Cal-Almond, Inc. v. United States Department of Agriculture

Appellant Cal-Almond, Inc. challenges the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (“USDA”) failure to provide it with a list of California almond growers eligible to vote in a referendum on the continuation of a marketing order. The questions presented by Cal-Almond’s appeal are whether § 630 of the Agricultural, Rural Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1988 exempts this list from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), whether USDA’s withholding of the information violates the Constitution, and whether Cal-Almond is entitled to equitable relief.

I

Cal-Almond is a handler of almonds and is subject to the marketing order that regulates handlers of almonds grown in California. 7 C.F.R. Part 981. The Secretary of Agriculture promulgated this marketing order in 1950 pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 (“Act”). 7 U.S.C. § 608c. The Act provides that no marketing order will become effective unless it is approved by a two-thirds vote of the commodity’s producers. Id. § 608c(8). The Act further provides that the Secretary shall terminate a marketing order whenever he finds that it does not tend to effectuate the policy of the Act…