In the realm of agricultural law, 2025 was a year marked by significant developments and changes, with several key issues taking center stage. Attorneys at the National Agricultural Law Center (NALC) have identified and compiled the top legal and policy developments that affected agriculture this year, many of which will continue to have implications in the years to come.
One of the most contentious issues revolved around the foreign ownership of farmland. This topic has been a persistent concern for state legislators across the country. In 2025, six states—Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Utah—amended their existing laws on foreign ownership of farmland. Additionally, four states—Arizona, Kentucky, Texas, and West Virginia—that did not previously have similar laws, passed new legislation addressing this issue. The legal landscape has also seen several courts considering the constitutionality of these laws. Notably, a federal appellate court recently issued a decision in a case challenging Florida’s foreign ownership law, ruling that the plaintiffs did not have standing to proceed and that even if they did, they were unlikely to succeed on their challenge to the law’s registration and affidavit requirements. Similar rulings have been made regarding the Arkansas law and the new Texas law, with the latter aligning with the recent Florida ruling. For those interested in further resources and information, NALC’s Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land: FAQs & Resource Library provides comprehensive insights.
In November, federal agencies unveiled new proposed rules that could significantly impact agricultural practices. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) released a highly anticipated proposal to redefine the Clean Water Act (CWA) term “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). This term is crucial for CWA implementation, as it determines which waters are protected under the Act’s permitting programs. According to EPA and the Corps, the new proposal aims to align the definition of WOTUS with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Sackett v. EPA, which held that WOTUS should extend only to “relatively permanent” waters and wetlands that are “indistinguishable” from such waters due to a continuous surface connection. The public comment period on this proposal is open until January 5, 2026, with a final rule expected later next year.
Additionally, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued four proposed rules that would make numerous changes to the implementation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These proposals would revise how the Services list and delist species, designate critical habitat, and conduct interagency consultation. Notably, the proposals would also roll back FWS’s blanket 4(d) rule, a decades-old regulation that automatically applies full ESA protection to all species listed as threatened. The comment period on each of the proposed rules is open through December 22.
The industrial hemp industry faced a significant setback in November when Congress passed several appropriations bills, including one for agriculture. One provision in the bill closed the so-called “hemp loophole” created by the 2018 Farm Bill, which allowed hemp production by defining hemp as “the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant…with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.” This specification unintentionally led to the production and sale of federally unregulated intoxicating THC products, as processors could chemically convert CBD from legally produced plants into delta-8 and delta-10, which did not fall under the definition. In response, states have taken various actions, with some regulating the sale of certain products and others banning them outright. The appropriations act redefined “hemp” crops based on total THC content, not just delta-9, and excluded intermediate and final hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing synthesized THC and cannabinoids from the definition. While industrial hemp—hemp grown for the use of the stalk, seed, edible leaves, or supporting research—is included in the definition, the majority of hemp currently produced is for cannabinoid production. This hemp provision will become effective on November 12, 2026.
The Make America Healthy Again (“MAHA”) movement gained significant attention this year, spearheaded by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy and furthered by the actions of both HHS and the MAHA Commission. State actors, including legislators and non-legislative entities, have also shown considerable interest in these priorities. Examples of state legislative proposals include the creation of labeling requirements for foods containing certain ingredients, attempts to ban food