Happy Halloween!  Here is a look at how trick or treating in went in my house with our unicorn and feed sack.

Here are a few ag law stories in the news over the past couple of week.

*USDA released Interim Final Hemp Rule.  The much-anticipated USDA rule related to hemp production was released on Wednesday.  To read my summary of the proposed rule, click here.  Also, Dr. Justin Benavidez wrote a great summary of some of the economic info included in the “costs and benefits” section that was included in the Interim Final Rule, which was really eye-opening on several issues related to average revenues and costs per acre.  [Read blog post here.]

* USDA withdraws RFID ear tag retirement.  You may recall from this prior blog post that earlier this year, the USDA released a fact sheet related to the required future use of RFID ear tags.  R-CALF USDA had filed a lawsuit challenging this policy.   Last week, the USDA announced it was removing the fact sheet from its website and announced it was “no longer representative of current agency policy.” [Read article here.]

*New WOTUS lawsuits filed.  The lawsuits keep rolling in related to the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. You may recall that in September the EPA issued a final regulation repealing the 2015 WOTUS definition.  Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in South Carolina federal court claiming the final rule withdrawing the 2015 rule is arbitrary and unlawful raising several claims under the Endangered Species Act. In New Mexico, the New Mexico Cattle Grower’s Association filed suit in federal court arguing that the EPA cannot revert back to the 1986 regulatory definition of WOTUS. [Read article here.]

Programs Next Week

Next week, I’ll be traveling to Washington, DC for the American Ag Law Association Conference where I’ll be finishing up my service on the Board of Directors and speaking on a panel about the Clean Water Act.

To see all of my upcoming programs, click here.