#CAFO

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Note: This website is intended to provide general information about legal issues, crop insurance, farm policy, and other risk management issues and should not be construed as providing legal advice. It should not be cited or relied upon as legal authority. For advice about how the issues discussed here might apply to your individual situation, you should consult an attorney.

Welcome to the Maryland Risk Management Education Blog, provided by the University of Maryland Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. This blog provides readers with information on risk management issues important to Maryland agriculture, upcoming events, and new materials that may interest readers.

CourtFinds Indiana Hog Farm Entitled to Right-to-Farm Defense, Upholding Its Constitutional

Paul Goeringer

May 21, 2019
4 min

CourtFinds Indiana Hog Farm Entitled to Right-to-Farm Defense, Upholding Its Constitutional

The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. In 2019, we continue to see decisions involving the application of the right-to-farm law (RTF) defense in a few states. Recently, the Court of Appeals of Indiana upheld a trial court’s decision applying the state’s RTF law. In this case, the RTF law applied to claims that a neighboring hog farm was creating a nuisance. Although over the past 18 months, we have seen decisions involv

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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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Minnesota Court Upholds Granting Conditional Use Permit For Feedlot

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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Unanimous 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling in Favor of Farmer Privacy

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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Are You Aware of the Changes to the AFO General Discharge Permit?

Sarah Everhart

Sep 6, 2016
2 min