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 base in North Dakota was cited in the letter as a concern for limiting foreign ownership.
Land ownership laws vary widely by State regarding foreign ownership of farmland. At least 14 States specifically limit or prohibit foreign ownership, while others only require reporting to State agencies.

EPA Rejects Petition to Add Regulations for Treated Seed

Last month the EPA issued its decision to reject a 2017 Petition requesting rules for regulating treated seed. Treated seed falls under FIFRA’s “treated articles” exemption, meaning that the treated seed does not need its own FIFRA registration if the pesticide used for the treatment is already registered for such uses. EPA’s decision will end a current lawsuit brought by environmental groups to require EPA to take action on the 2017 Petition. However, a new lawsuit may be filed to challenge EPA’s rejection of the Petition.
In its rejection, EPA also announced that it intends to seek additional information on whether treated seed is being sold or used in a manner inconsistent with pesticide labeling. The Agency acknowledged that “the seed bag tag labeling is the primary means by which instructions are communicated to downstream distributors, sellers, and users, typically the farmers, of such treated seed.” Thus, EPA intends to further investigate current pesticide labeling for clarity and completeness regarding treated seed and provided two areas of focus:
“EPA intends to ensure that treating pesticide labeling instructions to the user of the treating pesticide include (1) the requirement that seed bag tag labeling accompany the treated seed when distributed and sold; and (2) that such labeling include adequate use, storage, and disposal instructions of the treated seed and that the distribution or sale of the treated seed in a manner inconsistent with those instructions is the distribution or sale of an unregistered pesticide.”

Who Knew Texas Pete Wasn’t From Texas?

A California resident has filed a class-action lawsuit against T.W. Garner Food Co., the maker of Texas Pete brand hot sauce, alleging that he bought the sauce because he thought it was made in Texas, only to later find out that it is made in North Carolina. The branding on the sauce includes a cowboy with a lasso and a white star. The plaintiff claims that he either would not have bought the sauce, or would have paid less than the $3 he bought it for had he known it wasn’t made in Texas. The suit’s claims include deceptive practices and false advertising.