Missouri AG Sues Vilsack

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster (D) filed a federal lawsuit July 15 against Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, seeking to compel the USDA to accept acreage reports from Missouri farmers beyond the normal deadline.

Koster alleges in the suit that the farmers’ planting seasons have shifted much later into the summer than normal because heavy rainfall in Missouri delayed their work. As a result, many farmers are unable to meet the USDA deadline to file their reports, which is a prerequisite for obtaining crop insurance.

“Missouri farmers rely on the availability of insurance to guard their crops against events beyond their control,” Koster said in a news release. “The USDA should not punish farmers whose planting was delayed by unexpected rain and flooding by enforcing an arbitrary deadline. Millions of dollars in Missouri agriculture is at risk, and we will fight to make sure these resources are protected.”

In the suit, filed in federal court in the Western District of Missouri, Koster argues that extraordinary circumstances posed by the storms and flooding require the USDA to allow a reasonable extension of the normal grace period. S