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Agricultural Law 
Post Frequency: 3.7/day Last Entry: November 10, 2009 at 23:39:00 Recent Entries: 242
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FAO Report on Climate Change and Food Safety
Posted on November 10, 2009The FAO issued a new report this week, Climate Change: Implications for Food Safety. While other impacts of global warming are more generally discussed, this report explores some of the food safety impacts that have yet to be widely considered.Here is the abstract of the report:The paper aims to identify potential impacts of anticipated changes in climate on food safety and their control at all stages of the food chain...
New Ag & Food Law Community on Kiva
Posted on November 01, 2009I received a wonderful present last Spring - a gift certificate with Kiva. What better present for someone who teaches Agricultural Finance & Credit. In class, we discuss the need for capital in agricultural operations, the legal issues that arise in financing transactions, and the impact of financial stresses on farming operations...
Accepting Applications to the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law
Posted on October 26, 2009We are now accepting applications for the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law for the class beginning in Fall 2010.While agricultural law issues have always been important, recent concerns about food safety and food labeling have highlighted the connections between agricultural and food law...
Traceability
Posted on October 22, 2009I watched this interesting news video on the difficulties of tracking tainted food with my Food Law & Policy class. It is from the PBS News Hour.
On the Farm With CSI Miami
Posted on October 20, 2009Prime time television drama takes on agricultural law. Here's the teaser for this week's episode of CSI Miami, Bad Seed:When several seemingly unrelated deaths turn out to be part of a sudden outbreak of E. Coli, Alexx returns to help the team as they race to find the source of it to stop the death toll from rising...
Minority Farmers
Posted on October 18, 2009I recently participated in the Farmers Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG) Board meeting. I was elected to serve on the FLAG Board last year.For those new to FLAG, its work is described as follows:Farmers' Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG) is a nonprofit law center dedicated to providing legal services to family farmers and their rural communities in order to help keep family farmers on the land...
The Wall Street Journal "Puts up" Produce
Posted on October 15, 2009As someone who grew up learning the art and science of home canning from my mother, I was both delighted and a little amused to read today's Wall Street Journal's article, Putting up Produce: Yes You Can. It comes complete with a slide show on canning pickles...
Food Safety Discussion on Larry King Live
Posted on October 13, 2009Last night's Larry King Live show discussed food safety issues, in particular food safety and meat. Bill Marler, noted food safety advocate and personal injury lawyer and Patrick Boyle, president and CEO of the American Meat Institute were among the guests...
Ohio Agricultural Law Symposium
Posted on October 10, 2009Last Friday, I had the pleasure of addressing the Ohio Agricultural Law Symposium sponsored by The Ohio State University and the Ohio State Bar Association. My invitation came from Peggy Kirk Hall, a colleague from the American Agricultural Law Association (AALA)...
Many Thanks to the AALA
Posted on October 09, 2009The annual AALA conference was, as usual, quite enjoyable. This year two students from the University of Nebraska College of Law attended with me. Jeff Murman (second from right) and Tim Hruza (far right), both 1Ls, attended with me. The photo also includes students from the Penn State Dickenson School of Law and, of course, Secretary Vilsack...
Egan on Food Connections
Posted on October 08, 2009The thing I enjoy about Mr. Egan is his ability to avoid overstatement. He makes 3 points that struck me as very interesting:1) people desire a connection to their food (especially in light of food borne illness): "Every now and then, we have to see our food, if only to preserve the illusion that this good earth can keep us well...
Considering Hamburger: NYTimes Report on Food Safety
Posted on October 06, 2009The New York Times published an article on Sunday that told the tragic tale of a young woman from Minnesota who contracted a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli traced to a hamburger her mother grilled for her. Stephanie Smith, now just 22 barely survived, and she was left paralyzed as a result of severe nerve damage...
Part Three: The Relationship Between the Level of Regulation under the FDCA and the Health Status of a Product?s Targeted Population
Posted on September 28, 2009An Introduction to the History of Quack Medicine In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there was a remarkable growth in the marketing of sham products to treat and cure disease. At that time, the rate at which quack medicines were being introduced into the market far outpaced the development of the science necessary to establish the efficacy and identify the risks associated with each new product...
Post Two of a Series: The Relationship Between the Level of Regulation under the FDCA and the Health Status of a Product?s Targeted Population
Posted on September 22, 2009The first post of this series began by asking whether functional foods should be regulated as drugs if they claim to treat abnormal health conditions. For example, was it appropriate for the FDA to characterize Cheerios as a drug as a result of its advertising claim that ?you can Lower Your Cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks?? An abnormally high level cholesterol level is a serious risk factor for disease and those with high cholesterol levels are in an abnormal state of health...
Reaction to NYTimes Article on Well Contamination
Posted on September 19, 2009I read yesterday's New York Times article, Health Ills Abound as Farms Runoff Fouls Wells with great sadness. The article focuses on the impact that the over-application of manure from large dairy farms can have on groundwater resources and the contamination of wells in Wisconsin...
Post 1 in Series: The Relationship Between the Level of Government Regulation under the FDCA and the Health Status of a Product?s Targeted Population
Posted on September 16, 2009Cheerios -- a Drug?This past May, the FDA issued a warning letter to General Mills stating that the claim on Cheerios cereal that ?you can Lower Your Cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks? turned the Cheerios from a food into an illegally marketed drug. When bloggers heard the news, posts ran from scolding the FDA to ?grow-up,? to those which lauded the FDA?s action...
Economics Driving Dairy Herd Health Measure
Posted on September 15, 2009A few ramblings since I haven't blogged in a while. This story came through my inbox this morning. Apparently high somatic cell counts in milk are not a food safety issue. But placing this sort of regulation on the industry would have the anticipated effect of removing supply from the market and driving up prices, while improving herd health...
There is Much to Learn from the Man Who Fed the World
Posted on September 14, 2009Norman Borlaug, who was reluctantly known as the "father of the broad agricultural movement called the Green Revolution," passed away on Saturday night at the age of 95. As the New York Times reports, "[H]is work had a far-reaching impact on the lives of millions of people in developing countries...
Defining Natural Meat - A Chance to Comment
Posted on September 13, 2009On Friday, September 11, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit public comment on the use of the term "natural" on meat and poultry products labeling.This has been a contentious issue...
Bill Marler Launches Online Newspaper, Food Safety News
Posted on September 12, 2009Bill Marler, food safety expert and food borne illness litigator just announced the creation of a new online food safety newspaper that will launch on Monday, September 14. Food Safety News To Go Live. This is just another step in the fascinating public advocacy/private practice mix that is Marler's career...
The latest issue of The Agricultural
Posted on September 06, 2009The latest issue of The Agricultural Law Brief, published by the Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center at Penn State Law was just posted. This issue contains information on the following topics:Ohio ballot issue proposing creation of Livestock Care Standards Board;Commonwealth Court ruling on East Brunswick Township biosolids ordinance;Litigation regarding natural gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest; "Anytime, Anywhere" rule for milk in schools; and Court of Common Pleas ruling that a poultry farm did not constitute a nuisance.
New Analysis of H1N1 and Swine: Separating Fact From Fear
Posted on September 05, 2009Last spring when ?swine flu,? now referred to as the H1N1 virus outbreak first occurred, internet journalists suggested that one or more Mexican swine CAFO?s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) may have been the source. See Tom Philpott?s posts on Grist and David Kirby?s on Huffington Post...
Recommendation: FORA TV
Posted on August 30, 2009For your learning pleasure, and for an excellent teaching tool, I recommend Fora tv. FORA.tv was founded in 2005 and is funded by a select group of investors including William R. Hearst III and Adobe Ventures. It advertises itself as having "the web's largest collection of unmediated video drawn from live events, lectures, and debates...
Ag Biotech News - on Twitter
Posted on August 29, 2009Twitter sometimes gets panned for those who tweet about what they had for breakfast and other aspects of personal life that are best left unpublished to the world. The other side of twitter is the ability of people with shared interests to communicate news and ideas efficiently...
The Ag Sector in the Ukraine
Posted on August 25, 2009Click on the title for an interesting story from the BBC concerning agricultural development abroad.
Problem Solving Through Integration and Sustainability
Posted on August 23, 2009Tom Friedman provides some interesting thought in his Connecting the Dots commentary in the New York Times. He begins by describing an experience deep in Botswana?s Okavango Delta, where he walked with Map Ives ? the 54-year-old director of sustainability for Wilderness Safaris...
LL.M. in Agricultural and Food Law
Posted on August 20, 2009I am pleased to announce that we passed the final administrative hurdle and can now officially describe our LL.M. Program at the University of Arkansas School of Law as the LL.M. Program in Agricultural and Food Law.Since 1980, we have been the only U...
Farming and Lawyering
Posted on August 12, 2009Evoking unfortunate jokes about the old television comedy, Green Acres, the ABA Journal reports that "some lawyers are considering an unusual career move that would take them out of the courthouse and into the farm fields." See Lawyers Seek Green Acres Life Through Iowa Farming Program by Debra Cassens Weiss...
Migration, Development, and the Promise of CEDAW for Rural Women
Posted on August 09, 2009Worth noting -Professor Lisa Pruitt, UC Davis School of Law, has been writing about rural-urban difference in relation to law for several years, but her work has not been directly about agricultural issues. Pruitt?s most recent article, however, takes a decidedly agricultural turn, and is international in scope...
The Political Face of American Agriculture
Posted on July 27, 2009I've been wondering a great deal lately about the political goodwill currently associated with American agriculture, particularly the mid-west's livestock and grain production sectors. Honestly, I think the promotion of biofuels did more to alienate today's crop production methods than the upsurge in GMOs from the last two decades...
Agriculture = Applied environmental protection
Posted on July 25, 2009Professor Andy Kleinschmidt of Ohio State University Extension, also known as @akleinschmidt on Twitter, has honored me in a way that is as flattering as it is unusual. During a recent #foodchat session on Twitter (which alternates with the related #agchat series), I remarked: "Q7: I try to describe agriculture as applied environmental protection, just as agricultural economics is now 'applied economics...
From the Farm
Posted on July 15, 2009For all that Minnesota suffers during its long and frigid winters, there is nothing more perfect than the typical Minnesota summer day. I am writing this post from my family farm in rural Minnesota. Although we are in great need of rain, it is hard not to celebrate the 75 degree temperature, the gentle breeze, and the clear blue sky...
Agriculture's Embarrassment
Posted on June 26, 2009I grew up on the farm that I still own and treasure. I have represented and advocated for farmers for all of my legal professional life. At this point, however, I am embarrassed of the industry that I love so dearly.Steven Pearlstein's column For the Farm Lobby, Too Much Is Never Enough, in today's Washington Post explains why...
North Dakota District Court Upholds North Dakota Statutes Restricting Entity Use in Production Ag
Posted on June 23, 2009The opinion can be accessed here.I've not yet had the chance to parse the reasoning, but I'll try to in due course. My initial thought is that the trial court does not distinguish the Jones case's "facial discrimination" reasoning. North Dakota's language is different, but I don't think those differences would be relevant to the 8th Circuit, unless North Dakota can make some further arguments about the geographical implications of complying with its law...
Food, Inc.
Posted on June 21, 2009A new documentary, Food, Inc., takes aim at "our nation's food industry" with particular emphasis on "exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA...
Agricultural Law authors on Twitter
Posted on June 20, 2009Inspired by Susan Schneider's implementation of her Twitter account into her agricultural law LL.M. blog, I've blended Susan's Twitter updates with my own into an RSS feed called Agricultural Law Authors on Twitter. The result is a box in the sidebar of this blog that blends Twitter posts by — and about — AgLawLLM and J...
Jasmonic Acid Treatment on Seeds
Posted on June 19, 2009The CleanTech Forum from Boston, Massachusetts recently reported on a new technology that may protect crops from pests. New UK Tech Protects Crops Without Genetic Modification, written by Emma Ritch reports that Becker Underwood has licensed a seed protection technology that involves dipping seeds in a substance called jasmonic acid...
Fat liver
Posted on June 09, 2009"Animal-rights advocates have made a big deal about the way the ducks are force-fed to produce the enormously swollen livers from which the foie gras is made." And now Bob Herbert of the New York Times looks "at the plight of the underpaid, overworked and often gruesomely exploited farmworkers who feed and otherwise care for the ducks...
Grandma May Have Had it Right: Lard Returns to Favor
Posted on June 07, 2009Slate Magazine recently published its Food Issue. Among an interesting collection of articles, isLard: After Decades Of Trying, Its Moment Is Finally Here, by Regina Schrambling.The article points out that lard's fat is also mostly monounsaturated, has a higher smoking point than other fats, causing food to absorb less grease when fried in it, and it is minimally processed...
Bill Marler Addresses the WSU - Pollan Controversy
Posted on May 27, 2009Here is an update to the previous blog post about Washington State University's decision to pull the Michael Pollan book, Omnivore's Dilemma from its mandatory freshman read.It turns out that noted food safety lawyer Bill Marler is an alumnus of WSU. Anxious to provide his "Cougars" with a chance to do right by this issue, Mr...
Pollan Book Selected, Dropped from WSU "Common Reading"
Posted on May 21, 2009The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a faculty committee at Washington State University selected Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" as a common-reading text for freshmen next fall.[F]aculty members effusively praised the award-winning book and hoped that people at the land-grant university were ready to have a serious debate about the practice of agriculture in America...
Food, The Environment, and Civilization in Peril
Posted on May 05, 2009We desperately need a new way of thinking, a new mind-set. The thinking that got us into this bind will not get us out. When Elizabeth Kolbert, a writer for the New Yorker, asked energy guru Amory Lovins about thinking outside the box, Lovins responded: "There is no box...
NY Times Graphics on Organic Farming
Posted on May 03, 2009The May 2, 2009 New York Times includes an interesting article, Hot Spots for Organics on farming in America. Graphical maps depict the location of organic farms, overall farms, vegetable farms, orchards, and dairy farms.The article notes that, "[o]rganic vegetables now account for 5 percent of all vegetable sales; organic dairies, which are the fastest-growing sector, now produce 1 percent of the nation's milk...
Investing in Food Security - in Other Countries
Posted on May 03, 2009Bloomberg news recently reported Japan's efforts to promote farm investment overseas to enhance food security.Japan is considering providing loans from a government-owned bank for companies to purchase and lease farmland abroad, Munemitsu Hirano, counsellor at the international affairs department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said...
Postive Yield and Production Impacts
Posted on April 30, 2009By clicking on the title to this post, readers may go the the briefing note (17 April 2009) of PG Economics Limited about the Union of Concerned Scientists report titled "Failure to Yield." PG Economics writes that "the public, policy makers, stakeholders and media need to be aware of its [the UCS report] misleading nature through a combination of inappropriate use of data and omission of representative, relevant analysis...
A Tribute to Craft Beers
Posted on April 29, 2009Here's to a great American agricultural product - craft beer.Despite the recession, craft beer sales have grown in most markets, developing a loyal following . American Craft Beer Continues Global Expansion: U.S. Craft Beer Exports Increase 25% in 2008...
Failure to Yield
Posted on April 28, 2009While technology is often promoted as the key to increased production, a recent report highlights the risk in relying upon genetic modification as the technological enhancement that will solve global food needs.The Union of Concerned Scientists recently released a report, Failure to Yield on the use of genetically engineered crops as a means for achieving higher production yields...
G8 Agricultural Ministerial
Posted on April 27, 2009Secretary Vilsack and other government agricultural leaders can be commended for the recent Group of Eight (G8) Agricultural Ministers Meeting in Italy. Vilsack noted in his press release that "This meeting, the first of its kind in the G8's history, underscores the important role that agriculture will play in the coming months and years, as we look for ways to improve global food security...
Arugula nation
Posted on April 19, 2009Unlike Bill Clinton, Barack Obama seems more attuned to slow food than to fast food. Perhaps nothing symbolizes this subtle shift in the attitude of the White House toward food than arugula. Maureen Dowd explains in a column featuring the the legendary Alice Waters.
I watched the film King Corn again
Posted on April 18, 2009I watched the film King Corn again yesterday, this time with our LL.M. Agricultural Perspectives class. I was once again struck by the odd and unsustainable path our food and agricultural systems have taken.We often hear farmers proudly and very sincerely proclaiming that their job is ?to feed the world...
Swinging for the sweet spot
Posted on April 16, 2009And now there are four. The FDA's approval of rebaudioside A, a derivative of Stevia rebaudiana bertoni, as a food additive brings the total number of low-calorie sugar substitutes to four: saccharin (Sweet ?N Low), aspartame (Equal), sucralose (Splenda), and stevia (Truvia, Rebiana, and PureVia)...
Livestock Waste Management
Posted on April 15, 2009Nebraska's Livestock Waste Management Act is currently the focus of a bill in our legislature. Read about it here. Personally, I question the wisdom of allowing livestock facilities to structure their businesses with multiple entities to avoid non-compliance...
Food Policy and Health Symposium at Stanford
Posted on April 14, 2009I have recently had the opportunity to work with Stanford Law student Loren A. Crary, Articles Editor for the Stanford Law & Policy Review. Recognizing the significance of current issues of agricultural law and food policy, the Review is planning a Food Policy and Health Symposium...
Reaction to NY Times Op Ed on Pork Production
Posted on April 11, 2009My father used to tease me that I would sometimes get "worked up" if I thought something was not right. I guess this post would be a good example. This one's for you, Dad -James E. McWilliams? published an editorial, Free-Range Trichinosis in yesterday's New York Times...
Food law academy in Puglia
Posted on April 05, 2009Alberto Alemanno left an invitation by way of commentary on an Agricultual Law post. I'm happy to reprint that invitation here in the main body of this blog:Dear food law colleagues,I am pleased to invite you to the 1st EFFL Summer Academy in Food Law & Policy...
Opportunities in Food & Agriculture
Posted on March 31, 2009The Graduate Program in Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law offers the nation's only advanced LL.M. degree in agricultural law. With courses in food law, environmental law, and all other aspects of agricultural law, we take pride in offering a curriculum that covers the full spectrum of law and policy...
From Humans to Livestock, Red River Flooding Impacts All
Posted on March 28, 2009I usually write about the intersection between energy law and agricultural law, but this post has nothing to do with energy. As a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law, I have been experiencing my first real flood threat in Grand Forks...
White House Garden Confirmed
Posted on March 20, 2009Along with a number of other media sources anxious to report the big news, Marion Burros of the New York Times reported that ?Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of the South Lawn on Friday to plant a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt?s victory garden in World War II...
Groundbreaking
Posted on March 20, 2009Although I love the "Rabbit's Vegetable Garden" photo in my previous post on this issue, this one is pretty cool, too. I have to admit that I do not look this good when I garden.
Changing the Way We Eat: Alice Waters Interview
Posted on March 15, 2009Leslie Stahl began her Sixty Minutes interview with Alice Waters last night by acknowledging that Waters "has done more to change how we Americans eat, cook and think about food than anyone since Julia Child."Through the course of the interview, Waters discusses the importance of access to fresh food and her work with the slow food movement...
"Reversing a Troubling Trend in Food Safety"
Posted on March 14, 2009Food safety was the topic of today's Presidential message. In it, President Obama declared -We are a nation built on the strength of individual initiative. But there are certain things that we can't do on our own. There are certain things that only a government can do...
Ethanol: The Cycle Continues?
Posted on March 08, 2009The New York Times reported on Friday that ethanol producers are lobbying the federal government to increase the 10% cap on ethanol in most gasoline blends to as much as 15%. Ethanol producers also argue that without higher blend levels, there will be no room for the development of advanced biofuels, like ethanol made from wood chips or biological waste...
Biotech Companies "Thwart Scientific Research"
Posted on February 24, 2009Last week, Andrew Pollack of the New York Times reported on a statement submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency by a group of 26 scientists engaged in biotechnology crop research. The statement was submitted by "26 leading corn insect scientists working at public research institutions located in 16 corn producing states...
A Wrong Turn in Agricultural Production Research?
Posted on February 21, 2009Consider the difference between the taste of that over-sized strawberry shipped from California and the much smaller strawberries you may grow yourself or remember from childhood. The former, while attractive and perfectly formed, often just does not have the flavor or even the texture found in the latter...
News and Dickinson Ag Law Brief
Posted on February 20, 2009Nebraska Dept of Ag update is here.The Dickinson Brief is here.
First Lady Visits the USDA, "People's Garden"
Posted on February 19, 2009In its blog posting, First Lady at Agriculture Department, the New York Times reports that the first lady, Michelle Obama visited the USDA to recognize 18 long-time employees for their service and to present a seedling from the Jackson magnolia, a tree planted by Andrew Jackson on the White House lawn 180 years ago...
Consumer Spending on Food
Posted on February 14, 2009The Wall Street Journal has recently chronicled the impact of the economic crisis on food and agriculture. Financial woes are impacting both consumption and production patterns.With respect to food purchases, in an article published yesterday, Consumers Cut Food Spending Sharply, consumer efforts to trim food costs were described...
Another Agricultural Law Blog & A Request
Posted on February 13, 2009The American Agricultural Law Association and the National Agricultural Law Center have embarked on a joint blog titled "The United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog". It should be of interest to readers of this blog.I am updating some research on corporate farming laws for an article...
The Onion
Posted on February 06, 2009The Onion hits USDA (warning: some profanity included):USDA Official Takes Courageous Stand Against Interstate Countercyclical Potato Pricing
A Surprise Regarding Rural Health and Activity
Posted on February 05, 2009When I grew up on the farm, I did not participate in many organized sports activities, but I spent literally hours every day playing outside. I climbed trees, built forts, helped with chores, even walked around on home made stilts! This is what I would consider to be the typical rural kid lifestyle...
Ice Storms and Rural Power
Posted on February 01, 2009Things are pretty tough right now in rural Northwest Arkansas, and it turns out that what we are experiencing may be in part related to a rural infrastructure issue.As Rebecca Smith of the Wall Street Journal reported on January 30 in the article, States Set to Examine Maintenance Budgets as Millions Face Cold With No Power, the recent ice storm "knocked out power to more than 1...
African Rice and More on Payment Limitations
Posted on January 29, 2009This story is interesting, for its treatment of the economic and social risks associated with production that many producers in the world take.Below, please find a conversation regarding payment eligibility laws that builds upon my earlier post:Commentator's First Comment: I would like of offer a couple of points that I believe you missed in your commentary on the new payment limitation rules...
Headlines and Proposed Rulemaking
Posted on January 29, 2009Headlines are here.There are a wealth of new rulemakings out there, and USDA has extended the payment eligibility effort for another 60 days. Here is a note I received from Tom Reddick regarding the others: ------------------------------------------------------------ Farm Bill Program Regulations Released ------------------------------------------------------------ Last week, USDA released several conservation program regulations that reflect changes made in the 2008 Farm Bill...
What is Agricultural Law
Posted on January 23, 2009As referenced in previous posts, the Agricultural Law section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) met to discuss the pedagogical and scholarly value of agricultural law, considering as well what belongs in the canon of agricultural law...
Roundup
Posted on January 12, 2009Here are the Nebraska Headlines from 1/6/2009 and 1/8/2009.Here is Ross Pifer's update.
AALS Conference Wrap Up
Posted on January 12, 2009The papers presented by Professor Kershen and Professor Schneider will be published in forthcoming issues of the Agricultural Law Update, available from the AALA. Below, I've included a set of opening remarks that I refrained from giving at the last minute in the interests of time...
Dairy Farming - One of the Worst Jobs in America
Posted on January 08, 2009At least according to cnbc. The photo is a silly representation of the modern dairy industry, but if the data are correct, then I wouldn't want to be a dairy farmer. And I understand why my father got out of that business in 1987.
AALS Events to Attend
Posted on January 05, 2009The Agricultural Law Section meets on Friday, January 9th, at 8:30 AM, in Cardiff, South Tower/Level 3, San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina. Here is the program description:The program this year will focus our section's attention on the definition of agricultural law...
Soil Loss, Perennial Crops, and the Future
Posted on January 05, 2009Wendell Barry and Wes Jackson have this op-ed in the New York Times, calling for longer term policies in the ag sector.
Defending the Potato
Posted on January 04, 2009Pity the poor, misunderstood potato that has become the symbol of our inactivity and downright laziness. How inappropriate!Consider instead that we just completed the International Year of the Potato, and just last month, the FAO released a 144-page illustrated book, New Light on a Hidden Treasure, which records the achievements of the celebration and promotes its message that "the potato is a vital part of the global food system, and will play an ever greater role in strengthening world food security and alleviating poverty...
Regulations Open for Comment and Some Observations
Posted on January 03, 2009New regulations concerning payment eligibility and limitation are open for comment until January 28, 2009. The notice regarding the "interim rule" that "will apply to 2009 and subsequent crop, program, or fiscal year benefits" can be retrived here (search for volume 73, page 79267) or here and states that the rule is already effective, "but subject to modification after the consideration of comments...
WSJ on Food and Agriculture: A Contrast in Families
Posted on January 02, 2009On December 30, the Wall Street Journal published an article evidencing the complex policy challenges facing agriculture and world food production. A striking contrast was presented in the article Two Families' Shifting Fortunes, a story of two families that exemplify the food crisis in Ethiopia and the prosperity experienced by many in China...
Commodities to Stablize, But Prices Could Stay High
Posted on December 30, 2008Recall all the talk earlier this year about speculators and price volatility. The claim was that speculation was leading to extremely high costs. Although there was a some truth to that, those same speculators took a bath when costs dropped. As a recent AP article reported, "'People bought oil and commodities because they thought the rest of the world would continue to consume,' said Phil Flynn, senior energy analyst with Alaron Trading Corp...
Recent News
Posted on December 24, 2008Happy Holidays.Here is an interesting story from the NY Times.
Revenue Needs, Ag Policy, and Taxes
Posted on December 18, 2008Mr. Kristof has again hit on the food aspects of agricultural policy in the New York Times. a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/opinion/18kristof.html?_r=1amp;hp"Today/a, he makes some keen observations on Governor Paterson's proposal to raise revenue with "an 18 percent sales tax on soft drinks and other nondiet sugary beverages...
The Mississippi River Partnership Project
Posted on December 15, 2008Monsanto and a host of environmental groups are doing something to stem nutrient and sediment movement in the Mississippi River Basin. This page has the details. And hat-tip to Tom Redick and the ABA Ag Management Group listserve for bringing this to my attention...
Air Emissions
Posted on December 15, 2008Just a short post that might further the conversation on Susan's last post:Let's suppose that existing production levels could be achieved through a different model. And let's call that model a small farm. Let's further suppose that those small farms are the quaint ideal that many people think of when they think of farms and farmers...
EPA on Air Quality Reporting for Livestock Operations
Posted on December 14, 2008It hasn't received a lot of press, but industrialized animal agriculture operations have been fighting for an exemption from the air quality emissions reporting requirements that other businesses must follow. And, the Bush Administration's EPA has supported them...
Bill Moyers Interviews Michael Pollan
Posted on December 13, 2008I missed this when it was first shown the night after Thanksgiving, but here is a link to the Bill Moyers interview with Michael Pollan. The topic of the interview is U.S. food policy, and it is a fascinating two part session that includes a short insert on urban farming.
Agricultural Law in Sub-Saharan Africa
Posted on December 12, 2008Professor Fred Boadu of Texas Tech University posted the following announcement in the last issue of the Agricultural Law Update, the newsletter of the American Agricultural Law Association. As he explains, the development of an agricultural law framework will be critical to the success of the agricultural sector in developing economies...
Headlines
Posted on December 12, 2008Seems to be a busy week for the Dept. of Ag's news collector. Here is Dec. 11.
Department of Food
Posted on December 11, 2008Another call for a major shake up at the Department of Agriculture and a major change in the direction of our food system was published today.Nicholas Kristof called for Obama to appoint a Secretary of Food to focus American agriculture on the production of healthy food through sustainable practices...
Headlines
Posted on December 10, 2008The Dec. 9 edition of Nebraska headlines is here. Notable developments include the possibility of farm bill reform (i.e., increasing loan rates) given current production conditions, public pressure on livestock production, and looming credit concerns for the more capital intensive sectors of the industry...
Store Wars - A Holiday Classic
Posted on December 10, 2008This video was produced a long time ago, and I always make a point to show it in my Food Law & Policy class as a prelude to our discussion of the regulation of organic labeling. It is so amusing, and so well done - I am always amazed that there are many people who have not had the chance to see it...
"Sustainable Secretary of Agriculture"
Posted on December 08, 2008Its all over the food and ag blogs today - as the New York Times Diners Blog reported in their post A Pitch to Obama on Food and Farming "nearly 90 notable figures in the world of sustainable agriculture and food sent a letter to the Obama transition team earlier this week offering their six top picks for what they called 'the sustainable choice for the next U...
Another Face of Farming
Posted on December 08, 2008As noted in a recent post, Payment Limitations and Headlines, the GAO recently called out the USDA regarding abuses under the payment limitation provisions that are supposed to limit the amount of government payments that farmers receive under the federal farm programs...
Dioxin Contaminated Pigs in Ireland
Posted on December 07, 2008My "food law" headlines pulled up the following story from Ireland. As we struggle with our food safety system here in the U.S., a problem with contaminated pig food is devastating the Irish hog industry.From Irish Times -An estimated 100,000 pigs will have to be destroyed because of the pigmeat crisis which has led to the recall of all Irish pork products in Ireland?s largest food scare since BSE...
Ag Headlines and Newsletter
Posted on December 02, 2008Nebraska headlines from December 2nd are here. Of note are VeraSun's plans to reject forward contracts on corn, as well as a Canadian challenge to COOL in the WTO.And Ross Pifer's newsletter is here.
Farmers: Beware The Wind (Prospector)
Posted on November 29, 2008With the prospect of carbon emissions legislation and renewable portfolio standards in place in more the half the United States, interest in wind energy continues to increase. Although the recent drastic reduction in oil prices seems to have tempered some enthusiasm, wind energy will have a significant role in the new energy mix...
First Impressions
Posted on November 25, 2008In response to Dean Chen's inquiry, I offer the following:I still start with agraianism and its metamorphosis (or, perhaps, its decline). We don't read Kafka, but we do read Paarlberg, Soth, and Chandler (which are all 70s and 80s era pieces included in the original Thorson book)...
Payment Limitations & Headlines
Posted on November 25, 2008GAO has weighed in on USDA oversight of AGI limitations put in place in 2002 and tightened in 2008. This report concludes that over $49 million was improperly paid to 2,702 individuals who should not have been eligible under the AGI limitation from 2003 through 2006...
Cases of first impression
Posted on November 24, 2008I'd like to respond, at least as an initial matter, to Susan Schneider and Anthony Schutz's excellent summaries of agricultural law with a thought experiment.When I first taught agricultural law in spring 1994, I began with National Broiler Marketing Association v...
Thoughts on Teaching Agricultural Law
Posted on November 23, 2008The American Association of Law Schools (AALS) annual conference will be held in January 2009 in San Diego, and the session presented by the Agricultural Law section will focus on the definition of agricultural law. Our chair, Anthony Schutz has identified two related goals for the session: (1) To consider the pedagogical and scholarly value of agricultural law, and (2) To identify what belongs in the canon of agricultural law...
Teaching Agricultural Law: Paradigm Shift or More of the Same
Posted on November 23, 2008Susan thoughts are awesome and exactly what this upcoming AALA panel should be about. I am the newest member of the bunch that will be on the panel and I offer my thoughts with all the trepidation of a person with only a bit of experience.To me, agricultural law is the study of a regulated industry...
The agroecological opium of the masses
Posted on November 19, 2008More than a dozen years after its original publication, this artifact of my rhetorically flamboyant youth has finally made its way to my SSRN page:The Agroecological Opium of the Masses, 10:4 Choices 16 (Winter 1995)A specter is haunting agriculture, the specter of agroecological ideology...
Nebraska Ag Headlines
Posted on November 18, 2008November 18th edition here. Highlights include lots of ethanol concerns and credit worries. An interesting story from McCook notes a newspaper advertisement in 1936 for a car that achieved 18 to 24 mpg. 1936.
Teaching Bailments
Posted on November 14, 2008At this point in my Agricultural Law course, the students and I wade into warehouse laws and Article 7 of the UCC. Each year I question the utility of this exercise, but each year I am assured by the experience. This year is one good example.Read the rest of this post ...
The Election, Race and the Rural Voter
Posted on November 12, 2008Arkansas alumnus, Professor Lisa Pruitt at U.C. Davis School of Law has studied and written a good deal about rural culture and livelihoods. This week on her blog, Legal Ruralism she posted on the New York Times article, For South, A Waning Hold on National Politics...
New Report
Posted on November 11, 2008The Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASIWPCA) has issued a report calling for a warm embrace between EPA and those charged with implementing the CWA in most instances.As the administration changes, one can question how and if agriculture's treatment under the CWA will change...
Nebraska Ag Headlines
Posted on November 07, 2008November 7 edition is available here.Notable news coverage includes the Obama transition, air emissions regulation, and the ag sector's response to California's proposition 2.
GAO Includes Food Safety on its Urgent List
Posted on November 06, 2008Following the each presidential election, the GAO prepares transition information to assist the incoming administration. Today GAO announced the creation of its transition website and issued its priority listing of the 13 most urgent issues to be addressed by President-elect Obama...
Nebraska Ag Headlines
Posted on November 04, 2008The November 4th edition is located here.Notable news items include VeraSun's bankruptcy, food v. fuel, COOL, fertilizer prices, the role of subsidies in food prices, gasoline-ethanol blends, and some interesting litigation (here and here) concerning a sugar cooperative and the obligations the members owe (or not) to the co-op.
The new CAFO rules are here, the new CAFO rules are here!
Posted on November 04, 2008After a long wait, the final post-Waterkeeper regulations under the Clean Water Act for concentrated animal feeding operations have been promulgated and should appear shortly in the Federal Register. For now, the rule can be found here.A few highlights:As expected, the regulation provides a self-certification measure for CAFOs that will not, or will propose not to, discharge pollutants...
Nebraska Headlines
Posted on November 03, 2008The Nebraska Department of Agriculture does a decent job of collecting relevant ag related news. Unfortunately, it still sends the information out to a listserve. With their permission, I am posting the information here.
EU Green Paper on Ag Product Quality
Posted on November 03, 2008Friend and colleague, Erimar Von der Osten provided me with information about the recent Green Paper on agricultural product quality: product standards, farming requirements and quality schemes that was issued by the Commission of the European Communities...
Ag Law Publication
Posted on November 03, 2008Ross Pifer at the Penn State University, Dickinson School of Law, Agricultural Law Resource & Reference Center, puts together a legal update on agricultural law that you can find at this location. Coverage includes Congress's 10-base-acres delay and a new dog law in Pennsylvania, among other items.
Speculate This: Ethanol?s Impact on Corn Prices
Posted on November 01, 2008A recent study concludes that ?commodities speculation,? and not ethanol production, was the principal cause of higher corn prices last summer. OxFam, which has argued that biofuels have "dragged 30 million people into poverty," and many other critics have blamed ethanol production for record-high corn prices...
Credit Woes in the Heartland
Posted on October 31, 2008Ethanol continues its shake out.Also, an interesting drama is being reported from Illinois. Imagine this: Debtor gets into financial trouble. Debtor enlists the locals to help him conceal assets. Some locals defect when the bank starts asking questions...
Iowa Meatpacking
Posted on October 30, 2008This story from the AP has the latest. $10,000,000 fine!
Agricultural Law / Food Law Opportunity
Posted on October 29, 2008Issues involving food and agriculture have always been important. Recent concerns about our food system, however, have highlighted critical issues and peaked interest in the study of agricultural law. Consumers seek connections with their food; farmers seek ways to sustainably produce that food...
Recent Publication
Posted on October 28, 2008If you are interested in agricultural law, you probably receive notice of this publication. But if it misses you, here is a link to the ABA's Agricultural Management Committee's newsletter. The Ag Management Committee is within the Section of Environment, Energy and Resources of the ABA.
AALA Materials
Posted on October 28, 2008The materials I presented at the AALA conference are included below.The Ag Environmental Law Update slides are here.The Corporate Farming slides are here. In addition, here is a report that David Aiken and I prepared dealing with legislative examples of defining farming...
The 29th Annual American Agricultural Law Association
Posted on October 24, 2008Today and tomorrow, practitioners, academics, and many interested in agricultural law and policy are gathering in Minneapolis for the 29th annual agricultural law conference. This is my third conference, and I am beginning to fully appreciate the breadth of agricultural law and the diversity of interests at stake in this important sector...
Food Policy for the Future President
Posted on October 20, 2008From Fresh Aire, on National Public Radio today, Michael Pollan has serious advice for the next President:In a open letter to the next president, author Michael Pollan writes about the waning health of America's food systems ? and warns that "the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close...
The New Farm Bill - ACRE
Posted on October 15, 2008ACRE: A brief primer on the new payment mechanism.The statutory text is available here, and a complete version (with a few footnotes) is available here. [links will be live when the documents are on the web]If you see any errors or oversights, please let me know...
Urban Farmer Wins MacArthur "Genius Grant"
Posted on October 12, 2008Need some good news in these difficult times?ABC News tells the amazing story of former professional basketball player Will Allen, CEO of Growing Power, an organization that built a farm in the middle of a Milwaukee residential neighborhood. Their goal: to help feed the community's residents affordably using "urban farming...
NY Times Magazine on Food Issues
Posted on October 11, 2008This Sunday's New York Times Magazine will be devoted to international/U.S. food policy and the "true costs of cheap food: obesity in the U.S., malnutrition in developing countries and environmental degradation everywhere." Almost the entire issue is devoted to this topic, discussing problems and suggesting solutions...
Cattle Branding and Presidential Politics
Posted on October 09, 2008This story is just made for the Agricultural Law blog. Cowboys and cattle that evoke images of Texas range land and independent ranchers; and maybe even early animal welfare concerns.It turns out that the term "maverick," the signature image claimed by the Republican candidates McCain and Palin comes from Samuel Augustus Maverick, a Texas Rancher in the 1800s who refused to accept the practice of branding his cattle...
Organic Farmer Wins $1 million Verdict for Pesticide Drift
Posted on October 05, 2008The Environmental News Service reports that last week a Santa Cruz County, California jury awarded $1 million to Jacob's Farms, organic farming operation whose edible herbs were contaminated by pesticides applied to vegetables on nearby farms. At issue were the pesticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon and dimethoate (organophosphates) applied to the adjoining property...
Aren't We Forgetting Something (Again)?
Posted on October 04, 2008A recent article informs us that the government program that "test the levels of pesticides in fruits, vegetables and field crops" will cease. The article encompasses a number of dire impacts on the long term studies of pesticides withing related agencies...
Setting an ANSI Standard for Sustainable Agriculture
Posted on September 30, 2008This press release came to me from Tom Redick, via the ABA's listserve for the Agricultural Management Committee. The broader project's page is available at this link.Apparently, USDA is not happy with the effort and has sought to end it. Leonardo's response can be found here.
Piggie Wonder and Proposition 2 - Animal Confinement
Posted on September 30, 2008As reflected in previous posts, the treatment of animals in industrialized production draws a great deal of criticism. As many state animal cruelty statutes exempt farm animals from the protection afforded domestic pets, and as federal animal welfare laws also often exclude farm animals, new laws directed specifically at farm animals are gaining ground...
Humans, Animals, and Livestock Production
Posted on September 24, 2008This started as a comment to Susan's earlier post on equine therapy, but the comments are long enough for a full post. The connection between humans and animals within production agriculture has some interesting consequences for how we view and regulate the industry...
Milk
Posted on September 24, 2008Even as the father of a newborn, I'm just not sure this idea will catch on.
Exploring Equine Therapy
Posted on September 21, 2008While still feeling a little shy about publishing such a personal post as A Different View on a "law" blog, the article, by Ruben Rosario A man and his horse saving each other - and others came across my desk. It is a fascinating story about an equine therapy center in Minnesota...
A Different View
Posted on September 18, 2008I begin with a welcome to Dean Sealing. As has been evident in many of our past posts, we have a wide variety of opinions and a diverse range of topics on Agricultural Law, and "the more the merrier."I offer some contrasting thoughts on the issue slaughtering horses for human consumption, an issue that is admittedly complex but that I find very troubling...
They Shoot Horses Don't They? (part two)
Posted on September 17, 2008As promised, here is part two of my piece on hippophagy. As you may have figured out from the fact that yesterday's post was composed in Word, I am new to posting blogs. At the University of Louisville School of Law I am a full-time Dean of Students and so don't get as much time to write as I would like, but a number of my interests, particularly in the area of indigenous peoples, overlap the area of agricultural law...
They Eat Horses Don't They?
Posted on September 16, 2008The following started out as a short rumination (not a pun, horses aren?t ruminants) and morphed into eight pages and forty-one footnotes, so I have cut it down into two footnote-free parts. The first part introduces the question of hippophagy from historical, culinary and ecological perspectives...
A Wake-Up Call, From Russia with Love
Posted on September 12, 2008The New York Times recently reported that ?soaring global food prices (the price of wheat alone rose 77 percent last year) and a new reform allowing foreigners to own agricultural land . . . have created a land rush in rural Russia.? The article quotes Russia?s minister of agriculture, Aleksey Gordeyev, noting that he often speaks ?of food in terms of national security...
Food & Agriculture: The New Trend in Higher Education
Posted on August 31, 2008As someone who has practiced, taught, and wrote about agricultural law for over twenty years, the current upswing in interest in studying issues of food and agriculture is gratifying. You can imagine my reaction when the Washington Post published Field Studies: In Exploring Culture, Politics and the Environment, Food Programs Hit the Academic Mainstream last week...
No, Chairman Mao, revolution is a dinner party
Posted on August 30, 2008Máo Zéd?ng was wrong. Revolution is a dinner party:The term "foodie" is no longer reserved for an exclusive club of chefs and discriminating diners. Today, food has become a focus — and a cause — for a broad audience, from individuals such as ...
Moving on From Those Measles Photos - Publication Opportunity
Posted on August 28, 2008Whether you find the irradiation of lettuce to be an indication of a troubled food system or the triumph of public necessity over individual ignorance, food law clearly presents some interesting issues. And, because it is an area where there are new legal issues and challenges, there are many topics worthy of inspired scholarship...
Fatal instinct
Posted on August 25, 2008In responding to the FDA's decision to permit irradiation of fruits and vegetables, Susan Schneider says, "Sometimes, we should trust our instincts."With apologies to Susan, I believe that this treatment of "instinct" is fundamentally wrong. The whole point of law, at least in regulatory settings where government has a broader mandate than simply enforcing private agreements between consenting individuals, is to impose compulsory measures for the benefit of the public at large...
Irradiating your Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Posted on August 22, 2008Sometimes, we should trust our instincts.I should begin by saying that I am a huge fan of science, and I am astounded by the cool things that we have learned to do thanks to creative scientists who "think out of the box" and question our assumptions and challenge our instincts...
"Gasoline as a Side Dish" or "The Vegan Option"
Posted on August 13, 2008Reducing meat consumption (especially American consumption) could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing gasoline consumption, too, could significantly reduce emissions. Given the ever-increasing link between food and fuel, I think we should start applying some of the suggestions for better eating to improve (read: reduce) our gasoline consumption...
Ideas for Articles Requested
Posted on August 11, 2008As another academic year begins, I am preparing to advise two separate groups of students regarding article topics. And, I could use your help.First, there is a new group of candidates joining our Journal of Food Law & Policy. These students will be looking suggestions for note and comment style articles...
Farm Blogs From Around the World
Posted on August 03, 2008There is a new blog called Farm Blogs that is an effort to gather together links to the very best of global blogging about farms and farming. It includes a blog roll sorted by country along with a General Interest section where we are linked. Posts are made up of blog recommendations by other farm bloggers combined with farming stories from around the world...
More on Meat Eating
Posted on July 31, 2008There is an interesting editorial in the New York Times that was coincidentally published with perfect timing for our recent posts on eating meat, eating the meat we know and animal welfare. A Farm Boy Reflects, by Nicholas D. Kristof is a personal and moving reflection that is well worth the read...
Rice-a-Roni: Who Could Have Known?
Posted on July 31, 2008The origin of recipes can be a fascinating case study. In case you missed it, on this morning's National Public Radio broadcast of Morning Edition, there was a delightful story about the origin of one of the first boxed food products available to the hurried cook, Rice-a-Roni...
Thoughts on Bunny
Posted on July 29, 2008Professor Chen raises some intriging issues in his post, Bunny: It's Whats for Dinner. First, there is the impact of knowing what, and sometimes, who you are eating. The second issue, not to be overlooked but which I shall save for a later comment, is the serious issue of animal welfare and humane slaughter...
Bunny: It's what's for dinner
Posted on July 24, 2008Rabbit for dinner? The thought either delights or disgusts. From the Washington Post:Chefs love rabbit. Some diners, especially the 2.3 million Americans who keep rabbits as pets, don't. And therein lies a potential for growing controversy. "In Europe, you eat rabbit everywhere...
Annabelle
Posted on July 19, 2008Within the expressive idiom of American folk music, is there a more compelling example of literary naturalism than Gillian Welch's 1996 ballad, Annabelle (on Revival)?In previous blog posts, on Jurisdynamics and MoneyLaw, I've come close to answering the question...
Speculation and Manipulation, Redux
Posted on July 11, 2008So the airlines have gotten together to Stop Oil Speculation (SOS). How do I know? Both Northwest Airlines and United Airlines sent me an e-mail with an open letter signed by twelve airlines. They must be serious about this. I have made my thoughts on speculation and manipulation known here and here, and the airlines? arguments are not changing my mind...
Ain?t No Reason Things Are This Way
Posted on July 06, 2008The Sunday New York Times included an article, American Energy Policy, Asleep at the Spigot. The article outlines high oil prices and what was done (and not done) since the 1970s to reduce our oil consumption: ?Over the last 25 years, opportunities to head off the current crisis were ignored, missed or deliberately blocked, according to analysts, politicians and veterans of the oil and automobile industries...
New Mexico bans cockfighting
Posted on July 05, 2008Excerpts from Adam B. Ellick, A Ban on Cockfighting, but the Tradition Lives On, N.Y. Times, July 6, 2008:Last year, New Mexico became the 49th state to make cockfighting illegal. . . . The state has devoted vast resources to ending the sport, but with only one misdemeanor conviction thus far, it continues unabated in hidden venues, cockfighters and law enforcement officials say...
Oh No! The Free Market Is Acting Like a Free Market!
Posted on June 26, 2008Much has been written lately about how ?speculators? might be impacting crude oil markets and other commodities markets, such as corn. Some analysts even told Congress recently that gas prices could go as low as $2 a gallon if Congress acted to limit market speculation...
The case for banana sex
Posted on June 20, 2008The commercial banana is a sterile mutant that hasn't had sex for decades. Visit Jurisdynamics to read the compelling case for banana sex.
Manipulating Market Manipulation
Posted on June 19, 2008The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently announced that it would be investigating agriculture futures markets, ?including the lack of convergence between the futures and cash prices, the impact of higher margin requirements, and the role of speculators and commodity index traders...
Tyson Sues USDA
Posted on June 16, 2008In a new development in the ?raised without antibiotics? chicken saga, the Wall Street Journal reported today that Tyson Foods has filed suit against the USDA, claiming itself to be the ?victim of flawed regulatory procedures.?The background on this issues was explained in an earlier post, Twists and Turns: Tyson?s Raised Without Antibiotics Claim...
The $4 barrier and rural America
Posted on June 09, 2008As reported in the New York Times, the breaking of the $4/gallon barrier for gasoline is taking an extraordinary toll on rural America:Tchula, Miss. — Gasoline prices reached a national average of $4 a gallon for the first time over the weekend, adding more strain to motorists across the country...
Supreme Court decides Quanta
Posted on June 09, 2008The Supreme Court just handed down its decision in Quanta Computer Inc. v. LG Electronics Inc., 06-937. The Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Quanta ruling that method patents are subject to exhaustion, and that the patents had been exhausted in this case...
Twists and Turns: Tyson's "Raised Without Antibiotics" Claim
Posted on June 07, 2008Last week, Tyson Foods pulled the plug on its "raised without antibiotics" marketing campaign, ending a fascinating struggle involving Tyson, its competitors, the FDA, the USDA, the FTC, and a district court in Baltimore. Although along the way, the struggle seemed to involve nuances of scientific classification and the wording of Tysons' claims, the proverbial final straw came with the USDA discovery that Tyson was still using antibiotics to prevent illness and death in its chicks...
The Enron of Farming?
Posted on June 05, 2008As noted earlier today, the New York Times reports that investment funds and large private investors are flocking to food-production-related infrastructure, including ?farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators and shipping equipment.? Investors claim that they will benefit ?everyone,? because the new capital resources will lead to new infrastructure investment...
New York Times Series "The Food Chain"
Posted on June 05, 2008The New York Times Business page website provides a helpful overview and supplement to its series, The Food Chain. As reported here, this series addresses ?the growing demands on, and changes in, the world?s production of food.? In addition to the articles, the site links to the variety of multimedia resources available on this important topic...
Guano is back
Posted on May 30, 2008Peru Guards Its Guano as Demand Soars Again, New York Times (May 30, 2008):[G]uano, the bird dung that was the focus of an imperialist scramble on the high seas in the 19th century, is in strong demand once again.Surging prices for synthetic fertilizers and organic foods are shifting attention to guano, an organic fertilizer once found in abundance on this island and more than 20 others off the coast of Peru, where an exceptionally dry climate preserves the droppings of seabirds like the guanay cormorant and the Peruvian booby...
Farm Bill Enacted, or At Least Most of It
Posted on May 24, 2008On May 14, the House passed the conference report on the farm bill, a five-year, approximately $300 billion package that includes something for everyone to like and something for everyone to dislike, with a veto proof margin of 318-106. On May 15, the Senate passed the report, 81-15...
A Different Look at Horse Breeding
Posted on May 18, 2008On May 16 the Wall Street Journal featured an article about Jess Jackson and his Stonestreet Stables entitled Horse Racing's Would-Be Savior. Mr. Jackson, "the billionaire founder of the Kendall-Jackson wine empire" has taken on the American thoroughbred horse industry charging that the horses are over-bred, over-medicated, and lacking in durability - criticisms noted in our previous post The Dark Side: Horse Racing...
Almost heaven
Posted on May 09, 2008Herewith a tribute to one of America's most rural and most beautiful states:John Denver, Country RoadsAlmost heaven, West VirginiaBlue Ridge MountainsShenandoah River —Life is old thereOlder than the treesYounger than the mountainsGrowing like a breezeCountry roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mamaTake me home, country roadsAll my memories gather round herMiners' lady, stranger to blue waterDark and dusty, painted on the skyMisty taste of moonshineTeardrops in my eyeCountry roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mamaTake me home, country roadsI hear her voiceIn the morning hour she calls meThe radio reminds me of my home far awayAnd driving down the road I get a feelingThat I should have been home yesterday, yesterdayCountry roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mamaTake me home, country roadsCountry roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mamaTake me home, country roadsTake me home, now country roadsTake me home, now country roads
The Dark Side: Horse Racing
Posted on May 04, 2008The tragic death of Eight Belles, the young filly who finished second in the Kentucky Derby has already spawned a series of articles questioning the ethics of our horse racing industry.The day before the race, the Wall Street Journal published an article that questioned the breeding of American thoroughbreds, Racings Royal Bloodlines...
Ethanol: Not Ready for Prime Time, Impacts Dinnertime
Posted on May 02, 2008Amassing an unsightly carbon footprint, I traveled from North Dakota to Washington, D.C., yesterday for an Energy Bar Association meeting, and woke up to find a copy of the Washington Post at my door. The lead was an article in the Post?s Global Food Crisis series that Susan Schneider discussed on Sunday: Siphoning Off Corn to Fuel Our Cars...
Recent Perspectives on Meat Production
Posted on May 02, 2008For years, many in American agriculture have touted our industrialized system of animal production as a boon to consumers, i.e., the key to cheap meat, and it has been a model for the world. Several new studies question this assumption and ask whether the externalities have been properly considered...
Global Food Crisis
Posted on April 27, 2008This week, the head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Josette Sheeran called for "urgent action to tackle the 'silent tsunami' of rising food prices which threatens to push more than 100 million people worldwide into hunger."The PBS broadcast, News Hour reported a stern warning from U...
Bloggers Unite
Posted on April 17, 2008One of my fellow-bloggers, Anthony Schutz recently conducted one of our LL.M. classes at the University of Arkansas School of Law via video conference from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law. We dialed in to Nebraska, and Anthony conducted an excellent class, engaging the students in full live discussion...
Sunset at the South Saint Paul stockyards
Posted on April 15, 2008This CAFO had become a doozy of a LULU. And now it's SOL and DOA. RIP, South Saint Paul Stockyards:In a place that no longer belongs where it has always been, there rises from wood-slat pens the farewell lows and bellows of cold, wet cows. So long, so long, they call out to the oblivious human bustle...
Is Cash Is the Only Thing Green about the Renewable Fuel Standard?
Posted on April 15, 2008In December 2007, the United States adopted a renewable fuel standard (RFS), which mandated expanded use of biofuels, including ethanol, even though corn and soybean prices were already increasing. Rather than providing a well-reasoned approach to U...
Pharyngula, we are here
Posted on April 14, 2008PZ Myers of Pharyngula has asked bloggers everywhere to help build a Google bomb that promotes the National Center for Science Education's website, Expelled Exposed. The project consists of embedding the word Expelled inside a matched pair of <a> and </a> tags...
Center Rural Affairs on the Farm Bill: Rural Development Needs Unmet
Posted on April 13, 2008The Center for Rural Affairs has a blog that it calls the Blog for Rural America. It provides a good example of the "bitterness" with which some members of the rural community view the farm bill negotiations. The post, Slap in the Face, is their latest reaction to Congress' efforts to provide increased payments to farming operations, while little is provided for rural development efforts.
Obama on Rural America - A Welcome Discussion
Posted on April 12, 2008American political campaigns are infamous for providing sound bytes rather than addressing the complexity of the problems we face. Media coverage works hand in glove.Yesterday, we caught a glimpse of a candidate attempting to discuss some of the problems facing small towns in rural America...
First Impressions Publishes Online Symposium
Posted on April 11, 2008The Michigan Law Review's companion journal, First Impressions, published an online symposium on Agriculture Animals and Animal Law.Contributors included Professor Joseph Vining (Michigan); Angela J. Geiman (Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.); Nancy Perry & Peter Brandt (Humane Society of the United States); Steven M...
Applied Ag Law
Posted on April 07, 2008While many discussions on this blog involve policy issues and ?big picture? agricultural law, it is good to remember that agricultural laws impact farmers as well as others on a personal level. And, the interaction of different laws may be complex. A reader?s recent question provided an example...
Meat Processing for Specialty Producers
Posted on April 04, 2008This interesting information is from Marne Coit, J.D., LL.M., Agricultural Law. Marne serves as Research Fellow at the National Agricultural Law Center, University of Arkansas School of Law.Consolidation in the meat packing industry as well as the predominance of large industrialized livestock and poultry operations have made it difficult for producers of "niche meat" products such as locally grown, certified organic, grass-fed, antibiotic-free and certified humane to find meat processors for their products...
Energy & Agriculture: Beyond Corn
Posted on April 02, 2008For my first post, I wanted to introduce myself. I am Josh Fershee, and I am a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law, where I teach Energy Law and Policy, Business Associations I and II, and Labor and Employment Law. My research areas include all of my teaching areas, but have primarily focused on energy law, climate change, and renewable energy issues...
"Bountiful Harvest" from the WSJ - Farm Bill Analysis
Posted on March 30, 2008From the Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2008 - BOUNTIFUL HARVEST - Farm Lobby Beats Back Assault On SubsidiesBy LAUREN ETTER and GREG HITT, p. A-1Check out the interactive map showing where the money is going.FARM FIGHT ? Tilling the Ground: As farm income is rising, Congress is finishing a bill that will provide farmers billions in subsidies...
Thinking about the Anger
Posted on March 29, 2008I posted this as a comment to Professor Schneider's original post. Upon reflection, it seems long enough for a post, with some further response from both Professor Schneider and myself:My Comment:The anger is a bit puzzling, if high food prices are the problem...
Farm Bill Anger in Editorials
Posted on March 24, 2008Congress is stalled over the cost of a new permanent disaster bill for farmers.While in many ways, a permanent disaster bill may be more sensible than the annual emergency disaster bills that Congress has passed to supplement past farm bill support, consumers and non-farm policymakers are scratching their heads about the trio of support provided to farmers: there are the subsidies (many of which continue to be paid, even when prices are high); there is the heavily subsidized crop insurance program; and there is the new push for a standing disaster assistance program...
Farm Bill Tragedy in the Making
Posted on March 17, 2008Feeling a little like Alice in Wonderland, I consider recent proposals to fix the farm bill impasse: cut small family farms out of the payment programs, and get that highly erodible ground we have been using for wildlife habitat back into production...
The Ehrlich-Simon Bet At 38
Posted on March 12, 2008The issue of whether natural resources and environmental amenities are depleted or improved over time is vital to the making of sound policy and law. In 1980 three prominent Bay Area academics (Stanford's Paul Ehrlich and Berkeley's Johns Harte and Holdren) bet business economist Julian Simon that the real (inflation-adjusted) price of five commodity metals (that is, chromium, copper, tungsten, tin, and nickel) would rise by the year 1990...
Farm Bill Frustration: The AGI Debate
Posted on March 09, 2008Much of the justification that farmers use for the farm bill is the need for a "safety net" when times are bad. Given farmers' dependence on the weather, their inability to affect the larger commodity markets, and the importance of maintaining food security, this is an understandable objective...
The Big Picture
Posted on March 04, 2008On Friday, March 7, I will have the opportunity to present at a celebration of International Women's Day sponsored by Heifer International. Heifer is an energetic and can-do non-profit organization whose mission is "to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance & sustainability...
A new blog: Commercial Law
Posted on February 28, 2008The Jurisdynamics Network is pleased to announce a new member of its family of weblogs, Commercial Law. The law of sales, leases, payments, finance, and lending has manifested some of the most dramatic responses by the law to social, economic, and technological change...
The Octopus and the literary canon of agricultural law
Posted on February 18, 2008Men — motes in the sunshine — perished, were shot down in the very noon of life, hearts were broken, little children started in life lamentably handicapped; young girls were brought to a life of shame; old women died in the heart of life for lack of food...
Lips that touch _____ will never touch mine
Posted on February 14, 2008She's a vegan; he's an omnivore. Dynise Balcavage and John Gatti make it work.It's Valentine's Day, and Agricultural Law wishes that all its readers can be lucky in love. But for couples with incompatible diets, reports The New York Times' Kate Murphy in I Love You, But You Love Meat, divergent views of food can be a deal-breaker:Sharing meals has always been an important courtship ritual and a metaphor for love...
Why Teach Agricultural Law?
Posted on February 03, 2008A recent discussion of programming for next years AALS section meeting has got me thinking. Some time ago, Dean Chen offered a call to arms, suggesting that we should consider why agricultural law deserves a place in law schools and the legal academy...
EQIP in the News
Posted on January 31, 2008This article recently appeared in the NY Times. Often we see critics of commodity programs and the payments made to what some believe are otherwise profitable individuals and corporations who don't need them. But I've not often seen critics of payments geared at garnering environmental compliance...
2008 AALS Program - Agricultural Law Section
Posted on January 25, 2008The program was a success. We drew in a great crowd at 3:30 PM on Saturday afternoon in New York City. Below is a recap. The screen shots of the presenter's slides are linked to the presenter's powerpoint materials.Mr. Schutz introduced the speakers, linking together their subjects with the theme of the event...
Reminder - Upcoming Panel Discussion at the AALS
Posted on December 31, 2007The Section on Agricultural Law will have a panel discussion on the following topic at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the AALS:Energy, Food, and the Environment: Agriculture's FutureThe panelists will discuss the challenges facing agriculture as an energy source...
Hunting and Local Cuisine
Posted on December 15, 2007My colleague Anthony raises an intriguing issue. The issue of hunting and meat consumption has spawned some interesting perspectives.Consider "The Oil We Eat: Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq" by Richard Manning and published in Harpers Magazine a few years back...
(Un) Happy Cow Campaign Continues
Posted on December 12, 2007The California Milk Advisory Board (CMBA) developed its "happy cows" campaign quite a few years ago. Their slogan: "Great cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California." Accompanying this cheery message were pictures of cows looking, well - very happy...
Coffee and the law
Posted on November 15, 2007Our friends at Red Lion Reports have brewed a pair of powerful posts on the connection between coffee and the law. First, Kelly Bozanic revels in caffeine (in the form of coffee and espresso drinks) as her drug of choice. And then Marie Reilly delivers this tour-de-force on the social history of coffee:Coffee has a surprising and so far unexplored social history...
Beyond food and evil (revisited)
Posted on November 15, 2007Herewith an extension of my original post regarding my paper, Beyond Food and Evil, as reprinted from The Cardinal Lawyer:I am pleased to present this RealPlayer video of my presentation at the Duke Law Journal's 37th Annual Administrative Law Conference...
Thoughts on Food & Agriculture
Posted on November 10, 2007An earlier post, Arkansas' LL.M. Program in Agricultural Law announced another recruiting season for the LL.M. program. That post noted an increasing interest in the program on the part of students and practicing attorneys concerned with issues of food law and policy...
Atrazine Brings the Bachelor to Life
Posted on November 06, 2007When the stork arrives, there is a 50/50 chance that it will bring a girl, Right? Not so, says a team of researchers. Since 1970 there is a "distinct and unexplained trend" of more female births than male. Devra Lee Davis, et al., Declines in Sex Ratio at Birth and Fetal Deaths in Japan and in U...
Bourbon and bluegrass
Posted on November 05, 2007The New York Times' most recent travel section features a story on the pursuit of bourbon and bluegrass in Kentucky:[Author Steven Kurutz] embarked on a road trip centered on bourbon and bluegrass, exploring the back roads of the state where those two American mainstays trace their deepest roots...
How Sweet It Is
Posted on November 03, 2007How Sweet It Is Sugar is sweet, especially if you grow sugar beets or sugar cane. In a 2000 report, the GAO concluded that the sugar program produced welfare gains to sugar producers and processors in 1998 totaling about $1 billion. United States Gen...
The Timing is Sweet
Posted on November 03, 2007Yesterday, Dean Jim Chen, visiting here at the University of Arkansas School of Law as part of our Day with a Dean program delivered a lecture in the Agricultural Law LL.M. Finance & Credit class on his article, Around the World in Eighty Centileters...
Arkansas's LL.M. program in agricultural law
Posted on October 27, 2007Anthony's post about the grass fed beef designation further evidences the increasingly complex merger between agricultural law and food law.Each year in the Agricultural Law LL.M. Program that I direct, we receive more applications from people interested in studying agricultural law because they are interested in issues of food law and policy...
Grass (forage) Fed Beef Designation
Posted on October 17, 2007This notice came out today. The main lesson I take from this is that there is no simple way to define much of anything. If you take a look at this, you will also see that the administration sees the measure as one of marketing, not of delineating any particular health benefit that comes from eating grass-fed beef...
Slaughtering Horses and the Dormant Commerce Clause
Posted on October 17, 2007As many of you know, I've been wallowing in the dormant Commerce Clause and corporate farming laws for a while. One recent DCC case has also caught my eye.Take a look at Cavel Internationa, Inc. v. Madigan (No. 07-2658, 9/21/07) In addition to a very coherent account of the DCC doctrine, the case mentions Bo Derek, John Stuart Mill, and stray cougars that could pose a problem to equine retirement pastures...
Putting the Pieces Together
Posted on October 16, 2007A recent post observed the possible shortage of workers for agricultural harvests. In yet another post Iris Dement's ?Our Town? was nominated as the ?anthem for American rural life and its slow decline.? While both appear separate and apart from the other they nonetheless share concrete influences and commonalities...
No good deed goes unpunished
Posted on October 16, 2007In 1973, Minnesota passed an anti-corporate farming bill. (Minn. Stat. § 500.24). The purpose of the statute is "to encourage and protect the family farm as a basic economic unit, to insure it as the most socially desirable mode of agricultural production, and to enhance and promote the stability and well-being of rural society in Minnesota and the nuclear family...
Immigration and Your Lunch
Posted on October 12, 2007The New York Times has a couple interesting articles recently (with recently being broadly defined) highlighting the close connection between immigration and agriculture. In August, Lisa W. Foderaro highlighted the possible shortage of immigrant apple pickers in New York...
Rural America from a Different Perspective
Posted on October 01, 2007The posting of Iris Dement's "My Town" was a musical treat - great song by a great artist.Can't quite agree on the anthem idea though. As pretty as the song is, I just can't say it reflects my views on rural life.As a rural resident, I don't see rural life as in decline...
Our Town (revisited)
Posted on September 25, 2007Herewith a new video of Iris Dement's "Our Town," which I nominate as the anthem for American rural life and its slow decline:LyricsAnd you know the sun's settin' fastAnd just like they say nothing good ever lastsWell, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover'Cause your heart's bound to dieGo on now and say goodbye to our town, to our townCan't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our townGood nightUp the street beside that red neon lightThat's where I met my baby on one hot summer nightHe was the tender and I ordered a beerIt's been forty years and I'm still sitting hereBut you know the sun's settin' fastand just like they say nothing good ever lastsWell, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover'Cause your heart's bound to dieGo on now and say goodbye to our town, to our townCan't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our townGood nightIt's here I had my babies and I had my first kissI've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mistOver there is where I bought my first carIt turned over once but then it never went farAnd I can see the sun settin' fastAnd just like they say nothing good ever lastsWell, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover'Cause your heart's bound to dieGo on now and say goodbye to our town, to our townCan't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our townGood nightI buried my Mama and I buried my PaThey sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wallI bring them flowers about every dayBut I just gotta cry when I think what they'd sayIf they could see how the sun's settin' fastAnd just like they say nothing good ever lastsWell, go on now and kiss it goodbye but hold on to your lover'Cause your heart's bound to dieGo on now and say goodbye to our town, to our townCan't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our townGood nightNow I sit on the porch and watch the lightning bugs flyBut I can't see too good, I've got tears in my eyesI'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna goI love you my town, you'll always live in my soulBut I can see the sun's settin' fastAnd just like they say nothing good ever lastsWell, go on I gotta kiss you goodbye but I'll hold to my lover'Cause my heart's 'bout to dieGo on now and say goodbye to my town, to my townCan't you see the sun's settin' down on my town, on my townGood night, good night
Food v. Fuel
Posted on September 17, 2007Back in April I posted a critique of a Foreign Affairs article by Benjamin Senauer and Ford Runge. If you remember, Senauer and Runge argued that the U.S. ethanol industry could potentially starve the world's poor. As a solution, they proposed that Congress should drop the import tax on Brazilian ethanol...
I-300: A Victim of Judicial Objectivity
Posted on September 11, 2007Yesterday I had a small epiphany about why I find opinions like Jones v. Gale so frustrating. Very often the courts ignore the things I value when applying their limitless supply of 2-tiered, 3-step tests. I get excited about helping the underdog, small farmers included...
Update on Colony Collapse Disorder
Posted on September 10, 2007This past summer most of you probably heard about the loss of American bees due to the mysterious colony collapse disorder. Last week Science published research indicating that the collapse may be caused by a virus imported from the Middle East. NPR summed up the research in a nice story...
Interest Groups - Above the Law?
Posted on September 07, 2007It is no surprise that our political system is more responsive to interest groups than individuals. Interest group theory, popular in the 80?s, covered this territory very well. This can be a good thing at times. The framers enacted constitutional safeguards to protect individuals from their own caprice, such as a bicameral legislature and the Electoral College...
Call for Papers
Posted on September 07, 2007A call for papers from our colleague, Christopher Buccafusco:I am currently soliciting paper presentations for panels on?Food, Law, and Culture? for the annual Law, Culture, and Humanities Conference to be held at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University, March 28-29, 2008...
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