U.S. State Milk Pricing Systems, Part 2
- Wed. July 17: “HPAI in Poultry and Cattle: How Can We Miss You if You Won’t Go Away?”
Water Quality: Oklahoma Court Holds State Ag Department Must Consider Environmental Impacts of Animal Operations 🌾
On June 28, 2024, the Oklahoma District Court for Delaware County issued an order granting partial summary judgment against the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (OKDAFF) in an action filed by a group of landowners alleging that OKDAFF’s issuance of certain Poultry Feeding Operation registrations violated the […]
