EPA grant money used for a clean water campaign targeting farmers was spent properly, the agency’s Office of Inspector General concluded in a report released today. Some of the money went for billboards in Washington state that said “Unregulated agriculture is putting our waterways at risk” and featured a web address – http://www.whatsupstream.com– where visitors could contact state legislators to voice their concerns. But when the news broke that EPA was helping fund the “What’s Upstream?” campaign, farmers and their allies in Congress protested. [node:read-more:link]

The head of Bethel Heights Vineyard looked out over the 100 acres of vines her crew of 20 Mexicans had just finished pruning, worried about what will happen if the Trump administration presses ahead with its crackdown on immigrants.From tending the plants to harvesting the grapes, it takes skill and a strong work ethic to produce the winery's pinot noir and chardonnay, and native-born Americans just aren't willing to work that hard, Patricia Dudley said as a cold rain drenched the vineyard in the hills of Oregon. [node:read-more:link]

According to Kansas dairy farmers, a glut of milk and fewer sales to other countries have them concerned about their future. An oversupply of milk happens every spring, but dairy farmer Orville Miller said this year is even worse."It's absolutely stressful," said Miller. "When you get up in the morning and work hard all day and know you're losing money, that's tough on the mind after awhile."Miller said the price of milk is down about 40% from two to three years ago, and more product needs to be sold."The export market is not as good as it typically is," said Miller. [node:read-more:link]

The World Trade Organization ruled Tuesday that Mexico's tuna industry has been harmed by U.S. "dolphin-safe" labeling rules and says the country can seek retaliatory measures worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The decision said Mexico's economic damages from the labeling rules amounted to $163 million a year. The Mexican government issued a statement saying it would "immediately ask the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body for authorization to suspend benefits" and also begin an internal process of targeting imports from the United States. In past decisions, the WTO has held that the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

About 190 million screw flies later, South Florida appears to be free of the flesh-eating pest that threatened to wipe out the planet’s last remaining herd of tiny Key deer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release its final sterile fly to combat an infestation confirmed in September, which marked the first outbreak in the continental U.S. in three decades. [node:read-more:link]

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will direct his new agriculture secretary to identify and eliminate what Trump says are unnecessary regulations that hurt farmers and rural communities. The order also establishes a new task force charged with reviewing policies, legislation and regulations that unnecessarily hinder agricultural and economic growth. [node:read-more:link]

Since the beginning of the year, there have been a number of significant legal developments in the agricultural sector. Many of these issues will continue to play out over the next year and will impact agriculture throughout the country. Notably, there were important developments involving the WOTUS Rule, the Des Moines Waterworks lawsuit, and the Endangered Species Act. [node:read-more:link]

This is a law and policy resource guide on eminent domain law. [node:read-more:link]

Make no mistake about it: Animal rights groups are intensifying their push to get every major purchaser of chicken to source only slower-growing broiler breeds that are raised according to Global Animal Partnership (GAP) standards. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Commerce Department has launched an antidumping and countervailing duty investigation aimed at biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia. The investigation is in response to a complaint filed by the biodiesel industry in the United States. [node:read-more:link]