THE STABLE & FARM
BRIEF
©
VOL. 10 · WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 7, 2026
This week runs from a horse-racing integrity fight now in front of the FTC to a federal judge's rescue of 900 bison in Montana, with Congress's farm bill deadline closing fast. Here is what matters for your operation.
IN THIS ISSUE • Hot Topics & Legislative Developments — Racing groups ask the FTC to investigate HISA
• Oklahoma-Specific Updates — Stitt seeks interstate access for OK meat processors
• Recent Equine & Ag Law Cases — Court blocks BLM removal of 900 Montana bison
• Emerging Issues — Farm bill revote expected week of September 14
• Federal Regulatory Updates — WOTUS reopened; DOL's H-2A wage look-back begins
HOT TOPICS & LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS Horse-racing's own regulator now faces a federal complaint. A joint letter dated August 25 from the U.S. Trotting Association, the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, and the North America Association of Racetrack Veterinarians surfaced publicly on September 4, asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's handling of confidential veterinary data. This was not an outside break-in: the letter describes a data-security incident in which a Fair Hill Training Center owner and handicapper allegedly used authorized credentials to repeatedly pull large volumes of confidential veterinary records through the HISA Portal (Thoroughbred Daily News). It sits alongside an August 28 letter from Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen asking the FTC for an independent review of HISA's governance and information security after unusual betting activity tied to the same training center (Louisville Courier-Journal). HISA has said it is already in contact with the FTC and welcomes the review. Takeaway: because the access at issue was made with valid credentials, the exposure here is one of permissions and monitoring rather than firewalls. Any stable, veterinarian, or racing entity that inputs data into the HISA Portal should confirm who at the operation holds credentials, revoke any that are no longer needed, and check whether access logs are being preserved — a federal review of the platform's security controls is now underway.
RECENT EQUINE & AG LAW CASES Federal court blocks BLM from pulling 900-plus bison off Montana grazing land. In
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American Prairie Foundation v. DOI, No. 4:26-cv-00282 (D. Mont.), Judge Brian Morris on September 4 granted in part a preliminary injunction and TRO stopping BLM from removing over 900 bison from three of six federal grazing allotments pending the underlying suit, after the agency's May 2026 decision reissued the Foundation's grazing permits for cattle only (court order via Earthjustice). The court held bison qualify as “livestock” under the Taylor Grazing Act and that BLM's new “production-oriented” use test was arbitrary and capricious (Earthjustice). Takeaway: federal grazing-permit terminations are reviewable final agency action — permittees facing a sudden reclassification of use should move for emergency relief quickly rather than assume removal deadlines are fixed.
FEDERAL REGULATORY UPDATES EPA and the Army reopen the “waters of the United States” definition. On September 4, the agencies announced a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on the Clean Water Act's WOTUS definition, layered on their November 2025 proposal that already drew over 220,000 comments (EPA). A new 30-day comment window opens once the notice publishes in the Federal Register. EPA says the supplemental proposal lets the agencies weigh a wider range of options toward a final rule fully implementing Sackett v. EPA (2023), and that a final rule will give greater predictability to landowners, farmers, ranchers, energy producers, developers, and small businesses while protecting water quality in coordination with states and Tribes. The stakes run through Clean Water Act Section 404: WOTUS sets the outer boundary of federal jurisdiction, and Section 404 is what requires a permit before discharging dredged or fill material into a jurisdictional water — so whether a pond, ditch, seasonal stream, or wetland falls inside that definition determines whether a permit is needed before it is filled, graded, or altered. Waters outside federal jurisdiction are not unregulated: they remain subject to state, Tribal, and local law under the Clean Water Act's
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cooperative-federalism framework. Takeaway: operations with wetlands or seasonal streams should watch for the publication date and consider commenting — but a narrower federal definition is not a green light, because Oklahoma and local rules may still govern the same feature. DOL confirms the H-2A wage look-back period has begun. On September 2, the Department's Office of Foreign Labor Certification issued an employer notice responding to the August 26 ruling that its 2025 adverse effect wage rate methodology was unlawful: current rates stay in effect and no back pay is owed yet, but a wage-adjustment look-back period began September 2 and runs until a new methodology issues (U.S. Department of Labor). Employers must keep the worker and payroll records required under 20 C.F.R. § 655.122(j). Takeaway: operations using H-2A labor should start that recordkeeping now, since the look-back period is already open.
OKLAHOMA-SPECIFIC UPDATES Stitt pushes for faster interstate sales access for state-inspected meat processors. On September 4, Governor Kevin Stitt sent letters to President Trump, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, and congressional agriculture leaders urging an expedited interstate market-access pathway for Oklahoma's state-inspected processors, through the Talmadge-Aiken or Cooperative Interstate Shipment programs, plus longer-term reform through the next Farm Bill (Oklahoma Governor’s Office). State-inspected plants generally cannot sell across state lines without additional federal cooperation, which the letters argue limits smaller Oklahoma processors as demand for domestic beef supply rises. Takeaway: nothing has changed yet — these are requests, not a rule, an executive action, or a change in law, and no new interstate authority exists. Oklahoma's state-inspected plants remain limited to intrastate sales, and Oklahoma is not currently among the states participating in USDA's Cooperative Interstate Shipment program. Opening out-of-state markets to state-inspected plants as a class would take actual federal action
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— USDA approval or a change in law from Congress. An individual processor that wants those markets sooner can still pursue its own federal grant of inspection (USDA FSIS), the existing route to interstate sales, which does not depend on the outcome of these letters.
EMERGING ISSUES The farm bill's fate now turns on a Senate revote expected the week of September 14. After the Agriculture Committee's August 6 markup of the Agricultural Act of 2026 failed 10-11 along party lines over a SNAP cost-sharing dispute, Chairman John Boozman recessed rather than adjourned the committee, keeping the bill and its adopted amendments — including a bipartisan 16-7 vote reinstating mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef — alive without a new markup (Senate Committee on Agriculture). Boozman has said the committee will reconvene shortly after the Senate returns September 14, with a revote targeted around September 15 (Texas Farm Bureau). The 2018 farm bill was most recently extended through September 30, 2026 by the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 (USDA Farmers.gov). Takeaway: producers relying on programs set to lapse with the extension — crop insurance, conservation cost-share, disaster programs — should watch that week closely and have a contingency plan if the committee stalls again.
That's the week: a racing-integrity fight moving to federal regulators, a bison herd's reprieve in Montana, and a farm bill deadline now three weeks out. If any of these developments touch your operation, reach out and we'll walk through it.
SOURCES • USTA/NHBPA/NAARV joint letter to FTC (dated Aug. 25, 2026), via Thoroughbred Daily News —
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https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/tag/hisa/ • Churchill Downs letter to FTC, via Louisville Courier-Journal — https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sp orts/horses/horse-racing/2026/09/01/churchill-downs-seeks-ft c-investigation-hisa-fair-hill-training-center-betting-scandal/9 1561806007/ • American Prairie Foundation v. DOI, order on PI/TRO (via Earthjustice) — https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2 026/09/2026-09-04-doc-26-order-of-mot-for-pi-and-tro.pdf • Earthjustice press release on bison ruling — https://earthjust ice.org/press/2026/court-decision-prevents-trump-admin-fro m-removing-more-than-900-bison-from-federal-land • EPA, WOTUS supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking — https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-army-seek-add itional-input-proposed-waters-us-definition-while-advancing • DOL, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, H-2A employer notice — https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor • Oklahoma Governor's Office, letters on interstate meat-processing access — https://oklahoma.gov/governor/ne wsroom/newsroom/2026/governor-stitt-urges-federal-action-t o-expand-markets-for-oklahoma-beef.html • USDA FSIS, Cooperative Interstate Shipping Program (currently participating states) — https://www.fsis.usda.gov/i nspection/state-inspection-programs/cooperative-interstate-sh ipping-program • USDA FSIS, Apply for a Grant of Inspection — https://www.fsis.usda.gov/inspection/apply-grant-inspection • Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry, Agricultural Act of 2026 — https://www.agriculture.senate.g ov/agricultural-act-of-2026-farm-bill-20 • USDA, Farmers.gov, Farm Bill Updates (2018 farm bill extended through Sept. 30, 2026) — https://www.farmers.gov/farmbill • Texas Farm Bureau, Boozman plans new farm bill vote in September — https://texasfarmbureau.org/boozman-plans-ne w-farm-bill-vote-in-september/
The Stable & Farm Brief© is provided by Stable & Farm Legal for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this newsletter does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and regulations change frequently and vary by jurisdiction; you should consult a licensed attorney regarding your specific situation before acting on any information here.
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