We’re back with another Friday Weekly Round Up.  Let’s get caught up on some of the biggest stories in the news.

Photo by Erdem GÖRAL

*Texas farmers sue USDA for alleged discrimination.  Several Texas farmers have filed suit against the USDA claiming discrimination for how payments were calculated for certain programs. I wrote an article about the lawsuit for Southern Ag Today here.  On Monday, I will have a more detailed summary posted on the Texas Agriculture Law Blog as well.

* USDA updates HPAI outbreak in dairy cattle status.  The USDA APHIS announced that, as of April 17, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been found in several dairy herds in 8 states. [Read more here.]  The Food and Drug Administration also provided information related to HPAI viral fragments found in commercial milk sampling.  The FDA notes that the commercial milk supply remains safe as the pasteurization product kills bacteria and viruses. [Read more here.]  New federal regulations related to dairy cattle are set to go into effect on Monday.  These will require negative HPAI tests before cattle can cross state lines and will require reporting of HPAI infections to USDA APHIS.  [Read more here.]

*FTC announces new rule prohibiting noncompete agreements.  The Federal Trade Commission announced it has passed a final rule banning noncompete agreements.  The rule will  have an effective date of 120 days after publication in the Federal Register. For existing noncompetes, only those involving senior executives will remain in effect after the rule’s effective date. [Read more here.]  Two lawsuits have already been filed, both in Texas federal court, challenging the legality of this rule.  [Read more here.]

*Lithium boom in East Texas?  The Texas Standard recently  published an article on the potential lithium boom in East Texas.  Currently, most lithium production happens in Australia and Chile, but miners have now turned their attention to East Texas as the next potential lithium hot spot.  [Read article here.]  In light of this, I just recorded a podcast episode on lithium mining where we talked about what this is, what the leases look like, and of the key issues for landowners to know before signing one.  [Listen here.]

Upcoming Programs

I have a bit of a breather next week before we hit it hard again for the rest of May.  On May 6, I will be talking about leases online for a program in Travis County.  On May 8, I’m excited to join the Amarillo Area Estate Planning Council for their annual meeting to discuss agricultural estate planning.  To see my complete upcoming schedule, click here.