AG/FDA Blog

John Block: Good Things Done

January 17th, 2018
Contributor: John R. Block
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block From my perspective, our government has been getting some good things done. Remember a year ago when hundreds of out-of-towners blocked the construction of the North Dakota pipeline? The government spent million… Read More
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Categories: Public Policy, USDA
Tags: Agriculture, Environment, Federal Government, John R. Block, Land, National Monument, North Dakota, Oil, Pipeline, Trump

John Block: Sound Science

April 27th, 2017
Contributor: John R. Block
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block Last week on Saturday, it was Earth Day. I always thought of Earth Day as a celebration of the earth with its natural beauty and, of course, the food and crops it provides to feed everything living – especiall… Read More
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Categories: Public Policy, USDA
Tags: Agriculture, Bill Nye, Biotechnology, Climate Change, Earth Day, Environment, Food, Genetically Engineered, GMO, John R. Block, Science, Sonny Perdue

The Peat Goes On: Supreme Court Holds Wetlands Jurisdictional Determinations Are Appealable

June 1st, 2016
Contributor: Stewart D. Fried
Peat miners, golfers, and landowners with real property containing or adjacent to Waters of the United States will benefit greatly from the Supreme Court’s May 31st decision in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. Hawkes resolved whethe… Read More
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Categories: EPA
Tags: Administrative Procedure Act, Appeal, Approved Jurisdictional Determination, Army Corps of Engineers, Clean Water Act, Environment, Hawkes, Landowner, Law Firm, Lawyer, Litigation, Stewart D. Fried, Supreme Court, Water, Waters of the US, Wetland

John Block: EPA Overreach

September 3rd, 2015
Contributor: John R. Block
By former USDA Secretary John R. Block There they go again. The EPA has threatened to impose a fine of $37,500 per day on farmer Andy Johnson of Fort Bridger, Wyoming. Mr. Johnson’s offense is that he built a pond for his horses and cattle on his e… Read More
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Categories: EPA, USDA
Tags: Andy Johnson, Clean Water Act, Environment, EPA, Farm, Governor Matt Mead, Green River, John R. Block, Little Six Mile Creek, Pond, Wyoming

The Next Dietary Guidelines Debate

June 23rd, 2014
Contributor: Marshall L. Matz
By Marshall L. Matz and Nathaniel B. Fretz, as published by Agri-Pulse There is a new question surrounding the Dietary Guidelines for Americans now being drafted for release in 2015. The question is whether the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee s… Read More
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Categories: Health Care, Public Policy, USDA
Tags: Congress, Dietary Guidelines, Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Environment, Food, Food Safety, Food Sustainability, HHS, Marshall L. Matz, Nathan Fretz, Nutrition

Court Ruffles EPA’s Feathers: Poultry Producer Suit Permitted to Proceed Despite Withdrawal of Administrative Compliance Order

April 29th, 2013
Contributors: Stewart D. Fried, John G. Dillard
A District Court judge in West Virginia is forcing EPA to defend a challenge to a now-withdrawn Administrative Compliance Order (“ACO”) related to “dust and feather” discharges from a broiler facility. In one of the first post-Sackett challen… Read More
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Categories: EPA
Tags: Agriculture, CAFO, Clean Water Act, Environment, Farm Bureau, John G. Dillard, Litigation, NPDES, Poultry, Stewart D. Fried

PCAST Report

December 7th, 2012
Contributor: Marshall L. Matz
Today, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released its Report to the President on Agricultural Preparedness and the Agriculture Research Enterprise. The report outlines the importance of agricultural research as w… Read More
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Categories: Public Policy
Tags: Agriculture, Biotechnology, Environment, Food, Marshall L. Matz, President Obama

Eight Isn't Enough: American Farm Bureau Permitted to Intervene In WV Poultry Dust Suit against EPA

October 24th, 2012
Contributors: Stewart D. Fried, John G. Dillard
On October 9, 2012, a federal judge in Elkins, West Virginia, issued an order allowing the American Farm Bureau Federation and the West Virginia Farm Bureau (Farm Bureau) to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a West Virginia poultry producer against the… Read More
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Categories: EPA
Tags: CAFO, Clean Water Act, Environment, Farm Bureau, John G. Dillard, NPDES, Poultry, Stewart D. Fried

A Double Espresso Morning

October 2nd, 2012
Contributor: Tish Eggleston Pahl
It’s a busy day here and I’m wishing for an IV espresso drip and a neural Twitter implant. I’m following the Federal Trade Commision (FTC) Pet Meds webcast and the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) Advertising and Promotion Workshop while my c… Read More
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Categories: FDA
Tags: Advertising, Drug, Eco-friendly Claims, Environment, Food, Food and Drug Law Institute, FTC, FTC Enforcement, Green Guides, Katie Balmford, National Organic Program, Natural, Organic, Pet Medication, Social Media, Tish Eggleston Pahl

California Court Decision May Have Major Implications for Farmers Using Drain Tiles

October 1st, 2012
Contributors: Stewart D. Fried, John G. Dillard
A federal judge in the Eastern District of California recently held that certain crop and forage operations that utilize subsurface drain tiles may be required to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. In Pacific Coa… Read More
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Categories: EPA
Tags: Agriculture, CAFO, California, Clean Water Act, Drainage, Environment, EPA Compliance, Food, John G. Dillard, Litigation, NPDES, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations v. Glaser, Stewart D. Fried

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