Gary Baise Commentaries Another dairy succumbs to consent decree Sunnyside Dairy is latest to succumb to lawyers who allege violation of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Sunnyside Dairy in Eastern Washington has signed a Consent Decree which is to be blessed by a U.S. District Court judge any day now admitting it committed violations of…

Gary Baise Commentaries Based on this case a judge could shut your farm down permanently A jury finds that a Texas chicken operation’s odor constituted a nuisance. What about the state’s Right-to-Farm statute? A state district court in Henderson County, Texas (Blanchard, ET AL. v. Huynh, ET AL.) ordered and decreed that a poultry operation…

Gary Baise Commentaries Is Joe Biden’s plan good for rural America? Democratic presidential candidate would ‘stand up to China’ but his senate track record says otherwise. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and vice president nominee Kamala Harris have published the Biden plan for rural America, but not agriculture. The plan is composed of two parts. The…

Gary Baise Commentaries Trying to untangle NRCS’ updated guidance on prior converted cropland? On July 17, 2020, USDA’s NRCS, along with EPA and the Corps of Engineers (Corps), signed a Memorandum to the Field offices in your area discussing implementation of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Food Security Act of 1985 (FSA).…

Gary Baise Commentaries Federal government is studying air emissions from livestock – again New emission models will likely be used in future lawsuits attempting to halt the construction of hog operations. The National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS) is back! Last week, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – after 15 years – suggested new draft air…

Feds’ jargon-filled memo won’t help farmers looking to manage wetlands You may need a lawyer to figure out what USDA, EPA and the Corps of Engineers has in mind. Back in July USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey, Assistant Secretary of the Army R. D. James, and EPA Assistant Administrator for water David Ross signed an…

Gary Baise Commentaries Little for farmers in Democrat presidential platform Democrats support right-to-repair, would tackle market concentration in meat packing industry. The Democratic Party released its draft platform for 2020 last week with 10 sections, and not one is on agriculture! The platform has sections on “Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy”; “Achieving Universal Affordable Quality Healthcare”;…

Gary Baise Commentaries Crop chemical court decision is big victory for agriculture Here’s why judges matter when it comes to important court decisions. Last week, two judges of the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of keeping Corteva’s Enlist Duo, an herbicide designed to kill weeds on corn, soybean and cotton fields, on the market. Enlist Duo combines…

Gary Baise Commentaries What are perennial, intermittent and ephemeral streams? New Trump administration Waters of the United States rule is attempt to simplify definition. In an earlier blog, I discussed what is “not” a water of the United States. The issue is trickier when a new definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) is…

The government defines what is NOT a "Waters of the United States"

Gary Baise Commentaries Environmentalists want the Court to punish EPA. If the Court does so, a new chapter will be written for pesticide use. In my many efforts to unravel and explain the federal government’s sometimes baffling efforts to legally define the things that matter most to property owners, I have started by describing the…

Posts by Gary Baise

Another dairy succumbs to consent decree

Based on this case a judge could shut your farm down permanently

Is Joe Biden’s plan good for rural America?

Trying to untangle NRCS’ updated guidance on prior converted cropland?

Federal government is studying air emissions from livestock – again

Feds’ jargon-filled memo won’t help farmers looking to manage wetlands

Little for farmers in Democrat presidential platform

Crop chemical court decision is big victory for agriculture

What are perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral streams?

The Government defines what is NOT a “Waters of the United States”