Andrew Zhang is a third year law student at Harvard Law School and a guest contributor to this blog. In the shadow of a government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) finds its conservation programs facing an uncertain future. In some respects, there may be areas of stability or relief. For one, despite the 2018 Farm Bill’s expiration this…
Grace Huddleston is a law student in the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic and a guest contributor to this blog. Agroforestry has the power to reinforce climate resilient landscaping, improve water quality, and provide economic stimulation for farmers. Agroforestry initiatives may also soon receive a significant expansion thanks to H.R. 8467 §8301, the current House draft of the 2024 Farm…
Katie Kraska is a law student in the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic and a guest contributor to this blog. Aquaculture is making waves in conversations about the future of farming. The industry now surpasses global production from wild caught fisheries, sparking domestic debate as lawmakers work to reauthorize the farm bill. Encompassing any propagation, breeding, rearing, and harvesting of…
Josie Dudzik is a PhD candidate in Nutrition and Dietetics at New York University and is a guest contributor to this blog. She was an intern in the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic during the summer of 2024. Background The 2018 Farm Bill paved the way for domestic hemp production by reclassifying hemp as legal to grow…
Mike Orlando is a law student in the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic and a guest contributor to this blog. On February 14, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, head of the USDA, testified in front of the House Agriculture Committee (the “Ag Committee”). He urged the Ag Committee to act quickly to pass the next farm bill, noting that delays…
Sarah King is a law student in the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic and a guest contributor to this blog. This summer, the Supreme Court decided a case concerning the reach of the Clean Water Act, which generally prohibits the discharge of pollutants into “navigable waters,” drawing a range of reactions from environmental and agricultural groups. This case began in…
Hudson Bennett is a law student in the HLS Food Law & Policy Clinic and a guest contributor to this blog. What’s going on? The United States agriculture industry is wasting water at a crippling rate. Irrigation efficiency sits at around 60-70%, and domestic aquifers are being depleted at a rate significantly faster than they can recover. In other words, the…
Beverly Bolster is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland and a guest contributor to this blog. Earlier this year, Senators Heinrich (D-NM) and Braun (R-IN) introduced the Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Act of 2023 in the U.S. Senate to provide funding for the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture to jointly research agrivoltaics. In the bill, an “agrivoltaic…
Marisa Koontz is a law student at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. She is a guest contributor to this blog. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, is a budget reconciliation package that provides approximately $770 billion in new spending to reduce the federal government…
Beverly Bolster is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland and a guest contributor to this blog. Sustainable farming practices, such as planting cover crops, applying compost to fields, rotating crops, and not tilling soil, can create long-term benefits for farmers, increase crop productivity, and benefit the entire food system. However, these methods may require increased costs or labor…