This Month:

International Trade: President Issues Proclamation Reducing Tariffs on Agricultural Equipment 🌾
On June 1, 2026, President Donald Trump issued Proclamation 11032 (91 FR 34085), “Further Adjusting the Tariff Regimes for Imports of Aluminum, Steel, and Copper Into the United States,” which reduces to 15% the 25% tariff on imported agricultural equipment imposed by Proclamation 11021 of April 2, 2026, (91 FR 18201), “Strengthening Actions Taken To Adjust Imports of Aluminum, Steel, and Copper Into the United States.” Proclamation 11032 also applies the 15% tariff rate to “certain heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and components . . . predominately for residential use,” which the Proclamation states “are currently treated as aluminum or steel derivative products.” Additionally, the Proclamation reduces the threshold from 95% to 85% for “imported products to qualify as made ‘entirely’ from American aluminum, steel, or copper,” which the Proclamation states, “will incentivize increased use of American aluminum, steel, and copper in downstream derivative products.” The reduced tariff rates are effective June 8, 2026, until December 31, 2027.

Agricultural Labor: USDA, Federal Agencies Issue Proposed Rule to Require E-Verify for Federal Award Recipients
On May 29, 2026, forty-two federal agencies and departments, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published in the Federal Register a proposed rule (91 FR 32198), titled “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance.” Among several actions, the proposed rule would “require all recipients and subrecipients of Federal financial assistance to participate in the Department of Homeland Security’s E-verify program to confirm the employment eligibility of employees and contractors hired in or performing work in the United States under a Federal award.” The proposed rule states that the government “does not propose to apply the program to activities unrelated to Federal awards.” Additionally, the proposed rule states that “[c]onsistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act . . . which prohibits employers from knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized aliens and requires employers to verify employment eligibility, this provision is intended to strengthen compliance with Federal employment eligibility requirements for individuals performing work under Federal awards.” The proposed rule is available for public comment until July 13, 2026 (OMB-2026-0034).

Agricultural Labor: ICE Updates I-9 Guidance to List New Substantive Violations
As of March 16, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has updated its Form I-9 Inspection Under Immigration and Nationality Act § 274A webpage (PDF)—last updated on January 25, 2026 (PDF)—to list several actions as Form I-9 substantive paperwork violations, which are immediately subject to a warning notice or notice of intent to fine and are not granted a 10-day correction period like technical and procedural violations. The newly listed substantive violations are as follows:

  1. “Failure to prepare the Form I-9.”
  2. “Failure to present the Form I-9 for inspection upon request.”
  3. “Failure to ensure the timely preparation of Section 1 of the Form I-9 and/or failure to timely prepare Section 2 of the Form I-9 (and/or Supplement B of the Form I-9, if applicable).”
  4. “Completion of a Spanish-language version of the Form I-9 outside of its authorized area. The Spanish-language version of the Form I-9 can only be officially completed and retained by employers and employees in Puerto Rico.”
  5. “Failure to meet the standards for the electronic completion, retention, documentation, security, reproduction, electronic signature(s) for the employee, and electronic signature(s) for the employer, recruiter, or referrer for a fee, or representative . . . .”

Agricultural Labor: Report Finds Enhanced Immigration Enforcement Resulted in Loss of 668,000 Jobs
On May 29, 2026, the Brookings Institution published a report (PDF), including three appendixes—Data and methods (PDF), Sectoral effects (PDF), and City statistics (PDF)—quantifying the effects of escalated immigration enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since January 2025. According to the report, the “enforcement surge cost 668,000 jobs.” The study found that, “across the top 25% of cities (86 of 341 . . . sample[d]) that experienced the sharpest rise in ICE arrests,” “ICE made around 52,000 excess arrests,” and that “each excess arrest . . . is associated with 13 jobs lost overall,” which the report notes are “jobs previously held by both immigrants and American-born workers.”

Packers and Stockyards Act: USDA Delays ‘Poultry Grower Payment Systems’ Rule
On June 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published in the Federal Register a final rule (91 FR 32314) delaying from July 1, 2026, until December 31, 2027, the effective date of the agency’s Poultry Grower Payment Systems and Capital Improvement Systems final rule, issued in January 2025, as “encourage[d]” by Congress in the explanatory statement of the 2026 Appropriations Bill (P.L. 119-37). The rule “(1) prohibits [live poultry dealers (LPDs)] from reducing a grower’s compensation based on the grower’s ranking under a poultry grower ranking system, (2) establishes a presumptive violation of the P&S Act by LPDs when aggregate gross annual payments based upon a grower’s ranking under a poultry grower ranking system exceeds a certain threshold, (3) holds LPDs to a duty of fair comparison when designing and operating their poultry grower ranking system and requires documentation of compliance with that duty, and (4) requires LPDs to provide certain disclosures when requesting or requiring that broiler growers make additional capital investments.” AMS states that it is delaying the rule “to allow time for further consideration of possible actions that may be taken regarding the disposition of the rule.” The comment period for the proposed rule delaying the poultry grower payment systems final rule ended April 17, 2026 (AMS-FTPP-22-0046). See also ALWR—Jan. 21, 2025, “USDA Publishes Poultry Grower, Dealer Final Rule, Withdraws ‘Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets’ Proposed Rule.”

Pesticides: FDA Updates ‘Pesticides in Human Foods’ Program Manual to Focus on Food Residues
On May 28, 2026, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the Pesticides and Chemical Contaminants chapter of its Field Reporting Compliance Program Manual to “focus exclusively on monitoring pesticide residues in foods.” Also announced by FDA, the program, renamed “Pesticides in Human Foods—Domestic and Import,” directs investigators to focus their sample collections on “unprocessed, single-ingredient, raw agricultural commodities” identified for prioritization by the agency. According to the manual, “emphasis is given to foods highly consumed by infants and children, such as apples, bananas, carrots, corn, green beans, oats, oranges, peaches, pears, peas, potatoes, rice, sweet potatoes, and wheat products (e.g., farina).” Additionally, the manual instructs inspectors to sample “processed foods that are primarily a single ingredient food” such as raisins and wheat flour and “recommend[s] that sampling of processed products be limited to those situations where there is suspicion that the food may contain an illegal pesticide residue.” The manual specifically directs inspectors not to collect samples of several foods, including “teas, herbs, and spices”; “heavily processed foods”; “multi-ingredient foods”; and “foods labeled or marketed as organic foods unless there is suspicion of pesticide misuse.” FDA states that more information may be found on its Pesticide Report Data Dashboard and its Pesticides webpage.

Pesticides: California Pesticide Regulation Department Proposes Rule to Regulate Pesticide-Treated Seeds
On May 15, 2026, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) announced a proposed regulation, DPR 26-001—Pesticide-Treated Seeds, including CDPR’s publication of notice of proposed regulatory action and text of proposed regulation. The proposed regulation follows two public workshops on pesticide-treated seeds in 2021 and 2025. According to the announcement, the proposed regulation would “formally define pesticide-treated seeds in the state, specify conditions under which those seeds are exempt from pesticide registration requirements, and require reporting on the use of pesticide-treated seeds in California.” CDPR states that the “proposed regulation would require [CDPR] to review and register the pesticides used to treat the seeds, but the treated seeds themselves would not need to be registered as separate pesticide products.” Additionally, “the proposal would require monthly reporting of pesticide-treated seeds planted in California, including the type and quantity of seed planted and the pesticide products used to treat the seed.” According to the included economic and fiscal impact statement, CDPR estimates that the regulation will create less than $10 million in economic impact and will affect 3,139 businesses, 99% of which DPR estimates are small businesses. The proposed regulation is available for public comment until June 29, 2026.

Pesticides: Vermont Passes Bill Prohibiting Paraquat Application, Sale
On May 26, 2026, Vermont Governor Phil Scott approved H.739 (PDF), which prohibits the in-state sale, use, or application of the herbicide paraquat. The law, effective November 1, 2026, contains an exemption that allows the state’s Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets to issue three-year permits until December 31, 2030, to sell, use, or apply paraquat “within fruit-producing tree orchards or for growing any crop listed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Crop Group 13-07: Berry and Small Fruit Crop Group” (PDF). Under the law, paraquat permits “shall . . . include permit conditions that minimize drift based on drift mitigation measures identified by the Environmental Protection Agency, require adherence to label directions to minimize applicator exposure, and exclusively limit applications to tree rows or vine rows for necessary weed control.” Additionally, the law requires the agricultural secretary to “report annually on all data regarding any use of paraquat in the State . . . includ[ing] the amount of paraquat used and the date and location where the paraquat was used.” An earlier version of the bill passed by the Vermont House of Representatives included introductory language observing studies linking the herbicide with an increase risk of Parkinson’s disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and childhood leukemia. The law becomes effective November 1, 2026.

Local Food: West Virginia Passes Law Regulating ‘Potentially Hazardous Cottage Foods’
On June 12, 2026, West Virginia S.B. 44 (PDF) becomes effective, adding a new article regulating “homemade food items” to the state’s agriculture code (W. Va Code §19). Approved by West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey on March 14, 2026, the law defines “cottage food” as a “food item intended for human consumption that is produced and, if packaged, packaged at the residential property of the producer and sold directly to a consumer.” The term “cottage food” “includes nonpotentially hazardous foods”—which “do not require time/temperature control for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation”—but excludes “meat, meat products, poultry, poultry products, seafood, and Grade A dairy products.” While the law exempts nonpotentially hazardous food from regulation, it establishes a permit requirement for the in-state sale of potentially hazardous cottage foods, which do “require[] time/temperature control or other protocols for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation,” and include acidified foods, such as pickled vegetables and salsa. The law exempts from the permit requirement persons “selling fresh, uncut produce” and persons “selling other farm and food products that are identified by the [agriculture] department.”

Tax Policy: Maryland Passes Law Expanding Urban Agriculture Property Tax Credit Eligibility
On May 26, 2026, Maryland Governor Wes Moore approved H.B. 359 (PDF), which amends the state’s urban agriculture property tax credit statute by expanding the definitions of “urban agricultural property” and “urban agricultural purposes.” The new law eliminates the prior requirement that “urban agricultural property” be “at least one-eighth of an acre and not more than five acres” and located in a “priority funding area” and instead only requires that it be used for “urban agricultural purposes” and “not assessed as agricultural land.” The law also adds several activities to the definition of “urban agricultural purposes,” including “indoor and outdoor crop production activities”; “production of value-added agricultural products,” “beekeeping,” “raising livestock,” “composting,” “hydroponics and other soilless or controlled-environment crop production methods,” and “agricultural education and agritourism activities.” According to the law’s fiscal and policy note, “any potential revenue decrease under the bill is expected to be minimal” “[d]ue to the limited number of existing property tax credit recipients under the existing program.” The law became effective June 1, 2026, and applies to taxable years beginning after June 30, 2026.

Environmental Policy: President Issues Executive Order Rescinding 1970s Off-Road Vehicle E.O.s
On May 29, 2026, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14408, titled “Removing Unnecessary and Counterproductive Restrictions on Access to Federal Lands” and issued an accompanying fact sheet (PDF). The E.O. rescinds two 1970s-era executive orders restricting the use of off-road vehicles on public lands, E.O. 11644 (Feb. 8, 1972) and E.O. 11989 (May 24, 1977), which “direct[ed] agencies to promulgate regulations providing that, where off-road vehicle use is permitted on Federal lands . . . such use designations must be made in accordance with” certain “criteria, which . . . include ‘minimizing harassment of wildlife or significant disruption of wildlife habitats,’ minimizing ‘conflicts between off-road vehicle use and other existing or proposed recreational uses taking into account noise and other factors,’ and ensuring that off-road vehicle use in given locations will not ‘adversely affect the location’s natural, aesthetic, or scenic values.’” The E.O. states that these “criteria often result in barriers to energy and timber production and utility maintenance, permit delays, and de facto bans on hiking and other forms of recreation that require accessing remote areas” and concludes that the criteria “do[es] little to benefit multiple use of Federal lands.” According to the E.O., current laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, combined with “executive department and agency specific land management authorities, provide the appropriate framework for managing off-road vehicle use on Federal lands” without the need for the rescinded executive orders. Additionally, the E.O. states that “technological, operational, and land-management developments since the issuance of [the two 1970s executive orders] support replacing those specific criteria with a framework grounded in applicable statutory authorities.” See also ALWR—Sep. 4, 2025,“USDA Proposes to Rescind 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.”

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AgWorks: Connecting Agricultural Businesses to Workforce Services and Training. From 2025 to 2027, the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law and Penn State Extension will collaborate with farms and agriculture-related businesses to strengthen the workforce system. AgWorks will provide registered small- to medium-sized Pennsylvania farms and agribusinesses with no-cost training and consultation to ensure business sustainability. As part of the AgWorks program, the Center for Agricultural and Shale Law will provide legal consulting and present 20+ employment law programs. Upcoming AgWorks webinars and workshops:

June 17: Strategies for Employing a Youth Workforce

June 30: All About Farm Labor Contractors

Quarterly Dairy Legal Webinar Series. A free quarterly webinar series covering dairy industry legal and regulatory developments with an in-depth focus topic. One hour of substantive CLE credit available for Pennsylvania-licensed attorneys at no charge. All events on Tuesdays, noon–1 pm (ET). Upcoming:

July 14: 2nd Quarter 2026 Quarterly Dairy Legal Webinar

Oct. 13: 3rd Quarter 2026 Quarterly Dairy Legal Webinar

Understanding Agricultural Law Series. A free monthly webinar series for agricultural and rural business advisors. One hour of substantive CLE credit available for Pennsylvania-licensed attorneys at no charge. All events on Fridays, noon–1 pm (ET). Upcoming:

June 26: Understanding the Basics of Agricultural Vehicle Regulation

July 24: Understanding the Basics of International Agricultural Trade & Tariffs

Subscribe to the Pennsylvania Farm Employers’ Listserv (PFEL): an email networking and resource-sharing group exclusively about human resources information for agricultural operations.

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Legal Services Plan: “A new member-benefit program involving law firms that specialize in legal areas commonly utilized by farmers.”

 

Contributors:
Audry Thompson—Staff Attorney
Brooke Colledge—Research Assistant
Phil Wright—Research Assistant