By Sarah Fielder
Arkansas Farmers File Class Action Lawsuit For Dicamba Drift Arkansas farmers are seeking class action certification in a lawsuit against Monsanto, BASF, and DuPont over dicamba drift damage. In the lawsuit, the farmers allege that the new dicamba is not drift-resistant but is actually prone to drift. This lawsuit comes after 2 straight seasons of drift damage being reported due to new dicambas on the market that are paired with dicamba resistant soybean and cotton varieties. This current lawsuit is the second class action suit to be filed against Monsanto earlier this year and states considering banning dicamba applications. To learn more about the lawsuit, see this story on Bloomberg http://bit.ly/2uwxyL5.
Property Ownership Fact Sheet Now Available How property is owned can impact a farm succession plan and an estate plan. To aid property owners in understanding the various ways property can be owned, a new UME fact sheet is now available. The fact sheet, Property Ownership and Transferring Are Important Features of Your Farm Succession Plan by Paul Goeringer (UME FS-1056) is available at https://go.umd.edu/PropOwnership.
Ninth Circuit Pauses Climate Lawsuit This week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals paused a lawsuit brought by a group of children and adults arguing that the federal government should take action to keep the climate livable. The court of appeals is currently reviewing a writ of mandamus petition from the Trump Administration that would end the lawsuit. To learn more about the lawsuit, check out ThinkProgress.org, http://bit.ly/2uABZ97.
Upcoming Webinar to Focus on Corn and Soybean Production Forecasts On August 10 at 9am (EST), FarmDoc with the University of Illinois will present a webinar reviewing USDA’s corn and soybean production forecasts. The webinar features Darrel Good and Todd Hubbs from the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois. To register for the webinar, click here http://bit.ly/2uFgNxf.
Reminder Crop Insurance Contract Changes on Fall-Seeded Forage Crops Due by July 31. USDA’s Risk Management Agency is reminding producers that changes on fall-seeded forage crops is due by July 31. Click here to read the press release, http://bit.ly/2h5sJFF. To find a crop insurance agent, click here http://bit.ly/2tFzDmz. To learn more about crop insurance, click here http://go.umd.edu/CropIns.
Early Bird Registration for AALA Annual Ag Law Symposium Ends on July 31 If there are any ag law attorneys out there interested in attending the annual ag law symposium in Louisville (Oct. 26-28), this is a reminder that early bird registration ends on July 31. The agenda and all the details on the conference are available here, http://bit.ly/aglaw17.