SARL Members and Alumni News
Nebraska meat label bill gets legislative switch-up
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted on January 24, 2019Sen. Carol Blood withdrew her original proposal, Legislative Bill 14, earlier this week and introduced LB 594, which would add a clause to the state’s existing Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The clause would place in violation of the act anyone who "advertises, promotes, labels, represents, illustrates, displays, for sale, offers for sale, attempts to sell, or sells an insect-based, a plant-based, or a lab-grown food product as meat."
What will California's new animal housing law do to veal?
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted on January 23, 2019The future availability and price for veal in the state of California is cloudy following the passage of a law mandating space requirements for raising food animals, according to the American Veal Association (AVA).The organization is warning that the passage of Proposition 12 in California last year will force farmers in the Golden State to raise about 66 calves in a barn that was designed to hold 200 calves because of the act’s space requirements. Starting Jan. 1, 2020, veal intended for sale in California will need to come from barns that offer 43 square feet per calf, regardless of size or age of the calf.AVA President Dale Bakke called the regulations “unnecessary … and excessive” and notes that “no milk-fed veal raised anywhere in the world” meets the new floor space requirements. He also notes that AVA members already provide between 16 and 20 square feet of space per calf depending on the size of the animal.
California:Healthy Kid’s Meal Drinks Is Now State Law
Get Healthy | Posted on January 23, 2019Governor Brown signed SB 1192, which is the California Healthy-by-Default Kids’ Meal Drinks bill! The bill requires restaurants in the state that market children’s meals to offer only water or milk as the default beverage for the children’s meals. This is a big step towards reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by children and creating a healthier food environment.
Nebraska farmer denied poultry permits
Meating Place (free registration required) | Posted on January 23, 2019A Nebraska farmer looking to add chickens to his operation, in order to supply Lincoln Premium Poultry with broilers for Costco’s rotisseries, has been denied the permits to do so. he spate of chicken farms being built in an area traditionally known for cattle and crops has spurred opposition from neighbors concerned about pollution, traffic and pests.
“Ag Gag” Litigation Update
Texas A&M | Posted on January 23, 2019From a recent finding of unconstitutionality in Iowa, to an award of attorney’s fees in Idaho, to a new legal challenge in Kansas, “ag gag” laws have continued to be in the news recently. “Ag gag” laws are generally designed to prohibit a person from entering an agricultural operation without permission or by fraudulent means and obtaining video or photographs of the operation. Although nearly half of the states have attempted to pass this type of provision, only eight have done so. Those states are: IA, ID, KS, MO, MT, NC, ND, and UT.Although each state’s law differs, generally, two types of provisions are present. First, most laws prohibit entering an ag operation and obtaining unauthorized video or photographs of the operation. Second, some laws prohibit an applicant from making false statements on a job application in order to gain entry to an agricultural operation with the intent to video or photograph.Just this month, an Iowa federal court held the Iowa statute unconstitutional. The court took a three-step approach to analyzing this legal challenge.First, the judge held that this statute did apply to “speech.” Because the statute requires speech–either false or misleading statements–it falls within the definition of speech. Next, the court considered whether the false statements prohibited by the statute are protected speech. Not all falsehoods are protected; only those that do not cause a “legally cognizable harm” or provide “material gain” to the speaker fall within the protections of the First Amendment. The court found the falsehoods at issue under the statute do neither, meaning the First Amendment is applicable.
Maryland Governor's budget includes historic funding for rural communities
The Garrett County Republican | Posted on January 23, 2019Governor Larry Hogan has announced several items in the administration’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget. Included is level funding support for the Rural Maryland Council (RMC), Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund (RMPIF) and the Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF). The Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund is included in the budget for $ 6 million for targeted investment to promote economic prosperity in Maryland’s traditionally disadvantaged and underserved rural communities by sustaining efforts to promote rural regional cooperation, facilitating entrepreneurial activities and supporting key community colleges and nonprofit providers.In Fiscal Year 2019, RMPIF also received $6 million in funding. Since Fiscal Year 2017, funds for RMPIF have been included in the State’s Operating budget.For Fiscal Year 2019, 36 grants were distributed to 33 organizations throughout the State.
With Iowa's ag-gag law ruled unconstitutional, animal rights group seeks undercover investigator
Des Moines Register | Posted on January 22, 2019About a week after Iowa's ag-gag law was struck down over free speech violations, a national animal rights group is advertising for an investigator to work undercover in Iowa livestock and meat processing facilities. Mercy For Animals, a Los Angeles animal welfare group, is advertising online for an Iowa-based undercover investigator to work at "factory farms, hatcheries, livestock markets and slaughterhouses" to catch possible animal abuse.The California group said it routinely advertises for undercover investigators, and didn't target Iowa because of the federal court ruling last week.
How Commerce Secretary Ross got the science behind the census so wrong—and why it matters
Science Magazine | Posted on January 22, 2019A decision this week by a federal court to block the U.S. government’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census is more than a political setback for Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and President Donald Trump. It also represents a strong vote of confidence in the U.S. statistical community and the value of research. On 15 January, U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York declared that Ross had been “arbitrary and capricious” in deciding last year to add the citizenship question. He also ruled that the question would most likely result in leaving millions of noncitizens and Hispanic residents out of the decennial head count.The plaintiffs in the case, some 33 state and local officials as well as numerous civil rights organizations, argued successfully that Ross had violated a federal law governing how to make changes in the census. They also convinced the judge that their jurisdictions would likely suffer politically and economically from an undercount.
Environmental groups win lawsuit to overturn Wisconsin settlement with dairy group
Edairy News | Posted on January 22, 2019Four environmental groups have won a lawsuit to overturn part of a settlement between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and a dairy organization.The 2017 settlement ended a legal challenge from the Dairy Business Association over new state guidance for how concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, can manage runoff. The groups, including Midwest Environmental Advocates and the Clean Water Action Council, among others, said changes made in the settlement didn’t follow the agency’s rulemaking process.On Friday, a judge in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court agreed and decided to overturn the settlement.MEA attorney Sarah Geers said the latest ruling doesn’t reinstate the guidance that caused the first legal challenge from the Dairy Business Association.“We hope that what this decision will do will just put the law back to the way it was before any of these issues arose,” Geers said.
Arkansas considers bill allowing vet techs to provide service without vet presence
Arkansas On Line | Posted on January 22, 2019Veterinary technicians and technologists would be able to perform their services away from the physical presence of a veterinarian under a bill that a House committee on Wednesday recommended for approval. House Bill 1124 -- sponsored by Reps. DeAnn Vaught, R-Horatio, and David Hillman, R-Almyra, and Sen. Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia -- would create certifications for veterinary technologist and technician specialist; the state now has a certification for veterinary technician. The House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development recommended approval of HB1124, which now goes to the House.Under the legislation, the licensed veterinarian need not be physically present but can give written or oral instructions for the treatment of the animal and must be "readily available" either in person or through electronic and communication technology."This is the best way to help rural Arkansas with our vet problem," Vaught said.Currently, no Arkansas college or university offers a doctor of veterinary medicine degree, and only Arkansas State University at Beebe offers the veterinary technology certification.