By Mayhah Suri
Chesapeake College Unveils New Agriculture Degree The two-year program is an Agriculture Associate of Applied Science and is designed to cover all aspects of farming and the agriculture business, said Barbara Viniar, the college’s president. Nicole Fiorellino, the coordinator of agriculture program, said the degree involves 60 credit hours total, with about 20 credits of general education prerequisites. There are two tracks in the program — production and sustainability. To read more click here: http://www.myeasternshoremd.com/news/kent_county/article_2962678f-260a-5349-99ba-c5ce961eb596.html
Baltimore Sun Article Highlights Ongoing Fight Over Poultry on Eastern Shore Earlier this week, the Baltimore Sun highlighted the on-going issues between new poultry houses and groups on the Eastern Shore trying to limit new house construction. For those new to the dispute, it provides a good overview of both sides arguments. To see the article, go to http://bsun.md/23eR50D
USDA Announces Record Number of Organic Producers in U.S On April 4th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a significant increase in the number of certified organic operations, continuing the trend of double digit growth in the organic sector. According to new data, there are now 21,781 certified organic operations in the United States and 31,160 around the world. To read more click here: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahomecontentid=2016/04/0084.xml&contentidonly=true
EPA Anti-Farmer Billboards Violate Agency Rule Two billboards in Washington that accuse farmers of polluting water violated a federal rule by failing to note that the Environmental Protection Agency funds the group that put up the signs, an EPA official said Thursday. A coalition of environmental groups and the Swinomish Indian tribe put up the billboards in Olympia and Bellingham to promote What’s Upstream, a media campaign crafted by a public relations firm to link agriculture with water pollution. To read the full story and find out all the details visit http://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20160401/epa-anti-farmer-billboards-violate-agency-rules
US Supreme Court Sides with Tyson Workers In March, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6 -2 ruling sided with workers at a pork processing plant to recover overtime pay from Tyson. At issue was whether or not putting on protective gear could be considered compensable time, or in other words, were the workers on the clock. To read more about the court’s ruling, see http://nyti.ms/25Nd3qy. To read the opinion, see http://1.usa.gov/1RGqTVt.
Miss the Recent Right-to-Farm Webinar? If you missed the recent right-to-farm webinar, a recording is available online. The webinar featured Tiffany Lashmet, Ashley Ellixson, and Paul Goeringer and provided an overview of right-to-farm laws, recent court decisions, and constitutional amendments. The webinar is available at http://go.umd.edu/RTFVid
Business Organizations in Ag Webinar The Mid-Atlantic Women in Ag will host a Wednesday Webinar focused on picking a business organization structure for your farm. The webinar will feature Ashley Ellixson and Paul Goeringer. The webinar is on April 13 and you can learn more about this webinar and other webinars at http://go.umd.edu/WIAWebinar
ALEI Newsletter Available The Ag Law Education Initiative, a partner in this blog, released their Quarterly Newsletter last month. Check it out to see what all new resources are available, upcoming events, and what ALEI has been up to in the first quarter of 2016. The newsletter is available at http://go.umd.edu/1QNL2016
New Videos Available on CSA, Farm Brewery ALEI has created new videos on the Maryland farm brewery law and a state-wide CSA survey. You can find them both on ALEI’s Vimeo’s page at: https://vimeo.com/umaglaw