Agricultural Law Weekly Review
The Agricultural Law Weekly Review provides an update of recent agricultural law developments from local, state, national, and international levels. Subscribe for updates.
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—January 21, 2025
THIS WEEK: Webinar on Jan. 24, 2025, Understanding the Basics of Pennsylvania’s Carbon Sequestration Law
NEW: Farmland Energy Podcast, The Inflation Reduction Act and Agriculture (Jan. 14, 2025)
Dairy Policy: USDA Publishes Final Rule Amending Federal Milk Marketing Order Pricing Provisions 🌾
On January 17, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published in the Federal Register a final rule (90 FR 6600) amending the pricing provisions in the 11 Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs) after “separate producer referenda held in each of the 11 FMMOs obtained the necessary two-thirds vote in favor of adoption of […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—January 14, 2025
NEW:
- Duer, Brook, and Paul Goeringer. “2024 Brought Unprecedented Zoonotic Disease Control Challenge as Well as Far-Reaching Questions of Legal Authority.” Southern Ag Today. Jan. 10, 2025.
- Farmland Energy Legal Podcast: “An Introduction to Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land.” Jan. 7, 2025.
Avian Influenza: USDA Announces 28 States Enrolled in National Milk Testing Strategy, HHS Announces $306 Million for Avian Flu 🌾
On January 8, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that 15 additional states have enrolled in the National Milk Testing Strategy: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Georgia, […]
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—December 20, 2024
Agribusiness: Federal Court Enjoins Corporate Transparency Act Ownership Reporting Requirement, January 1, 2025 Deadline Paused 🌾
On December 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a memorandum opinion and order granting a preliminary injunction enjoining the federal government from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirements. Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, No. 4:24-cv-00478. The court followed the reasoning identified in the March 2024 opinion in National Small Business United v. Yellen and determined that “the CTA is not justified by the Commerce Clause, nor […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—December 10, 2024
This Week:
- Understanding the Basics of Children, Minors & Farm Work, Fri. Dec. 13, 2024 @ noon ET
NEW:
- Farmland Energy Podcast: Dust Pollution in Rural Pennsylvania (Dec. 7, 2024)
Agricultural Labor: Two Federal Courts Block ‘Temporary Ag Workers’ Rule, Nationwide Stay Issued 🌾
On November 25, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi issued an order temporarily staying nationwide the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) recent H-2A final rule, “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States” (89 FR 33898). Int’l Fresh Produce Assoc. v. U.S. […]
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—October 29, 2024
Today at Noon—Oct. 29, 2024: Raw Milk—An Overview of State Raw Milk Regulations
Avian Influenza: Pennsylvania Issues General Quarantine Order for Birds and Avian Products 🌾
On October 26, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin a notice of a General Quarantine Order (54 Pa.B. 6717) “establishing a temporary prohibition against the display, exhibit or presence of birds and avian products at any Venue or Fair” in the state unless the birds or products meet certain standards under sections eight and nine of the order—primarily a determination by PDA that the venue and/or the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—October 23, 2024
Upcoming—Register Now!
- Understanding the Basics of Right to Repair Laws, Online Fri. Oct. 25, 2024
- Dairy Quarterly Legal Webinar: Raw Milk—An Overview of State Raw Milk Regulations, Online Tues. Oct. 29, 2024.
Water Quality: Federal Court Upholds Vacatur of 2020 NRCS Wetlands Final Rule 🌾
On October 8, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion denying the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service’s (NRCS) motion to alter the court’s February 2024 judgment and remand to the agency without vacatur its 2020 wetland conservation rule “to minimize disruption […]
