Category Archives: Endangered Species Act

Federal Court Vacates and Remands Listing of Lesser Prairie Chicken Under Endangered Species Act

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The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas issued an order last week vacating the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) listing of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act.    Factual Background   The lesser prairie-chicken is a bird historically found in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. The bird has faced both habitat loss and population decline since the 1960’s, and has found itself the subject of proposed Endangered Species Act protections.  In 2014, FWS listed the lesser prairie-chicken… Read More →

May 16, 2025 Weekly Round Up

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It has been a wild few weeks for agricultural law news!  Let’s get caught up on some of the biggest stories. * Live animal imports suspended along Southern border.  On May 11, 2025, United States Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, suspended live animal imports of cattle, horses, and bison through US ports of entry along the southern border due to concerns about the spread of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Mexico.  At that time, the NWS had been detected 700 miles from the U.S./Mexico border. [Read press release… Read More →

December 20, 2024 Weekly Round Up

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We have reached our final Weekly Round Up of 2024.  We would like to take a moment to thank all of you who read the Texas Agriculture Law Blog.  We appreciate your support of our work and your interest in agricultural law. With that, let’s jump into the stories in the news the past couple of weeks. *”The path forward is not remotely clear” on aid package for agriculture.  Congress has gone back to the drawing board on a spending bill that would fund the government and include… Read More →

November 1, 2024 Weekly Round Up

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Welcome to November!  I am not sure how we’ve reached this point in the year, but here we are.  Let’s get caught up on the lasted agricultural law news.  * Texas sues federal government over listing freshwater mussels under Endangered Species Act.  The State of Texas has filed suit against the federal government challenging US Fish and Wildlife’s listing of several species of freshwater mussels as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.  Specifically, Texas alleges the federal government violated the Endangered Species Act, Administrative Procedures Act,… Read More →

October 18, 2024 Weekly Round Up

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To say it has been a busy couple of weeks in the world of agricultural law would be an understatement. Here are some of the biggest stories in the news as of late.  *McDonald’s files lawsuit against packers alleging price fixing.  McDonald’s has filed suit against the big four packers (Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef) alleging that these companies conspired to inflate beef prices.  McDonald’s Claims that from 2015 through the present time the packers have conspired to limit supply in order to inflate prices for beef…. Read More →

February 2, 2024 Weekly Round Up

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February is coming in hot on the agricultural law front!  We have a number of updates on important issues from around the country. *Oral argument set at SCOTUS for Texas v. New Mexico. The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in Texas v. New Mexico, a water law case involving the Rio Grande on March 20.  You may recall from prior blog posts that Texas sued New Mexico claiming New Mexico failed to honor the spirit of a 1938 compact providing for certain deliveries of water on the Rio… Read More →

January 5, 2024 Weekly Round Up

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Hello and Happy New Year!  We’re back with our first Ag Law Weekly Round Up of 2024.  Here are some of the biggest ag law stories in the news over the past few weeks. *State of Texas responds in Tofurkey lawsuit challenging meat labeling law.  You may recall our Thanksgiving blog post highlighted a lawsuit challenging Texas’ new labeling law requiring analogue, plant based, and cell-cultured meat to be labeled in the Lone Star State.  The State of Texas has now filed a Motion to Dismiss in that… Read More →

2023 Ag Law Year in Review – National

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I am always amazed when I sit down and look at all of the agricultural law news over the last year.  2023 was no exception, and there was no shortage of news in the ag law realm.  If you prefer to listen rather than read, or want to do both, check out this podcast episode I did with Paul Goeringer recapping the year. Here is my list of the key ag law issues for 2023 across the country. WOTUS Definition Yet again, there was significant movement on the… Read More →

November 3, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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Time continues to fly as we have reached the last 60 days of the year!  There has been no shortage of agricultural law news around the country the past couple of weeks. *Texas Drone Law Upheld by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has reversed a lower court decision striking down the Texas Privacy Act, a law related to privacy and drone usage.  You may recall from this blog post, a federal district court sided with journalists… Read More →

April 7, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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It’s been another busy couple of weeks in the world of agricultural law. *State of Texas files suit challenging lesser prairie chicken listing.  The State of Texas has filed suit challenging the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as threatened and endangered pursuant to the Endangered Species Act.  The lawsuit claims the listing violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Endangered Species and the National Environmental Policy Act.  In addition to these claims, the lawsuit alleges that this action “threats to derail” the efforts undertaken by the State and… Read More →