Legal Niches

Publication Opportunity: Journal of Food Law & Policy

Posted on August 18, 2010
I am pleased to serve as advisor to the Journal of Food Law & Policy at the University of Arkansas School of Law. This Journal, the only student-edited U.S. law journal focused exclusively on food law issues was started in July 2005, and it is now well established in the academic community...

Student Opportunities

Posted on August 17, 2010
In conjunction with the annual conference for the American Agricultural Law Association, this opportunity has emerged. I encourage all current law students to take part.

Can Twitter Help Save Pavlovsk Rare Plants?

Posted on August 14, 2010
Worldwide, many have been waiting and hoping for word from Russia that the irreplaceable and historic Pavlovsk Experimental Station outside of St. Petersburg, Russia would be spared destruction, hoping that the thousands of rare trees and other plants grown there could be saved...

Agricultural Law: Inflated Claims of Antibiotic 'Over-use'

Posted on August 03, 2010
With regard to Mr. Miller's recent post, Agricultural Law: Inflated Claims of Antibiotic 'Over-use', herd health is an interesting subject and some would argue that such a claim is also inflated.

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CAFO Implementation Guidance under the CWA

Posted on July 27, 2010
- Nick Welding, UNL Law '11The recent release of the EPA?s ?Implementation Guidance on CAFO Regulations? is likely to add to the conflict between the EPA, environmental groups, and CAFO owners/operators regarding proper implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA)...

Inflated Claims of Antibiotic 'Over-use'

Posted on July 23, 2010
// // // // Processing... Political writer Gregg Easterbrook once remarked, "Torture the numbers long enough and they will eventually confess to anything...

EPA Consideration Of Strict Coarse Particle Standard Sparks Industry Fear

Posted on July 22, 2010
EPA's latest policy assessment for its ongoing review of the agency's particulate matter (PM) ambient air standards includes a first-time proposed range of limits for a stricter coarse PM (PM10) standard, sparking fear from the mining and agriculture industries -- large sources of PM10 emissions -- that the standard would be impossible to meet...

EPA to Seek Remand to Revise Livestock Emissions Reporting Exemption

Posted on July 22, 2010
I was invited to join this blog by James Chen and am excited to be a part of this. Some of you know me but to just give a little of my background. I grew up on a 1,000 acre diversified livestock farm (dairy cows, hogs and chickens) in Northern Indiana...

Update: USDA and Shirley Sherrod

Posted on July 21, 2010
The NBC Nightly News featured a story this evening on Shirley Sherrod and the reports of her "racist" remarks. It confirmed the post I did this morning, Politics and Race in Agriculture. The full and unedited tape of her comments revealed that she told the meeting of the NAACP the same story I heard her tell last year - a story of how black and white need to come together to help each other...

Recent Publication

Posted on July 21, 2010
I've recently published an article on rural development, nature-based entrepreneurs, and common-interest communities. It is available for free at http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/7/2320/

Federal Preemption, Nonambulatory Cows and "Hogwash"

Posted on July 20, 2010
It is not this editor?s intent in this post to indicate her feelings on agricultural animal husbandry practices. In contrast the focus here centers on National Meat Association v. Brown, 2010 WL 1225477 (C.A. 9 Cal.) (2010), a case that portends of possible forthcoming developments with potential impact for the nation?s meat processors, animal rights activists, and preemption scholars grounded in agriculture law...

Politics and Race in Agriculture

Posted on July 20, 2010
About a year ago, I heard a moving speech about bringing down racial barriers, and the point of the speech was that family farmers with financial problems, struggling to keep pace with large commercial agriculture - white, black, hispanic, native american, hmong, male and female - needed to look past race, past gender and work together...

The New Mandatory EU Organic Label

Posted on July 06, 2010
As of July 1, new regulations came into effect that require the use of the European organic logo on pre-packaged organic food and beverage products. The European Commission states that the new logo is designed to provide a consumer with ?complete confidence? that the goods they purchase are produced in line with EU organic farming regulations...

Antibiotic Use in Livestock Production: New FDA Guidance

Posted on June 29, 2010
Today, the FDA announced the issuance of its Draft Guidance on The Judicious Use of Medically Important Antimicrobials in Food-Producing Animals. FDA's press release states that this guidance is "intended to help reduce the development of resistance to medically important antimicrobial drugs" and calls for their "judicious [use] in animal agriculture...

The Risks of Farming

Posted on June 26, 2010
I returned to our family farm this week for my annual summer visit. One of the first items on the Minnesota ?to do? list was to visit the local pick-your-own fruit farm, Afton Apple for strawberry picking. In a short time, we picked four beautiful boxes of strawberries, and I was again struck by the sweet flavor and tender texture - so different from the ones shipped across country...

Challenges to Agricultural Policy: Diet

Posted on June 16, 2010
Two issues are certain to change American agriculture. There are questions about timing - how fast or how slow policies will change and agriculture will adapt. And, there are questions about how the changes will occur, who will benefit and who will lose...

Food Propaganda

Posted on June 11, 2010
Salon delivers a great review some of the best/worst examples of food being renamed to match current political fashion - 10 tragic moments in food propaganda: From Freedom Fries to Mecca Cola. It offers examples from all political persuasions around the world and is billed as "a slide show of sadly politicized food to embarrass all eaters...

North Dakota Anti-Corporate Farming Law Decision

Posted on June 06, 2010
The North Dakota Supreme Court last month issued a decision related to the state's anti-corporate farming law, which I discussed over at Business Law Prof Blog. I hope no one minds the crosspost, but I thought it might be of some interest.

A Food Desert in the Delta

Posted on June 04, 2010
Tonight the PBS Newshour continues its reporting the obesity problem, focusing on Mississippi, the state with the "highest rate of childhood obesity in the country -- 44 percent of kids ages 10 to 17 are obese or overweight." This report, In Mississippi, Growing Vegetables in a 'Food Desert' focuses on the delta region, and it considers the problem of "food deserts," areas where it is difficult to purchase healthy foods...

Agriculture and the American Power Act

Posted on May 13, 2010
It has been a while since I posted something here, but then, it has been a while since anything new related to energy and agriculture has grabbed my attention. That all changed today with the release of the American Power Act, proposed by Senators John F...

EPA Announces Settlement of Chesapeake Bay Lawsuit

Posted on May 12, 2010
From the EPA press release:The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it reached settlement with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, four former Maryland, Virginia and Washington,D.C. elected officials, and organizations representing watermen and sports fishermen in resolving a lawsuit filed in January 2009 claiming that EPA had failed to take adequate measures to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay...

More from EPA on Chesapeake Strategy

Posted on May 12, 2010
Today, the EPA released more details on the New Federal Strategy for restoring and protecting the fragile Chesepeake Bay watershed. See prior post on the settlement of lawsuit that helped to bring about this approach. Excerpts, focusing on the agricultural components of the strategy are as follows:To restore clean water, EPA will implement the Chesapeake total maximum daily load (a pollution diet for the Chesapeake Bay and local waterways), expand regulation of urban and suburban stormwater and concentrated animal feeding operations and increase enforcement activities and funding for state regulatory programs...

Cud

Posted on May 09, 2010
From southern Georgia, the story of White Oak Pastures. CUD from Joe York on Vimeo.

Study: Growing More Veggies Could Profit Midwest

Posted on May 08, 2010
An AP article by Michael J. Crumb, Study: Growing More Veggies Could Profit Midwest, provides a persuasive rebuttal to the complaints of the Republican Senators who recently criticized the USDA Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program. These complaints were discussed in a previous post, Senators Challenge Know Your Farmer Program...

Food, Inc. -- A Nebraska Point of View

Posted on May 07, 2010
Food, Inc. -- A Nebraska Point of ViewRelated to the previous post, there was an uproar from some producer groups in Nebraska as well. So, in response, our educational television station aired a Nebraska producer's response. It can be accessed at the link above...

Food Inc. and Commentary

Posted on May 06, 2010
Many public television stations aired the documentary, Food Inc. over the course of the last few weeks. The film has spawned a variety of conversations about our food system. One particularly informative debate was broadcast on a Special Edition of An Iowa Journal...

Biotech Follow-up

Posted on May 04, 2010
A couple of news items related to the previous post on genetically engineered crops:The New York Times reported yesterday on an issue that has received a lot of attention in the farm press - U.S. Farmers Cope with Roundup-Resistant Weeds. The article reports that while "the first resistant species to pose a serious threat to agriculture was spotted in a Delaware soybean field in 2000," Ten resistant species in at least 22 states now present significant problems, particularly with respect to corn, soybeans and cotton production...

Living on Earth: Round-Up Ready Alfalfa

Posted on May 02, 2010
I received an email from Jessica Ilyse Smith, journalist and producer of the Public Radio International show, Living on Earth. I am pleased to report that Jessica got my email address as a result of this blog, and I pass along her compliments on Agricultural Law...

Senators Challenge "Know Your Farmer" Program

Posted on April 29, 2010
As was reported today by Keith Good in his online Farm Policy report, Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia, Ranking Minority member of the Senate Agriculture Committee), John McCain (R-Arizona) and Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) recently sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack challenging the USDA?s ?Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food? program...

Secretary Tom Vilasck on Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food

Posted on April 29, 2010

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