Legal Niches

Penn State Ag Law Brief - new issue

Posted on August 05, 2009

The Political Face of American Agriculture

Posted on July 27, 2009
I'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, 2009
Professor 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, 2009
For 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...

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Agriculture's Embarrassment

Posted on June 26, 2009
I 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, 2009
The 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...

May and June Agricultural News Items from Nebraska

Posted on June 23, 2009

Food, Inc.

Posted on June 21, 2009
A 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, 2009
Inspired 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Slate 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, 2009
Here 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, 2009
The 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...

Recent Headlines from Nebraska Department of Ag

Posted on May 13, 2009

Food, The Environment, and Civilization in Peril

Posted on May 05, 2009
We 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Bloomberg 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, 2009
By 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, 2009
Here'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, 2009
While 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, 2009
Secretary 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, 2009
Unlike 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, 2009
I 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, 2009
And 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)...

Ag Headlines from Nebraska

Posted on April 16, 2009
I seem to have let these pile up.

Livestock Waste Management

Posted on April 15, 2009
Nebraska'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, 2009
I 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, 2009
My 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, 2009
Alberto 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...

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