Dive Brief:
- In the U.S. Supreme Court, a California raisin farmer is contesting a $700,000 fine from the USDA for failure to give 47% of his crop yield, which the farmer refused to do without receiving just compensation.
- As part of the 1937 Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act, farmers must deliver a percentage of their crop to the government, a law that was instated to maintain steady food prices during the Great Depression.
- The farmer's argument is that the USDA is infringing upon his fifth amendment rights under a policy that is decades old.
Dive Insight:
According to the law, handlers of the crop, or people who package the crop, must hand over the percentage of their yield to the government, while producers of the crop, or people who actually grow the crop, don't have to give up anything. The raisin farmer involved in this case tried to transition from handler to producer in 2000, but the government still demanded that he offer up his crop yield anyway. When he didn't, the USDA demanded $700,000 in fines and penalties.