Kansas ag-gag law declared unconstitutional (Wichita Eagle): A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Kansas’s ag-gag law unconstitutionally criminalizes free speech, a victory for First Amendment, environmental, and animal rights groups.
California announces organic center (UCANR): The California Organic Institute, whose mission will be to speed the development and adoption of organic agriculture, will be established at the University of California, funded by a $500,000 endowment from Clif Bar & Co. and $500,000 in matching funds from university president Janet Napolitano.
Lawmakers to meet on Wisconsin dairy crisis (WPR): Gov. Tony Evers called a special legislative session for next week to address the dairy crisis in Wisconsin, where 10 percent of dairy farms closed in 2019, following a 7.25 percent loss in 2018.
Ratifying USMCA is Trudeau priority (Reuters): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he will introduce legislation on Jan. 29 to ratify the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement and said he wants to finalize “this new NAFTA as quickly as possible.”
USDA tries to evade rules, says union (AFGE): The American Federation of Government Employees charged that the USDA is trying to evade the terms of its contract with food inspectors by asking the Federal Labor Relations Authority if it can change work rules while a union contract is being renegotiated.