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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 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.

State, Federal Partners to Host Risk Management Meetings for Maryland Dairy Farmers

Jun 3, 2019
2 min

State, Federal Partners to Host Risk Management Meetings for Maryland Dairy Farmers

Press Release The Maryland Department of Agriculture is partnering University of Maryland Extension and USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to host three regional meetings for dairy farmers in Carroll, Kent and Washington counties, June 12-14. The meetings will provide information on available risk management tools, including USDA FSA’s Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program and a new state cost-share program that will cover its premium costs for Maryland farmers. “Dairy farmers ac

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Court of Appeals Agrees USDA Did Not Have the Discretion to Implement New Program Benefiting Farmers

Mar 19, 2019
3 min

Court of Appeals Agrees USDA Did Not Have the Discretion to Implement New Program Benefiting Farmers

The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. Many are paying attention to the implementation of the new Farm Bill, looking at how changes to existing and new programs will operate. One issue that may come up after passing the 2018 Farm Bill is how quickly USDA must implement program changes or new programs. In Ausmus v. Perdue, a group of Colorado wheat farmers recently had a lower court decision upheld. The farmers had reque

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USDA Did Not Have Discretion to Implement New Program Benefitting Farmers: When Does the Agency Have

Jul 12, 2018
3 min

USDA Did Not Have Discretion to Implement New Program Benefitting Farmers: When Does the Agency Have

The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. Many of us are paying attention to the debate over the new Farm Bill and looking at changes to existing programs and potential new programs. One issue which may come up after passing a new Farm Bill is how quickly USDA must implement program changes or new programs. In Ausmus v. Perdue, a group of Colorado wheat farmers recently won their case after selecting a new crop insurance pr

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Gleaning Unharvested Crops and Crop Insurance or NAP Coverage

May 17, 2018
3 min

Gleaning Unharvested Crops and Crop Insurance or NAP Coverage

See here for the site’s reposting policy. During the growing season, producers may allow various nonprofits to come on the farm and collect unharvested crops after harvesting. In many cases, it may be not economically profitable to harvest this unharvested portion, or the producer may have had to leave crops unharvested after meeting supply needs for a week. These crops might be left in the field to rot if not for the ability of nonprofits to glean these crops as donations

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Remember to Certify Conservation Compliance for Crop Insurance Program By Premium Billing Date

Apr 26, 2018
4 min

Remember to Certify Conservation Compliance for Crop Insurance Program By Premium Billing Date

See here for the site’s reposting policy. As many of you who have purchased crop insurance since the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill already know, conservation compliance has been relinked with the crop insurance subsidy. This relinking means that many producers who traditionally have not participated in farm bill programs (such as Price Loss Coverage or Agriculture Risk Coverage) were not required to certify conservation compliance. Under the 2014 Farm Bill, producers who ski

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Crop Insurance Deadline Nears in Maryland: Nursery Growers Need to Make Insurance Decisions Soon

Apr 19, 2018
1 min

Crop Insurance Deadline Nears in Maryland: Nursery Growers Need to Make Insurance Decisions Soon

Press Release See here for the site’s reposting policy. A reminder to Maryland nursery growers that the final date to apply for crop insurance coverage for the 2019 crop year is May 1. Current policyholders who wish to make changes to their existing coverage also have until the May 1 sales closing date to do so. Growers applying for the first time may purchase coverage at any time. Federal crop insurance is critical to the farm safety net. It helps growers and owners manage r

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Weekly Roundup March 9th

Mar 9, 2018
2 min

Weekly Roundup March 9th

By Sarah Fielder Silicon Valley’s New Status Symbol: Chickens Silicon Valley’s tech elite have found a new hobby: backyard poultry. Many are using chickens as ways to de-stress and spending large sums of money on their chickens. The Washington Post highlights this new fad with the tech elite. To read the story, click here http://wapo.st/2oM8LRI. Salt Water Intrusion Threatens Maryland Farms The Atlantic highlights the struggles faced by many Maryland farmers losing product

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Weekly Roundup March 2

Mar 2, 2018
2 min

Weekly Roundup March 2

By Sarah Fielder Tyson Poultry Fined $2 Million for Single Fish Kill Event This week Tyson Poultry was fined $2 million, given 2 years probation, and ordered to pay $500,000 in clean up costs. This penalty comes as a result of illegal discharges from a poultry plant in Missouri that caused a single fish kill event. To learn more about the penalty, click here to http://bit.ly/2F0cu81. Crop Insurance Deadline is Approaching This is a reminder for Delmarva producers that the

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Weekly Roundup Feb. 23rd

Feb 23, 2018
2 min

Weekly Roundup Feb. 23rd

By Sarah Fielder Crop Insurance Deadline is Approaching This is a reminder for Delmarva producers that the spring planted crops sales closing date for crop insurance is on March 15. Coverage for corn, cucumbers, forage seeding, fresh market sweet corn, fresh market tomatoes, grain sorghum, processing beans, processing sweet corn, processing tomatoes, soybeans, spring oats, and tobacco is available in select counties in Maryland. Producers should contact their crop insurance

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Weekly Roundup Feb. 16th

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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Crop Insurance Deadline Nears For Delaware and Maryland Potato Growers

Jan 3, 2018
1 min

Crop Insurance Deadline Nears For Delaware and Maryland Potato Growers

Press Release The USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) reminds potato growers in Delaware and Maryland that the final date to apply for crop insurance coverage for the 2018 crop year is January 31, 2018. Current policyholders who wish to make changes to their existing policies also have until January 31 to do so. Federal crop insurance is critical to the farm safety net. It helps producers and owners manage revenue risks and strengthens the rural economy. Coverage for potatoes

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Weekly Roundup Oct. 13th

Oct 13, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup Oct. 13th

By Sarah Fielder Iowa Ag-Gag Law Challenged in Court Public interests groups in Iowa are challenging the state’s ag-gag law as unconstitutional. Other courts have found similar state ag-gag laws as violating the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Iowa’s law makes it a crime to gain access to an ag operation through false pretenses. To read more about the challenge click here, http://bit.ly/2zjpkbb. San Francisco Requires Grocers to Report Antibiotic Use in Meat Sold

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Weekly Roundup Sept. 29th

Sep 29, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup Sept. 29th

By Sarah Fielder Syngenta Agrees to $1.4 Billion to Settle Class Action Lawsuit This Tuesday Syngenta agreed to settle the claims involved in the MIR182 corn lawsuits during the on-going trial in Minnesota. This settlement comes after a jury awarded corn growers in Kansas $214 million in damages. To read more about the settlement, click here https://bloom.bg/2fPP86G. Codfather Gets 46 Months in Prison Carlos Rafael, a fishing magnate in New Bedford, was sentenced this week

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Weekly Roundup Sept. 22nd

Sep 22, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup Sept. 22nd

By Sarah Fielder Updated Right-to-Farm Law Fact Sheet is Now Available Maryland producers and neighbors often have questions on the state’s right-to-farm law. The General Assembly updated the law to include commercial seafood operations. To aid these operations and ag operations, Paul Goeringer and Lori Lynch updated their popular fact sheet to reflect the changes. You can check out the fact sheet, here https://go.umd.edu/RTFMD. Save the Date for the Ag Outlook and Policy

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Weekly Roundup Sept. 8th

Sep 8, 2017
3 min

Weekly Roundup Sept. 8th

By Sarah Fielder Maryland Beekeepers Fight to Keep Honeybee Colonies Alive The honeybee population in the U.S. is stable, but a recent study conducted by the University of Maryland showed that beekeepers continue to lose a high percentage of bees each year. To read the full article, click here: http://bit.ly/2wHI8jt. Maryland’s Fall Mazes Cut Paths Toward Fun and Profit More than 33,000 of America’s 2.2 million farms engage in agritourism, generating $704 million in revenue a

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Weekly Roundup August 4th

Aug 4, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup August 4th

By Sarah Fielder Court of Appeals Allows Finalists to Intervene The Maryland Court of Appeals has allowed finalists for the medical marijuana license to intervene in an ongoing lawsuit in Baltimore County challenging the final licenses granted by the state. The licensing process has been plagued with issues and legislators are calling for reform. To read more, click here http://wapo.st/2vgKTdf. Senator Introduce Bill to Ban Chlorpyrifos Senator Udall from New Mexico, co-sp

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Weekly Roundup July 28th

Jul 28, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup July 28th

By Sarah Fielder Arkansas Farmers File Class Action Lawsuit For Dicamba Drift Arkansas farmers are seeking class action certification in a lawsuit against Monsanto, BASF, and DuPont over dicamba drift damage. In the lawsuit, the farmers allege that the new dicamba is not drift-resistant but is actually prone to drift. This lawsuit comes after 2 straight seasons of drift damage being reported due to new dicambas on the market that are paired with dicamba resistant soybean an

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Crop Insurance Deadline Nears in Maryland

Jul 27, 2017
1 min

Crop Insurance Deadline Nears in Maryland

Press Release USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) reminds Maryland fall-seeded forage growers that the final date to apply for crop insurance coverage for the 2018 crop year is July 31, 2017. Current policy holders also have until July 31 to make changes to existing contracts. Crop insurance provides protection against a loss in production due to natural perils such as adverse weather conditions, failure of irrigation water supply, fire, insects or plant disease, or wildlife.

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Weekly Roundup April 21st

Apr 21, 2017
3 min

Weekly Roundup April 21st

By Sarah Fielder Syngenta Lawsuit Advancing The federal district judge overseeing the class action lawsuit against Syngenta for releasing the MIR162 genetic event before being approved in China ruled on several motions narrowing the issues for the bellwether trial that will begin in June. Based on the ruling, the June trial will focus solely on negligence claims under Kansas law. To read a summary of the ruling and what it means to the bellwether trial, see this summary by

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Weekly Roundup March 16th

Mar 17, 2017
2 min

Weekly Roundup March 16th

By Sarah Fielder Wildfires Cause Major Damage for Ranchers in Midwest Ranchers in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere are facing major economic losses after devastating wildfires have rolled across several states. An initial estimate puts cattle losses in Texas alone at $2.1 million. Lawmakers in Tennessee and Kansas have introduced legislation to reduce financials burdens, including a sales tax exemption on fencing materials in Kansas. Many organizations have begun coll

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