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March 18, 2022 In News

Law360: Minority Farmer Groups Want In On COVID-19 Relief Fight

A pair of minority farmers associations asked a Texas federal judge Friday to let them intervene in a fight between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and two classes of white farmers who claim they were excluded from COVID-19 relief funds allocated for minority farmers....

March 16, 2022 In News

Law360: Iowa Again Loses Legal Fight To Save ‘Ag Gag’ Law

An Iowa federal judge on Monday ruled that a state law aimed at preventing animal rights activists from filming farming practices violates the First Amendment's free speech protections. ...

February 12, 2022 In News

Wall Street Journal: In Clampdown on U.S. Methane Emissions, Belching Cattle Get a Pass

The Biden administration is taking aggressive steps to curb the energy industry’s methane emissions, tightening pipeline regulations and spending billions of dollars to clean up abandoned coal mines and other sources of the potent greenhouse gas. Agriculture, just as big a source of methane, doesn't...

February 11, 2022 In News

Investigate Midwest: Former OSHA officials urge court to side with workers in case against OSHA

In mid-2020, workers at a Pennsylvania food processing plant sued the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They needed immediate protection from COVID-19, they alleged: They hadn't been provided enough masks, and they were forced to crowd together at Maid-Rite Specialty Foods....

February 10, 2022 In News

NPR: How dairy farmers are cashing in on California’s push for cleaner fuel

California is trying to cut greenhouse emissions from the state's cars and trucks, and in a controversial twist, its efforts are putting cash in the pockets of dairy farms across the country. It's the result of an odd but lucrative trade: pollution cuts on farms,...

February 4, 2022 In News

The Guardian: California subsidies for dairy cows’ biogas are a lose-lose, campaigners say

A coalition of climate, environmental and animal welfare groups is calling for California to remove the huge subsidies provided to dairy farms to turn animal waste into a form of energy called biogas....

February 4, 2022 In News

Law360: Ex-DOL Officials Urge 3rd Circ. To Side With Meatpackers

A group of former senior U.S. Department of Labor officials are urging the Third Circuit to revive a suit alleging the government didn't do enough to protect meatpackers from COVID-19, arguing that the lower court made an "absurd" interpretation of the statute....

January 12, 2022 In News

Law360: ‘Long Road Ahead’ For Tyson Workers Despite 8th Circ. Win

The Eighth Circuit recently rejected Tyson Foods' bid to litigate twin coronavirus-related wrongful death suits in federal court, but the road remains uncertain for the families of deceased workers to get their day in court as Tyson declines to say it'll end its pursuit of...

January 10, 2022 In News

Civil Eats: Dust Is a Growing Problem. What Role Does Farmland Play?

With a growing set of tools, scientists are digging into questions about the links between modern agriculture, drought, and rising incidents of dust storms and respiratory illness. ...

January 3, 2022 In News

The Counter: Independent cattle ranchers continue fight against national checkoff program

For 28 years, rancher Kyle Hemmert ran cattle auctions out of his sale barn near Oakley, Kansas. He had a front-row seat as the industry changed over the decades, and he didn’t like the direction it was going. ...