Ag Docket Blog
On August 19, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed that three subsections of the Kansas Farm Animal and Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act (the Act) were unconstitutional. The Act provides criminal sanctions for using fraud or deception to obtain consent to engage in various activities at an animal facility with the intent to damage the facility.
We have been seeing renewed interest and activity associated with a market for carbon credits, in particular credits created through new land management and conservation practices farmers implement on their land. Last week, we participated in a webinar providing information on this emerging topic.
In this study conducted in conjunction with the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Kristine Tidgren and Wendong Zhang analyze Iowa farmland data, including estimated basis and fair market value, to estimate the impact of the proposed tax provisions in the American Families Plan on Iowa farmland owners during lifetime and at death and gift.
On July 28, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of lawsuit challenging a California law, finding that even though the complaint plausibly alleged that “Proposition 12 will have dramatic upstream effects and require pervasive changes to the pork production industry nationwide,” it did not state a violation of the dormant Commerce Clause under existing precedent.
On July 26, 2021, the District Court of Hawaii considered whether the County of Maui must obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for releasing pollutants into injection wells a half a mile from the ocean. On remand, this district court, using factors set forth by the Supreme Court, held that the circumstances surrounding how the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility (LWRF) conveyed pollutants through groundwater was the “functional equivalent of a discharge.”
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. The order targets consolidation across many different industries and contains several provisions specifically concerning agricultural markets.
On June 30, 2021, IRS issued Rev. Proc. 2021-14, which details special elections and revocations available to taxpayers with farming loss net operating losses (NOLs) in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
As of July 1, 2021, Florida has a new Right to Farm Act (RTFA). On April 30, 2021, Governor DeSantis of Florida signed SB 88 into law, amending Florida’s RTFA in several ways. See Fla. Stat. § 823.14.
On Friday, June 25, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion determining the availability of an extension to the small refinery[i] hardship exemption within the renewable fuel standards program (RFS).
On June 18, the Iowa Supreme Court—in a 4-3 decision—dismissed a water quality lawsuit filed against the State of Iowa[i] by two social justice groups, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food and Water Watch.