By Mayhah Suri
What Kind of Ag Law Outreach Would You Like to See? Now available online is a program evaluation for the Ag Law Education Initiative (ALEI). The evaluation will help ALEI determine what topics to prioritize in the coming years. Let us know what you want to know! You can take the brief, anonymous survey here: http://go.umd.edu/ALEIEval
Updated SCO Fact Sheet Now Available Paul Goeringer and Howard Leathers recently released an update to the Supplemental Coverage Option fact sheet to highlight how the product has expanded in Maryland as a risk management tool. Supplemental Coverage Option was created in the 2014 Farm Bill and only available to those producers who take out crop insurance and not enrolled in the ARC program. To learn more about SCO, check out the fact sheet at http://go.umd.edu/SCO2017.
Preparing the Farm for an OSHA Visit OSHA stopping by a farm can be a scary prospect for any operation. Mike Opperman with Farm Journal provides some tips this week to help producers prepare for an unexpected visit by OSHA. Take a moment and check out Mr. Opperman’s thoughts on the topic at http://bit.ly/2cecvp7.
More Plaintiffs Joining the Suit to Invalidates North Dakota’s Corporate Farming Law Earlier this year, North Dakota Farm Bureau and a group of producers brought a federal lawsuit to invalidate the state’s ban on certain corporation being involved in agriculture. To learn more about this initial challenge, click here http://bit.ly/2aoIBLK. Earlier this month, additional plaintiffs have come forward to demonstrate how the law is impacting their operations. To learn more about the new plaintiffs, click here to read the story on the Des Moines Register http://dmreg.co/2cqSdsj.
Ag Labor Webinar Series Starting on September 21 at 3pm (EST), Oklahoma State University, Southern Risk Management Education Center, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, and University of Maryland will host 3 webinars highlighting ag labor issues (from how to get the employees on the job properly, proper training, and how to do background checks). The webinars will be on Sept. 21, 28 and Oct. 5. The webinars are free to attend and to learn more about them, click here http://go.umd.edu/OSUAgLabor.
Monsanto/Bayer Merger Finalized for $66 Billion German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer clinched a $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto on Wednesday, ending months of wrangling with a third sweetened offer that marks the largest all-cash deal on record. But the proposed merger will likely face an intense and lengthy regulatory process in the United States, Canada, Brazil, the European Union and elsewhere. Hugh Grant, Monsanto’s chief executive, said Wednesday the companies will need to file in about 30 jurisdictions for the merger. Read more here: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-m-a-bayer-deal-idUSKCN11K128