Welcome to our first Weekly Round Up of the year.  Here are a few of the ag law stories in the news over the past several weeks.

Photo by Scott Ymker on Unsplash

*State of Texas files amicus brief supporting landowner in Texas Central Railway case.  The State of Texas has filed an amicus brief on the side of the landowner in Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure v. Miles, a lawsuit challenging Texas Central Railway’s use of eminent domain power.  [Read prior blog post here.]  The State’s briefing supports the landowner’s argument that Texas Central should not be allowed to use eminent domain power to condemn property for the high speed rail.  [Read article here.]  The Texas Supreme Court will hear oral argument in this case on Tuesday.

*North Carolina Court of Appeals upholds Right to Farm law.  The situation surrounding the North Carolina Right to Farm Act is something we’ve been watching for a couple of years now.  The Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help filed suit challenging 2019 amendments to the Act.  The trial court dismissed the case.  Just before Christmas, the North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed that dismissal.  [Read Opinion here.]

*Fact sheet for first time visit to Farm Service Agency office.  My mother-in-law works at the county FSA office, and she sent me a great fact sheet helping people know what to bring the first time they go to the Farm Service Agency office.  For those of you who may be new rural landowners or operators, or who have just inherited rural land, this is really helpful information.  [Read Fact Sheet here.]

*US Supreme Court hears argument today on OSHA vaccine mandate.  Today, the US Supreme Court will hear oral argument on the OSHA rule which requires all employers with more than 100 employees to either mandate vaccines or masking and testing.  We did a podcast episode on this a few weeks ago, so if you want to hear the background on the rule and how it could impact agriculture, click here.

*EPA publishes dicamba damage report, says changes for 2022 season unlikely.  Just before Christmas, the EPA published a damage report looking at dicamba issues from the 2021 growing season.  The report shows widespread damage from dicamba across the country. The EPA says, however, that the tools it could use to address these issues “are unlikely to be fully implemented by the 2022 growing season.” The report does state, however, that the EPA will allow states to further restrict dicamba use. [Read article here.]  This report came out just after a bipartisan group of Congress members wrote a letter to EPA seeking to delay any changes in dicamba rules until after the 2022 growing season.  [Read article here.]  Just a side note here–if you are interested in the legal and regulatory issues surrounding dicamba, Emily Unglesbee at DTN is always on top of the issue with timely, accurate information.

Upcoming Programs

I have a really exciting slate of programs scheduled for 2022.  To see my entire list of upcoming programs, click here.

Also, don’t forget we have two online courses that are available 24/7.  We just looked at all of the evaluation data from 2021 for our Online Owning Your Piece of Texas program and our Online Ranchers Leasing Workshop.  We are thrilled that 100% of respondents would recommend this program to a friend.  Feel free to contact me by email if you have any questions about the courses!