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—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 […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 24, 2024
Food Labeling: Iowa Passes Law Prohibiting Meat Terms on ‘Manufactured-Protein’ Products, Requires Schools to ‘Prevent Purchase’ 🌾
On May 15, 2024, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law SF 2391, titled “an Act prohibiting the misbranding of certain food products, and providing penalties.” The law defines “cultivated-protein food product,” “insect-protein food product,” “plant-protein food product” and “fabricated egg product” as “manufactured-protein food products” and provides that such products are misbranded if labeled with an “identifying meat term” or “identifying egg term” unless the label also contains, “in close proximity to [the] identifying . . . term,” a “conspicuous and […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 17, 2024
Upcoming Webinar!
New Podcast Episodes!
- Agricultural Law: USDA Takes First Regulatory Steps on Carbon Credit Production (May 14, 2024)
- Farmland Energy: Agrivoltaics & Large-Scale Solar Energy in Pennsylvania Update (May 15, 2024)
Food Safety: FDA Publishes Final Rule for Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water
On May 6, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published in the Federal Register a final rule (89 FR 37448), which amends the requirements and procedures for assessing “pre-harvest agricultural water” used on covered produce, other than sprouts. Under the final […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—May 10, 2024
Agricultural Labor: Department of Labor Publishes H-2A Final Rule 🌾
On April 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) published in the Federal Register a final rule (89 FR 33898) titled “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States.” Also announced by DOL, the final rule includes the following provisions:
- Requires that employers seeking H-2A workers assure that they “ha[ve] not and will not . . . in […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 29, 2024
New Podcast Episodes:
- Farmland Energy: Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture (Apr. 29, 2024)
- Agricultural Law: USDA Takes New Approach in HPAI Outbreak in Dairy Cattle (Apr. 26, 2024)
Avian Influenza: USDA Issues Order Requiring Testing, Reporting for Interstate Dairy Cattle Movement 🌾
On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued an order requiring mandatory testing and reporting for the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus in dairy cows prior to the interstate movement of dairy cattle. Also announced by USDA, the order lists the following requirements, effective […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 22, 2024
Webinars This Week!
- Apr. 23, 2024, U.S. State Milk Pricing & Supports, Part 1
- Apr. 26, 2024, Understanding the Basics of Producer Protections for Buyer Default
Nutrition Programs: USDA Publishes WIC Final Rule—Includes White Potatoes, Reduces Milk 🌾
On April 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published in the Federal Register a final rule (89 FR 28488) finalizing revisions to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Also announced by USDA, the final rule enacts numerous changes, including
- Allowing the purchase of white potatoes,
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 15, 2024
Ag-Gag Statutes: Kentucky Legislature Passes ‘Agricultural Key Infrastructure Asset Trespass Law,’ Overrides Governor Veto 🌾
On April 12, 2024, the Kentucky legislature overrode the governor’s veto to pass into law Senate Bill 16, titled “An Act Relating to Agricultural Key Infrastructure Assets” (with votes totaling 32-6 in the House and 71-26 in the Senate). The law adds three types of facilities to the definition of “key infrastructure assets”—(1) “a commercial food manufacturing or processing facility,” (2) “an animal feeding operation,” and (3) “a concentrated animal feeding operation”—and establishes that a person “commits the offense of trespass upon key infrastructure […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 10, 2024
Conservation Programs: Fish and Wildlife Service Publishes Three Endangered Species Act Final Rules 🌾
On April 5, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published in the Federal Register three final rules revising regulations for “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.” The first rule, “Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and Designating Critical Habitat” (89 FR 24300), amends the “procedures and criteria used for listing, reclassifying, and delisting species” and specifies that endangered and threatened species determinations shall be made “without reference to possible economic or other impacts of such determination.” The second rule, […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 1, 2024
Air Quality: SEC Publishes ‘Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors’ Final Rule 🌾
On March 28, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published in the Federal Register a final rule (89 FR 21668) that will require U.S.-listed public companies “to provide certain climate-related information in their registration statements and annual reports.” Also announced by SEC, the rule will require companies to provide “information about a registrant’s climate-related risks that have materially impacted, or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on, its business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition.” According to the rule, “an agricultural producer or […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—March 25, 2024
Food Labeling: USDA Publishes Final ‘Product of USA’ Rule for Meat, Poultry, and Eggs 🌾
On March 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published in the Federal Register a final rule (89 FR 19470) amending 9 C.F.R. §§ 317, 381, and 412 to “generically approve” the “voluntary ‘Product of USA’ or ‘Made in the USA’ label claim[s] . . . [for] use[] on meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States” (emphasis added). Also announced […]
