Ga. appeals court to hear case over Vidalia onion regulation

ATLANTA (AP) -- A Vidalia onion farmer's lawsuit challenging the Georgia agriculture commissioner's authority to regulate the famous crop is going back to court.<br /> <br /> The Georgia Court of Appeals was scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday in a 2013 lawsuit by Glennville farmer Delbert Bland. He's fighting a state regulation that prohibits Vidalia onions from being packaged for shipping before the last full week in April.<br /> <br /> State Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black has said other farmers asked for the regulation to protect the quality of Georgia's $150 million Vidalia onion crop after consumers complained unripe onions were being sold in stores.<br /> <br /> Bland says the commissioner overstepped his bounds. A Fulton County Superior Court judge agreed with the farmer when she struck down the rule last March. Black appealed the lower court's decision.