Elephants aren’t ‘persons’, but bees are fish; legal fictions run amok
Rights are often granted or taken away by courts based on the definition of a single word. A California court in May decided that the definition of fish can include bees, granting the latter endangered species protection Rights are often granted or taken away by courts based on the definition of a single word. A […]
What do we owe our neighbors?
Right-to-Farm bills aim to protect farms from non-farming neighbors intolerant of reasonable farm-related smells and noises. However, recent changes in some states’ Right-to-Farm legislation edge close to crossing a line towards protecting the rights of farms to pollute. Georgia just passed a stricter Right-to-Farm bill that re-ignites this debate. Georgia […]
Is California telling out-of-state farmers how to raise their hogs?
If citizens in one state pass restrictive livestock production rules, does that unfairly dictate to farmers in other states how they must raise their animals? We’re about to find out because the pork industry has brought a constitutional challenge against a California animal welfare law and the US Supreme Court has agreed to […]
The high cost of skipping lunch
Especially on harvest days, farmwork seems never to end, and time can be in short supply. Sometimes, farm owners can be tempted to skip rest periods or rush their workers through lunch. However, sixteen states require some level of meal or rest periods for agricultural workers, and it pays for farmers to […]
Farm Commons Welcomes Three New Staff and Appoints Eva Moss to Lead Educational Programming
(May 2022) Farm Commons is pleased to announce the addition of three new staff and one promotion to support the non-profit’s commitment to empowering agricultural communities to resolve their own legal vulnerabilities within an ecosystem of support. In December, Farm Commons promoted Eva Moss to Education Program Director and welcomed Bonita Croyle as the Communications […]
Two farms recently ordered to pay $240k for H-2A worker violations
Department of Labor has recently ordered two farms to pay a collective $240,674 in back wages and civil money penalties for H-2A worker violations. A potato farm in Bancroft, ID, took the bigger hit for intimidating workers after refusing to pay the required wage rates, not providing a sufficient percentage of the hours […]
Mistakes in cooperative structure can lead to severe consequences
The historic agricultural cooperative statute Capper-Volstead, now a century old, has recently enjoyed some rare time in legal news headlines. In January, a court found a Pennsylvania mushroom cooperative to be in violation of the Capper Volstead act because the cooperative did not consist solely of producer members and therefore could not legally set prices […]
Debating the meaning of “pure”
If you picked up a bottle of honey and saw “pure” on the label, would you assume that word means the honey is free of even trace levels of pesticide? This question is being asked in a class-action lawsuit under NY’s consumer protection laws, claiming that trace levels of glyphosate in Sioux Honey Association Cooperative\’s […]
Outlawing the short-handled hoe
Banning the el cortito (short-handled hoe) was part of the recently enacted Colorado Farmworker Bill of Rights. At first glance, this seems like an odd addition to any piece of legislation. How could such an innocuous garden tool be so dangerous as to be outlawed? There\’s actually a very rich […]
Texas farm fined $1.3 million for failing to pay overtime
A farm in Texas relied on agricultural exemption from overtime wage requirements and is now having to pay $1.3 million in back wages. Workers in the warehouse were never paid time and a half for hours worked over 40 hours a week. After an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor determined that warehouse workers were […]