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—week ending June 12, 2020
Pesticides: EPA Cancels Dicamba Product Registrations and That Action is Immediately Challenged in Court
On June 8, 2020, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a “Final Cancellation Order,” effective retroactively to June 3, 2020, of the 2018 product registrations of dicamba herbicides Xtendimax, Engenia, and FeXapan in order to comply with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s (Ninth Circuit) June 3, 2020, decision invalidating those three registrations as having been granted in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA’s order states that existing stock in the possession of commercial […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—week ending June 5, 2020
COVID-19: OSHA and CDC Release COVID-19 Agriculture Industry Guidance
On June 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the release of a guidance document titled, “Agriculture Workers and Employers: Interim Guidance from CDC and the U.S. Department of Labor,” issued jointly by DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is approximately the thirtieth workplace-specific such guidance issued in the preceding weeks. The guidance advises that employers follow the hierarchy of controls to assess their COVID-19 risks and create a control plan that includes screening […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—week ending May 29, 2020
COVID-19: USDA and FDA Execute MOU Anticipating Expansion of Defense Production Act Delegation Beyond Meat and Poultry Processing to Additional Food Supply Chain Resources
On May 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) entered into an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), MOU 225-20-011, which outlines how the agencies shall cooperate in the event that USDA exercises the Presidential authority delegated to it in Executive Order 13917 to utilize Defense Production Act powers beyond meat and poultry production and processing. Executive Order 13917 contains language that permits USDA to identify “specific […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—week ending May 22, 2020
COVID-19: USDA Announces Details of Direct Payments Portion of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program
On May 19, 2020, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the direct payments portion of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (RIN 0503-AA65), which will provide $16 billion in direct payments to producers of wool, livestock, dairy, and specialty and non-specialty crops who have experienced a “five-percent-or-greater price decline due to COVID-19.” Payments are limited to $250,000 “per person or entity” with exceptions for corporate entities of up to three shareholders who “contribute[] substantial labor or management” to operations. USDA will accept applications […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 14, 2020
COVID-19: Farmers to Families Food Box Program Grants First Procurement Contracts
On May 8, 2020, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the awarding of $1.2 billion in contracts to purchase and distribute agricultural commodities to food insecure U.S. residents via the newly-renamed “Farmers to Families Food Box” Program. This program was announced on April 17, 2020, and funded by a $3 billion appropriation from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act enacted on March 27, 2020. Pennsylvania-based vendors entering contracts with AMS are: ALL Holding Company, LLC of Harleysville ($18,000, Precooked Meat Box); Brian Campbell Farms of Berwick ($900,000- Fresh Fruit/Fresh Vegetable Box); Dertstine’s […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 7, 2020
Dairy Policy: Justice Department Concludes Investigation of Dean Foods Asset Sale
On May 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) announced that it had concluded its investigation into Dairy Farmers of America, Inc.’s (DFA) bankruptcy auction purchase of the substantial majority of dairy processing assets of Chapter 11 bankruptcy debtor Dean Foods (Dean). Its conclusion is embodied in the civil antitrust lawsuit filed that same day in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois stating its opposition to the bankruptcy sale agreement unless DFA excluded from the purchase three specific Dean fluid milk processing plants (in Harvard, Illinois; […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 30, 2020
COVID-19: President Delegates Defense Production Act Authority to USDA Secretary to Ensure Continued Supply of Meat and Poultry
On April 28, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order, titled “Delegating Authority Under the DPA with Respect to Food Supply Chain Resources During the National Emergency Caused by the Outbreak of COVID-19.” This Executive Order delegates authority to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue “to ensure the continued supply of meat and poultry” by taking “all appropriate action” under the The Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2061 et seq.) (DPA), “to ensure that meat and poultry processors […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 23, 2020
COVID-19: USDA Announces Coronavirus Food Assistance Program:
On April 17, 2020, USDA announced the administrative creation of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, utilizing $19 billion of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) and Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) authority and appropriations. The program’s primary initiatives are titled (1) Direct Support to Farmers and Ranchers; and (2) USDA Purchase and Distribution. The Direct Support program will use $16 million for producer compensation for 2020 marketing year actual losses resulting from price, supply chain, demand, and over-supply impacts of COVID-19. The USDA Purchase program will use $3 billion to purchase three categories of food from producers (fresh produce, dairy, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 16, 2020
Avian Influenza: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Detected in South Carolina:
On April 9, 2020, USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the confirmed presence of H7N3 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial turkey flock in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. APHIS stated that there is no immediate human health concern. A report issued by APHIS to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) states that 34,160 turkeys were “suspectible,” 1,583 died, and 32,577 were culled. APHIS also stated that this is the first confirmed case of HPAI in commercial poultry in the United States since 2017, and it appears […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 9, 2020
Agricultural Transportation: FMCSA Extends Trucking Hours of Service Waiver
On April 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued an extension and expansion of its COVID-19 emergency declaration, most notably extending its applicability to May 15, 2020. The declaration was originally issued on March 13, 2020, and previously expanded on March 18, 2020. Of particular importance to agriculture, it provides, among other things, a waiver of hours of service requirements for the transport of food, feed, livestock, and “immediate precursor raw materials . . . that are required to be used for the manufacture” of food.
Food Safety: FDA Shell […]
