SARL Members and Alumni

Oregon lawmakers will consider several proposals during the 2019 Legislature to protect the state's $5.6 billion wine industry, including a measure aimed at preventing out-of-state winemakers from hijacking the names and reputations of certain growing areas. The issue stems from a dispute last year between several Willamette Valley wineries and Copper Cane LLC, a California wine producer that purchases grapes from about 50 Oregon vineyards to make Pinot noir and rosé. [node:read-more:link]

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is now accepting applications for the competitive AGRI Value-Added Grant Program. The MDA anticipates awarding up to $2.5 million in this round of proposals. The aim of the Value-Added Grant is to increase sales of Minnesota agricultural products by diversifying markets, increasing market access and increasing food safety of value-added products through equipment purchases and facility improvements. [node:read-more:link]

For the first time in American history, one of the leading causes of deaths - vehicle crash - has been supplanted by opioid overdoses. Data, collected in 2017, shows Americans have a 1 in 96 chance of dying from an opioid overdose. The probability of dying in a motor vehicle crash is 1 in 103. Opioid pain relievers are the most fatally abused drugs and they're entirely legal. Roughly 60 people die every day as a result of overdoses from opioids - that's 22,630 Americans. [node:read-more:link]

Employment in Nebraska remained solid through 2018, benefiting from strong gains in recent years by residents of the state’s suburban areas. Employment in Nebraska in recent years has increased most notably among residents of west Omaha and Sarpy County with rural parts of the state still struggling to add jobs. Overall, Nebraska’s unemployment rate has remained one of the lowest in the country and job prospects throughout the state are strong heading into 2019. [node:read-more:link]

Two days after he took office, Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled sweeping measures to clean up Florida's troubled waters Thursday, including spending $2.5 billion and launching more aggressive policies to address algae choking Lake Okeechobee and polluting the state's coasts. The newly minted governor, who angered environmentalists on the campaign trail by dismissing climate change as a significant threat, also promised to establish a resiliency office to address looming dangers. [node:read-more:link]

The New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food wants to create a new label for New Hampshire milk to help keep local dairies afloat. Agriculture Commissioner Shawn Jasper is working with Gov. Chris Sununu and lawmakers on a House bill to create the program, called the Dairy Premium Fund.Gallons with the “New Hampshire’s Own” sticker would carry milk from New Hampshire farms, and would cost an extra 50 cents for customers. [node:read-more:link]

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is forging ahead with a long-overdue update of the state’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, even as four environmental groups withdrew from mediation and announced they will oppose it. In a Jan. 4 letter to Gov. [node:read-more:link]

In Oregon and Washington, the changing climate tops the governors’ legislative agendas. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee hope to help stanch global climate change by capping carbon production in their states. Though both proposals would exempt farmers and ranchers directly, the prospect of higher costs for fuel, energy and fertilizers caused by the caps poses a concern for agriculture. Meanwhile, in Idaho, legislators and new Gov. [node:read-more:link]

The new session of the Republican-controlled Legislature began on a bipartisan footing Wednesday with the Democratic attorney general and lawmakers from both parties uniting behind a package of bills to reform civil asset forfeiture. [node:read-more:link]

New cattle barns and an unfinished milking facility, which were part of the Ohio prison farm system and brought to a close when Ohio Gov. John Kasich decided to sell the farms in 2016, were more costly than first realized.  The state-owned farms were operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, along with the Ohio Penal Industries, and used inmate labor to produce food for the prisoners. A report by the Ohio Inspector Generalshows that the new facilities cost the state a little more than $13 million, compared to roughly $8.6 million spent on the buildings. [node:read-more:link]