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 —December 19, 2019
International Trade: United States and China Reach “Phase One” Trade Agreement
On December 13, 2019, the White House announced a “Phase One trade deal” with China that requires “changes to China’s economic and trade regime,” including agricultural trade, and “a commitment by China to make substantial additional purchases of U.S. goods in the coming years.” However, no specific details have yet been provided in writing by either the White House or the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The text of a Fact Sheet on the USTR website […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review —December 12, 2019
Dairy Policy: PMMB Enters Order Mandating Cooperative Costs Recovery
On December 4, 2019, the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board (PMMB) entered an order, titled “Interim Order Regarding Cooperative Milk Procurement Costs Hearing,” (Interim Order) mandating that, from January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020, milk dealers pay $.20 per hundredweight as part of the producer price paid to dairy cooperative members for milk produced, processed and sold in Pennsylvania as reimbursement for cooperative services such as field, laboratory and calibration services, producer payroll, sales invoicing, and dispatch and logistics. The Interim Order resulted from a compromise agreement reached in PMMB […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review —December 5, 2019
Rural Landowner Rights: Two Acts Revamp PA Trespassing and Sunday Hunting
On November 27, 2019, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed into law two bills that affect the property rights of rural, undeveloped and agricultural landowners.
- House Bill 1772, now known as Act 103 of 2019 is effective January 26, 2020, and allows for the use of vertical purple lines painted on trees or posts to provide notice against trespassing under the PA Crimes Code. The purple paint lines must be within 100 feet from each other, at least eight inches long, one inch wide, must be […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review —November 28, 2019
Agricultural Labor: House Judiciary Committee Acts on Farm Workforce Modernization Bill
On November 20, 2019, the United States House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee passed out of committee H.R. 5038, titled “Farm Workforce Modernization Act,” by a vote of 18-12. The passage out of the Judiciary committee is a first step for the bill which was introduced on November 12, 2019, with 25 Democratic and 23 Republican co-sponsors. It remains under consideration in three other House committees. The bill is the first farm workforce bill to be advanced out of any committee in 2019 and may become a focus of farm workforce […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review —November 21, 2019
Invasive Species: USDA Restricts Imports of Tomatoes and Peppers to Prevent Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus
On November 15, 2019, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced a Federal Order (DA-2019-28) restricting the import of tomato and pepper fruits, seed lots, and transplants, effective Friday, November 22, 2019, in order to prevent the introduction of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) into the United States. ToBRFV naturally infects tomato and pepper plants and can cause discoloration, deformation and irregular maturation, resulting in excessive fruit loss. The virus spreads easily through contact between infected plant parts, seeds, contaminated tools […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – November 14, 2019
Dairy Policy: Dean Foods Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Petition and Discloses Sale Negotiations to Dairy Farmers of America
On November 12, 2019, Southern Foods Group, LLC d/b/a Dean Foods, and forty-two (42) affiliated companies (collectively referred to as “Dean”) filed Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. All of the bankruptcy proceedings are being jointly administered under Case No. 19-36313. The firm of Epiq Corporate Restructuring, LLC, is retained as Dean’s bankruptcy administrative agent and maintains a website disseminating all legally-required public information about the proceedings, including the court dockets and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – November 7, 2019
Agricultural Finance: Chapter 12 Farm Bankruptcies Increasing
On October 30, 2019, American Farm Bureau (AFB) released a market intelligence report authored by Chief Economist John Newton showing that Chapter 12 farm bankruptcy filings rose 24% in the 12-month period ending September 2019 as compared to the same period one year earlier. There were a total of 580 Chapter 12 filings, which nevertheless remains lower than the recent high of 676 filings in 2011. Individual state and regional filings varied greatly but nine states recorded totals at or above 10-year highs (Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Wisconsin […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review – October 31, 2019
Industrial Hemp/Cannabis: USDA Releases Interim Final Rule for Domestic Hemp Production
On October 29, 2019, USDA publicly announced and released the text of its interim regulations governing domestic hemp production. The interim final rule implements Section 10113 of the 2018 Farm Bill and various new sections of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, which it amended. Once published in the Federal Register, the rule will be immediately effective and expire after two years. In the meantime, there will be a 60-day comment period and thereafter USDA anticipates issuing its final rule. The rule adds new part 990 (“Domestic Hemp Production”) to 7 CFR. As stated […]
