By Sarah Fielder
Dicamba Class Actions Consolidated Into Eastern District of Missouri Last week, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation agreed to consolidate the dicamba lawsuits filed against Monsanto in the Eastern District of Missouri. Monsanto had argued that consolidation was not needed, but argued that if the panel did consolidate then it should be in the Eastern District of Missouri. To learn more about the consolidation, click here http://bit.ly/2nPa94F.
Farm Bill on Hold, till Congress Passes, Must Need Legislation The farm bill expires on Sept. 30 of this year and both houses of Congress’ Ag committees are working hard and developing a new farm bill. But the bill is on hold till Congress passes must needed disaster legislation. As a recent story in Successful Farmer highlights, this disaster legislation is needed to provided fixes to the cotton and dairy programs. To learn more about this potential fix and what it means for a new Farm Bill, click here http://bit.ly/2nNhzVW.
USDA Creates New Farm Production and Conservation Business Center This week, USDA announced plans to create a new Farm Production and Business Center. This new Center would have the same stature in USDA as RMA, FSA, and NRCS. This move is not without critics. To learn more about this move, please click here http://bit.ly/2nNi9mA.
Congress Looks at Section 199A Fix The tax bill passed late last year included a last-minute provision that has created some unintended consequences. The provision creates a potentially larger tax deduction when a producer sells to a cooperative than a private company. To read more about the fix, click here http://bit.ly/2nQSPfp.
Register Now for Food Safety and Recall Readiness Webinars Running a farm with an on-farm market and/or agritourism component has individualized food safety risks that need to be understood and addressed. This webinar series will provide information for identifying and addressing risks associated with each type of operation and give simple ideas for how risks can be prevented. In addition, on-farm recall planning and the role of regulatory agencies in a food safety emergency will be explained. This webinar series is supported by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. SARE is a program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Register here: http://bit.ly/2GtoHiG.
Livestock Group Urges Lawmakers to fix Emissions Reporting Requirement This week the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) urged Congress to amend Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation Liability Act (CERCLA) to exempt livestock operations from reporting requirements. The reporting requirement comes after last year a federal court of appeals found that EPA did not have the authority in the law to create an exemption. To learn more about NPPC’s message to Congress, click here http://bit.ly/2nNqKq7.
State Attorneys General Challenge Trump Administration Rule to Delay WOTUS Rule This week, 11 state attorneys general challenged the Trump administration’s final rule to delay the WOTUS rule by two years. This rule was finalized by EPA after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals did not have jurisdiction to grant a nationwide stay of the WOTUS rule, effectively putting the WOTUS rule into effect in a majority of the U.S. The states claim that the administration violated federal law in issuing the final rule. To learn more about the delay, click here http://wapo.st/2nOo23C.