Blog - Page 14 of 18 - Agricultural Legal Counsel

Agriculture

Farming Sand, Climate Reporting Too Difficult for Ag

Turning Sand Into Farmland Desert Control, a Norwegian start-up company, has developed a product that it claims can turn desert sand into arable soil in just 7 hours. The company’s innovation is Liquid Nanoclay, a mixture of water and clay which is sprayed on sand or sandy soils and attaches to sand particles as it percolates into the soil. The product can be applied through common irrigation methods or simply by a sprinkler. Desert Control has been focusing in the arid Middle East where Liquid Nanoclay has been deployed in test plots to grow watermelon, zucchini, and pearl millet. Currently cost remains a barrier to adoption at around $2 to

joelcape November 4, 2022

Agriculture

2 of 13 Hank Williams Jr. Predicted the Future, Climate Impacts on Yield and More

Hank Jr. Was Right – the Mississippi River is Going Dry The prolonged drought that has settled in the Midwest has been taking a toll on the Mississippi River, bringing it down to historic lows and disrupting one of the U.S.’s major supply chains. The low water levels are impacting barge and commercial shipping traffic which are key transportation providers for goods, especially grain and other commodities. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, some river traffic has been halted, and other ports and docks are essentially out of reach because the water is not deep enough for commercial boats. This has causes shipping prices to increase sharply – the cost of shipping

joelcape October 28, 2022

Brands

Who Knew Texas Pete Wasn’t From Texas? | Cape Law Firm

Congress to Investigate Foreign Ownership of U.S. Farmland Members of the House Agriculture and Oversight Committee recently sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting a study into foreign investment in U.S. farmland, citing national and food security concerns. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, foreign investors hold roughly 3% of privately held U.S. agricultural land, which amounts to about 37.6 million acres. Canadian investors hold the largest share of foreign-owned farmland, with about one third. The letter from Rep. Glenn Thompson (R. Pa.) and Rep. James Comer (R. Ky.) raised concerns about plans by a Chinese company’s plans to build wet corn milling plant near an Air Force

joelcape October 21, 2022

Agriculture

No Wild Cow Milking, Generic Pesticides and More

No Wild Cow Milking in California A proposed ordinance in Alameda County, California aimed at rodeo events was mostly voted down, although an amended version was passed which will ban the “wild cow milking” event that is popular at ranch rodeos. The original language of the ordinance proposed a ban on much of the equipment used at rodeos, including ropes, spurs, and straps: “Prohibition of specified devices for equine, bovine, and ovine animals. No person shall conduct roping of any equine (including but not limited to any horse, mare, pony, ass, donkey, burro, mule, or hinny), bovine (including but not limited to any steer, calf, bull, ox, heifer or cow),

joelcape September 30, 2022

Agriculture

No QR Code for Bioengineered Food, More Modernizing of Biotech and more!

National Bioengineered Food Standard Upheld A challenge to the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard of 2016 was largely rebuffed by in a lawsuit filed by coalition of natural and organic grocers. USDA’s implementation of the law provided three options for disclosure of bioengineered foods: (i) text, (ii) a USDA-created symbol, or (iii) electronic or digital link (i.e., a Quick Response (QR) code that directs scanners to online information). The Northern District of California dismissed most of the challenges to USDA’s rule, including the use of the term “bioengineered” instead of “genetically engineered.” However, the court did rule that the use of the QR Code as a stand alone option for

joelcape September 23, 2022

Agriculture

Purple Tomatoes, Certified Scotch, and More!

HAPPY FRIDAY! We’re back to keep you informed and entertained with the newest edition of our newsletter with legal news and noteworthy happenings for agriculture professionals (and the occasional contrarian viewpoint). We also aim to keep our readers guessing with a bit ‘o trivia (and the chance to win a prize)! If someone thought well enough to forward this to you and you’d like to be on the list, please click here to sign up. A Purple Tomato for What Ails You USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has given approval to a new genetically modified tomato developed by Norfolk Plant Sciences with improved levels of anthocyanins, giving the tomato a deep purple color.

joelcape September 16, 2022