SARL Members and Alumni

Sen. Carol Blood withdrew her original proposal, Legislative Bill 14, earlier this week and introduced LB 594, which would add a clause to the state’s existing Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The clause would place in violation of the act anyone who "advertises, promotes, labels, represents, illustrates, displays, for sale, offers for sale, attempts to sell, or sells an insect-based, a plant-based, or a lab-grown food product as meat." [node:read-more:link]

The future availability and price for veal in the state of California is cloudy following the passage of a law mandating space requirements for raising food animals, according to the American Veal Association (AVA).The organization is warning that the passage of Proposition 12 in California last year will force farmers in the Golden State to raise about 66 calves in a barn that was designed to hold 200 calves because of the act’s space requirements. Starting Jan. [node:read-more:link]

Governor Brown signed SB 1192, which is the California Healthy-by-Default Kids’ Meal Drinks bill! The bill requires restaurants in the state that market children’s meals to offer only water or milk as the default beverage for the children’s meals. This is a big step towards reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by children and creating a healthier food environment.  [node:read-more:link]

A Nebraska farmer looking to add chickens to his operation, in order to supply Lincoln Premium Poultry with broilers for Costco’s rotisseries, has been denied the permits to do so. he spate of chicken farms being built in an area traditionally known for cattle and crops has spurred opposition from neighbors concerned about pollution, traffic and pests.  [node:read-more:link]

From a recent finding of unconstitutionality in Iowa, to an award of attorney’s fees in Idaho, to a new legal challenge in Kansas, “ag gag” laws have continued to be in the news recently.  “Ag gag” laws are generally designed to prohibit a person from entering an agricultural operation without permission or by fraudulent means and obtaining video or photographs of the operation. [node:read-more:link]

Governor Larry Hogan has announced several items in the administration’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget. Included is level funding support for the Rural Maryland Council (RMC), Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund (RMPIF) and the Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF). [node:read-more:link]

About a week after Iowa's ag-gag law was struck down over free speech violations, a national animal rights group is advertising for an investigator to work undercover in Iowa livestock and meat processing facilities. [node:read-more:link]

A decision this week by a federal court to block the U.S. government’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census is more than a political setback for Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and President Donald Trump. It also represents a strong vote of confidence in the U.S. statistical community and the value of research. On 15 January, U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York declared that Ross had been “arbitrary and capricious” in deciding last year to add the citizenship question. [node:read-more:link]

Four environmental groups have won a lawsuit to overturn part of a settlement between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and a dairy organization.The 2017 settlement ended a legal challenge from the Dairy Business Association over new state guidance for how concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, can manage runoff. [node:read-more:link]

Veterinary technicians and technologists would be able to perform their services away from the physical presence of a veterinarian under a bill that a House committee on Wednesday recommended for approval. House Bill 1124 -- sponsored by Reps. DeAnn Vaught, R-Horatio, and David Hillman, R-Almyra, and Sen. Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia -- would create certifications for veterinary technologist and technician specialist; the state now has a certification for veterinary technician. [node:read-more:link]