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Welcome to the Maryland Risk Management Education Blog, provided by the University of Maryland Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and features the work of the Maryland Crop Insurance Education program and the University of Maryland - MPowering the State's Agriculture Law Education Initiative, a University of Maryland Extension Signature Program. This blog provides readers with information on risk management issues important to Maryland agriculture, upcoming events, and new materials that may interest readers.
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Admin
- Feb 16, 2018
- 3 min
Weekly Roundup Feb. 16th
By Sarah Fielder Budget Deal Includes Fix for Cotton and Dairy
Early last Friday morning, Congress passed a budget deal that included a fix for the cotton programs and dairy programs. With dairy, the Dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP) would now be calculated on a monthly basis rather than a bimonthly basis, premiums would be changed for medium and small dairy farms on $4.50 and $5 coverage levels, and includes other fixes to MPP that dairy producers had asked for. The bi
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Paul Goeringer
- Jan 16, 2018
- 4 min
Minnesota Court Upholds Granting Conditional Use Permit For Feedlot
The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. A new livestock operation moving into an area can often cause fear among neighbors over potential changes in the neighborhood. Neighbors may fear new smells, sounds, and sights being a part of daily life or change the character of the neighborhood. Many states grant counties or cities the power to develop zoning ordinances related to agriculture to limit these concerns. Minnesota r
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Admin
- Dec 16, 2017
- 2 min
Weekly Roundup Dec. 14th
By Sarah Fielder RMA Ends 10 Percent Insurance Option for Preventive Planting
USDA’s Risk Management Agency announced that the +10 percent option for preventive planting will be eliminated. This crop insurance option provided coverage on input costs if weather prevented planting. Moving forward only the +5 percent option will be available. To read the announcement from RMA, click here http://bit.ly/2o11KOD. Monsanto Offers Cash Back When You Buy New Dicamba Products
Mon
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Admin
- Nov 3, 2017
- 4 min
Weekly Roundup Nov. 2nd
By Sarah Fielder New Federal Gift Exclusion and Lifetime Exclusion Amounts Announce for 2018
Recently IRS announced that the annual gift exclusion will be $15,000 per person and the lifetime exclusion amount will increase from $5.45 million in 2017 to $5.6 million in 2018. The annual gift exclusion allows a taxpayer to gift up to $15,000 per person taxfree and any amount over $15,000 would be subject to taxes. The lifetime exclusion allows a taxpayer to give up to $5.6 mill
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Admin
- Sep 1, 2017
- 2 min
Weekly Roundup Sept. 1st
By Sarah Fielder Injured Woman Sues Organizers of the Punkin Chunkin Championship
A Delaware woman injured last year during the Punkin Chunkin Championship in Delaware has sued the organizers, the state agency in charge of checking the air cannon used, and the Discovery Channel in federal court. The plaintiff claims injuries due to the negligence of the parties involved. This comes on the heels of organizers struggling to find sponsors and potentially having to cancel this
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Sarah Everhart
- Oct 25, 2016
- 2 min
Unanimous 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling in Favor of Farmer Privacy
By Sarah Everhart In 2013, four organizations filed numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for personal information such as home mailing addresses, GPS farm coordinates, phone numbers, and personal email addresses of thousands of farmers in 29 states. When the EPA released the information, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) brought suit against the EPA in the U
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Sarah Everhart
- Sep 6, 2016
- 2 min
Are You Aware of the Changes to the AFO General Discharge Permit?
By Sarah Everhart All large and medium Animal Feeding Operations (AFOs) in Maryland must be covered under the State’s Department of the Environment’s General Discharge Permit. The permit is both a state discharge permit and a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit required by the Clean Water Act for a point source discharging pollutants into waters of the United States. Large and medium AFOs are considered a point source of pollution. Check out this
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Admin
- Aug 30, 2016
- 3 min
The Alt v. EPA Lawsuit: What Did It Really Mean?
By Ashley Ellixson Today I am going to jump back a few years and talk about a case decided back in 2014. Some of you may recall the Alt v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lawsuit but for those of you who do not, or need a refresher, I am revisiting what that important court decision means to animal feeding operations and its implications for the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Facts Lois Alt operates a poultry operation, a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) more speci
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Sarah Everhart
- May 3, 2016
- 3 min
How and When Can I Be Fined for Not Having or Adhering To a Nutrient Management Plan
By Sarah Everhart According to a recent article in the Bay Journal, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has undertaken an enforcement action against a Wicomico County farm for not having a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) and the State is seeking substantial civil penalties from each of the farm’s co-owners for the violations. Hopefully the farmers can reach a resolution with the State of Maryland but given this recent development, I thought it would be a good tim
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msuri1
- Apr 1, 2016
- 3 min
Weekly News Update: April 1st, 2016
By Mayhah Suri Wicomico County Putting Stricter Zoning Regulations on Chicken Houses
As it stands now the zoning regulations in Wicomico County say a poultry house can be no less than 100 ft. away from residential dwellings, which is about a third of a football field. Monday the county council held a special work session to change that. During the work session council members approved a draft that would create setbacks of 400 ft. in A-1 agricultural areas, and a minimum of 5
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msuri1
- Feb 5, 2016
- 2 min
Weekly News Roundup: February 5th
By Mayhah Suri How The Super Bowl Shaped The Chicken Industry!
On January 15, 1967, the Green Bay Packers faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs in the very first Super Bowl. On that day, few of the estimated 51 million fans gathered around their television sets realized the profound impact the Super Bowl would have on chicken consumption in the United States. The Packers won the game 35-10, but ultimately the real winner was chicken – particularly wings. To read the ful
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Admin
- Aug 25, 2015
- 4 min
Minnesota Supreme Court Finds a Winter Feeding Operation Is Not an “AFO” – No NPDES Permit Required
By Ashley Ellixson On July 29, 2015, the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals decision regarding Reichmann Land and Cattle, LLP (RLC) not being an “animal feeding operation” as defined by 40 C.F.R. § 122.23(b)(1) (2014) and is not required to obtain an national-pollutant-discharge-elimination-system permit (NPDES permit) as a result. However, the court did find that RLC did not meet the “pasture” exemption under the Minnesota statute and is required to obtai
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Paul Goeringer
- Jun 5, 2015
- 3 min
Weekly News Update, June 5, 2015
Happy last day of the work week (or happy weekend depending on when you are reading this). I am back and refreshed after a week on the family farm in Oklahoma. My thanks to Ashley and Sarah in helping me put this together. Farm Transition Webinar on Tuesday: It is not too late to sign up for the ALEI farm transition webinar at noon (EST) on June 9. Shannon Ferrell will discuss what farm families need to consider as they begin the transition process. This will be the first
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Admin
- Jun 5, 2014
- 3 min
Animal Feeding Operation’s and the Clean Water Act Permit System in Maryland
By Ashley Ellixson When it comes to housing a large amount of livestock, or poultry and the like, in a confined area, it is no big surprise that there will be a dilemma with getting rid of manure and other waste produced by the animals. In order to clean our waterways and going forward prevent pollution to our waterways created by animal waste, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created what we now know as the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972. Up until 1976, animal feed
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