National AgLaw Center e-Newsletter

It's been a busy and exciting time here at the Center since publication of the last e-newsletter. On April 1, we had the honor of hosting Marc L. Kesselman, General Counsel for the United States Department of Agriculture. The visit of Mr. Kesselman stands out as a highlight for the Center, and, coincidentally, occurred almost one year after Mike Johanns, then Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, visited the Center. A new phase of the Center's digitization of farm bill legislation and legislative history was completed during the reporting period, making the full original text and legislative history of the multiple farm bills since 1933 available free of charge to the nation's agricultural community. The Center also participated in the inaugural seminar series co-sponsored by the USDA Risk Management Agency, the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, the USDA Economists Group, and the National Agricultural Law Center.

As Director, I had the opportunity to represent the Center in Washington, DC before a number of individuals, including Senator Tom Daschle, American Farm Bureau Federation General Counsel Julie Anna Potts, officials from the Congressional Research Service, and Brett Offutt, Director of the Policy and Litigation Division for the USDA Packers and Stockyards Programs within the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.

These are just some of the accomplishments and events at the Center over the past two months, and we're glad to share them with you. In the meantime, if the Center can be of any assistance to you, or if you have any suggestions regarding areas of research, information, and outreach in which the Center could engage, please feel free to contact us anytime.

Best regards,

Harrison M. Pittman

Center Director

USDA General Counsel Marc L. Kesselman
Visits Center

On April 1, 2008, the National Agricultural Law Center hosted an afternoon with USDA General Counsel Marc. L. Kesselman. Sworn in as USDA's General Counsel on June 1, 2006, Mr. Kesselman advises the Secretary of Agriculture and directs all legal activity for the Department, including litigation, counseling and regulatory development.

At an informal lunch meeting, Mr. Kesselman met with the Center staff, students and faculty in the Agricultural Law Graduate Program, and the student leaders of the Journal of Food Law & Policy to discuss the various roles that he fills in the USDA from being the manager of the department's legal staff to being an advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture.

Following the lunch meeting, Mr. Kesselman addressed a full courtroom of faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, local attorneys, and community leaders on "Perspectives of USDA's Regulatory Policy Officer: Regulatory Reform and Agriculture in a Climate of Change." His talk covered broad-based issues facing the USDA while citing specific regulatory challenges and opportunities. Mr. Kesselman stressed the need for a transparent regulatory rulemaking process, the importance of sound analysis and sound science when making policy decisions, the need for judicial deference for administrative agency action, and the importance of breaking agricultural trade barriers.

Another topic of discussion was the recent administrative law change that requires federal agencies to post Significant Guidance Documents on their websites in order to explain the position the agencies take on issues under their jurisdiction, a tremendous resource for attorneys specifically and the public in general. Mr. Kesselman concluded his speech with the USDA's analysis of the current farm bill negotiations and a question and answer session.

Nowell Berreth Joins Center Advisory Board

We welcome Nowell Berreth, a partner at Alston & Bird, to the Center's Advisory Board. Nowell focuses his practice on representing agribusinesses in litigation and general counseling, working frequently on matters concerning the Packers & Stockyards Act, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, and other agricultural statutes. He also works with Senators Bob Dole and Tom Daschle of Alston & Bird in support of the Agricultural Carbon Market Working Group, an organization that focuses on the possible impacts to agriculture of any upcoming climate change legislation.

Making Legal Research Faster and Easier -

New Farm Bill Legislation Added to Website

Following up on the successful cooperative agreement with USDA's National Agricultural Library in 2004-2005 to digitize historical farm bills, the Center was awarded a second cooperative agreement for 2007-2008. Under the new agreement, the Center digitized additional historical farm legislation, primarily dealing with commodity policy and legislative history for statutes digitized in both projects. The Center's Farm Bill Page now contains the largest and most complete collection of free Farm Bill legislation and accompanying legislative histories in the nation.

Legislative history documents (conference, Senate and House committee reports) were digitized and added for all previously digitized farm bill (1933 through 1990). Newly digitized legislation and accompanying Congressional reports include:

Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1935

Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936

Steagall Amendment of 1941

Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act of 1948

Food and Agricultural Act of 1962

Agricultural Act of 1964

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982 (selected provisions)

Extra-Long Staple Cotton Act of 1983

Dairy and Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1983

Agricultural Programs Adjustment Act of 1984

Technical Corrections to Food Security Act of 1985 Amendments

Food Security Improvements Act of 1986

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (selected provisions)

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (selected provisions)

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (selected provisions)

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (selected provisions)

Amendments to the National Wool Act (1993)

Director Promotes Center in Washington, DC

In early March, Center Director Harrison Pittman traveled to Washington, DC to participate in several meetings and talk with a number of individuals and institutions key to U.S. agriculture. The focus of the trip was to promote the National Agricultural Law Center as the nation's leading source for agricultural and food law research and information and to promote further integration between the Center, the USDA, and other individuals and institutions.

While in DC, Mr. Pittman met with Senator Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, regarding recent activities undertaken by Senator Daschle and Senator Bob Dole in the area of agriculture, particularly with respect to issues associated with the potential impact on agriculture of legislative proposals pertaining to climate change. He also talked with Senator Dale Bumpers, officials from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and the USDA Risk Management Agency, key Congressional staff involved in agricultural policymaking such as the Farm Bill, and officials from the Congressional Research Service responsible for publishing CRS reports pertaining to food and agriculture issues.

A meeting with Peter Young, Director of the USDA National Agricultural Library (NAL), and NAL staff led to discussions of a number of issues, including continued coordinated efforts between the Center and NAL to advance access to global information for agriculture. Mr. Pittman also presented "Understanding Agricultural Law and its Importance to USDA" at the inaugural seminar for the agricultural law series co-sponsored by the Center, the USDA Economists' Group, the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and the USDA Risk Management Agency.

Mr. Pittman had the opportunity to visit with American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) General Counsel Julie Anna Potts, also a member of the Center's Advisory Board, as well as Danielle Quist, Assistant General Counsel for AFBF. He also met with officials from the USDA Office of the Chief Economist, Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, to discuss possible collaborative opportunities in the area of renewable fuels research, and Brett Offutt, Director of the Policy and Litigation Division for the USDA Packers and Stockyards Programs within the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.

Outreach - Conventions, Presentations, and Meetings

During this reporting period, Center staff attended conferences, workshops, and forums, and Director Harrison Pittman made a whirlwind visit to Washington, DC (see feature article above).