Happy Monday! We hope everyone is having a great summer. While many folks are taking time off and vacation, that has not been the case for agricultural law news around the country. Let’s look at some of the biggest stories for the month of June.
* United States Supreme Court issues ruling in Monsanto v. Durnell finding state law labeling claims pre-empted. Last week, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Durnell v. Monsanto. You read about this case previously here. The Court ruled that Mr. Durnell’s state law failure to warn claims are preempted by federal law. We had a complete blog post and a short summary of the decision here.
* New World Screwworm confirmed in Texas. There have been several cases of New World Screwworm confirmed in Texas and one case in New Mexico. We wrote a blog post and recorded a video discussing some of the legal and regulatory issues to keep in mind. We also collected our main sources of trusted information in one link tree for you to easily access.
* United States Supreme Court approved settlement in long-running Texas v. New Mexico water case. For over a decade, we have followed a lawsuit involving Texas’ claims that New Mexico was violating a compact to allocate waters of the Rio Grande. You can read more background here. This month, the United States Supreme Court approved a settlement in the case. As part of the settlement, New Mexico farmers along the Rio Grande will have to cut groundwater usage.
*USDA issues guidance on new payment limitation and eligibility rules. The USDA recently released guidance for implementing the payment limitation and eligibility provisions included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including the significant changes to how qualified pass through entities like LLCs are treated. Kristine Tidgren at Iowa State wrote a great article summarizing the new guidance.
* Article on data centers. I enjoyed this article by Cahil Murchison discussing data center development in Texas. An important point he makes (and one I have been telling people on an almost daily basis) is that there are currently absolutely no Texas laws dealing specifically with data centers.
* Department of Homeland Security published guidance for dairy farms seeking H-2A labor. DHS issued guidance for dairy producers clarifying that dairies can be eligible to hire temporary or seasonal labor under the H-2A visa program, even though dairy cows typically require milking and care year-round. The application will be evaluated under the same criteria as other H-2A visa applications, and seasonal or temporary need must be described.
* The US Fish and Wildlife Service agrees to revoke listing for dunes sagebrush lizard. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to revoke the Endangered Species Act listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard. This settles a lawsuit that was brought by the State of Texas challenging the listing in 2024. This revocation and settlement must be approved by the federal judge in the case. The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a request to intervene to oppose the USFWS plan to revoke the protections.
* Objections filed to Roundup Settlement. Earlier this month, a Missouri federal judge rejected attempts by settlement opponents to have the proposed settlement transferred to a California federal court. Instead, he ruled the case will remain in Missouri State Court. That decision has been appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
* Dairy checkoff challenged in court. Three Wisconsin dairy farmers have filed suit against the USDA claiming that the dairy checkoff program is unconstitutional. The producers claim that their checkoff funds (15 cents/hundredweight of milk) are being used to support a private non-profit that has an ESG agenda. They claim being forced to support this ESG-based speech violates their First Amendment rights.
* Settling a farm estate is never simple. Farm Progress recently published an article highlighting why settling farm estates is never simple. He raised good points and offers some important considerations.
* The importance of written contracts. Brent Dore recently published a great article discussing oral contracts under Texas law. He outlines when oral contracts can be valid, the problems with them, and how best to protect yourself…get it in writing!
Upcoming Presentations
I have a number of upcoming speaking engagements. You can see my full list here.
Additionally, for the lawyers in the crowd, registration is now live for our 2026 American Agricultural Law Symposium in Dallas, TX! It will be a great event, and you do not want to miss it. Join us November 5-7 at the Fairmont in Dallas.
