May 16 CLE: Mid-South Agricultural & Environmental Law Conference

Posted April 24, 2014

The Arkansas Bar Association, the National Agricultural Law Center, and the National Sea Grant Law Center will host the first annual Mid-South Agricultural & Environmental Law Conference on May 16, 2014.  The Delta Farm Press and Ag Fax reported on the story here and here.

“This is the first conference of its kind, and is in direct response to requests we’ve received to provide legal research and information specific to Mid-South agriculture,” said Harrison Pittman, director of the National Agricultural Law Center.  “Farming in the Mid-South has its own unique legal and policy aspects.  This conference is meant to address those, and we’ve got a top-flight lineup of experts to speak on the topics.”

The conference offers 6.0 hours of CLE credit, including 1.0 Ethics hour in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  The complete schedule is available here.

Topics and speaker include:

“Litigating Federal Crop Insurance Disputes: Overview and Discussion of Important Practical Pointers and Pitfalls”

J. Grant Ballard, Banks Law Firm PLLC

“Agricultural Leases for Mid-South Farmers, Lenders, and Landlords”

William C. Bridgforth, Ramsey, Bridgforth, Robinson and Raley LLP

James Calman McCastlain, Dover Dixon & Horne PLLC

J. Travis Baxter, Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C.

“The Gulf Dead Zone and Gulf Restoration v. EPA: What it Means for Agriculture in the Mississippi River Basin”

John Milner, Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC

“Hot Topics in Invasive Species Management: Lacey Act Reform, Biofuels, and More”

Stephanie Showalter Otts, Director, National Sea Grant Law Center

“Interacting Ethically with State Agencies”

Drew L. Kershen, Earl Sneed Centennial Professor of Law, The University of Oklahoma College of Law

“Nuisance Lawsuits and Right-to-Farm Laws for Mid-South Agriculture and Aquaculture”

Rusty Rumley, Senior Staff Attorney, National Agricultural Law Center

Location: Harrah’s Casino, 13615 Old Highway North, Tunica, MS.  For hotel reservations, please call 800-223-7277.

Member Cost: Online by 5/9 $270, Mailed/Faxed by 5/9 $290, Onsite after 5/9 $305

Non-Member Cost: $340

Student Cost: $35

Registration information is available here.  For non-attorneys and attorneys not licensed in Arkansas, use event code “CLE751” for online registration.  For any difficulties registering, please contact Kristen Scherm at KScherm@arkbar.com. 

Upcoming Webinar: Access to Land -- The Leasing Option

Posted September 23, 2013

On Wednesday, September 25 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST, the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Program will host a webinar, “Access to Land: The Leasing Option.”  The webinar will cover the legal aspects of leasing land for beginners. 

Presenter: Jesse J. Richardson, Jr., Associate Professor, Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech.

Summary: Rented farmland is essential to virtually every full-time farming operation and many part time Virginia farmers.  Leasing farmland is particularly import for new and beginning farmers.  According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, over 15,000 farms in Virginia lease a total of nearly 3,000,000 acres of farmland in the state.  This webinar will cover the basic legal issues involved in farm leasing.  These and other questions will be covered:  Why should you have a written lease?  What issues should the lease consider?  What does all the legal jargon really mean?  What happens if the lease expires and I still have crops to harvest?

 To participate in this webinar, please go to http://connect.ag.vt.edu/landlease/.  No registration is required, simply type your name under the “guest account” a few minutes before 3:00 p.m. Once logged in, select “MEETING/RUN AUDIO SETUP WIZARD” to ensure your computer speakers working.   For additional technical assistance, contact Carl Estes with Virginia Tech at (540) 231-1385. 

The Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Program is sponsored through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) of the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).  

February 5, 2013: Center Hosting Producer Workshop in Keiser, Arkansas

The National Agricultural Law Center will host a producer meeting at the Northeast Research and Extension Center in Keiser, Arkansas on February 5, 2013 to discuss laws and regulations important to row crop producers.

The meeting will focus on recent farm bill developments, practical legal aspects of federal crop insurance, ag leases, environmental regulation, and other legal and policy issues relevant to agricultural producers.

The presentations will begin at 10 a.m. and will run through 12 p.m. Lunch will be provided following the meeting for attendees. There is no charge for the meeting or lunch for attendees.  An RSVP is encouraged but not required on or before January 31 in order to plan for lunch. To RSVP, please contact Harrison Pittman at hmpittm@uark.edu or (479) 575-7640.

Presenters will be Harrison Pittman, Director of the National Agricultural Law Center and Grant Ballard, Center Research Consultant and Associate with the Banks Law Firm, PLLC.

The workshop is provided with generous support from the Banks Law Firm, PLLC, a firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas that represents agricultural producers. The gift was provided by the Banks Law Firm to help provide a comprehensive legal educational series for agricultural producers and to help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the National Agricultural Law Center. Located in Fayetteville, Arkansas the Center is a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, serving the nation's agricultural community of farmers, attorneys, cooperative extension personnel, state and federal policymakers, and others. 

January 31: Center Hosting Producer Meeting at Rohwer Research Station

 

The National Agricultural Law Center will host a producer meeting in Rohwer, Arkansas on January 31 to discuss laws and regulations important to row crop producers.  The meeting will focus on recent farm bill developments, practical legal aspects of federal crop insurance, ag leases, environmental regulation, and other legal and policy issues relevant to agricultural producers.

The presentations will begin at 10 a.m. and will run through 12 p.m.  Lunch will be provided following the meeting for attendees. There is no charge for the meeting or lunch for attendees. The meeting will be held at the Rohwer Research Station.  An RSVP is encouraged but not required on or before January 25 in order to plan for lunch. To RSVP, please contact Harrison Pittman at hmpittm@uark.edu or (479) 575-7640.

Presenters will be Harrison Pittman, Director of the National Agricultural Law Center and Grant Ballard, Center Research Consultant and Associate with the Banks Law Firm, PLLC.

The Rohwer workshop is provided with generous support from the Banks Law Firm, PLLC, a firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas that represents agricultural producers. The gift was provided by the Banks Law Firm to help provide a comprehensive legal educational series for agricultural producers and to help celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the National Agricultural Law Center. Located in Fayetteville, Arkansas the Center is a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, serving the nation's agricultural community of farmers, attorneys, cooperative extension personnel, state and federal policymakers, and others. 

Free Ag Law Webinar on Aug. 30 to Help Farmers Deal With 2012 Drought

On August 30 at 11-12 Central, a free webinar will be provided by the National Agricultural Law Center to help farmers deal with the drought that has significantly impacted the agricultural sector.  The webinar is sponsored by the Banks Law Firm, PLLC as part of generous gift designed to provide an educational series for agricultural producers and to help publicize the 25th Anniversary of the National Agricultural Law Center. 

For full information about the webinar, visit the National Agricultural Law Center website here.  Anyone is welcome to attend, and the presentation will be designed for audience of producers and extension agents and others nationwide who work with producers.  Presenters for the webinar will be Grant Ballard, Center Research Consultant and attorney with the Banks Law Firm, PLLC and Harrison Pittman, Center Director. 

The National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas is the nation's leading source of agricultural and food law research and information.  Located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the Center is a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. 

Wind Energy Leasing Workshop To be Held for Oklahoma Landowners

The Oklahoma State UniversityCooperative Extension Service and the National Agricultural Law
Center at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture are hosting a Wind Energy Leasing Program Workshop on July 14.  The workshop will be held the High Plains Technology Center in Woodward, Oklahoma.    

The workshop is free, and participants are encouraged to pre-register before July 6 by calling the OSU Cooperative Extension office in Woodward at 580-254-3391.  Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the workshop will conclude at 4:30 p.m.  Lunch will be provided to workshop participants by the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Corporation. 

For additional information about the workshop, click here. 

The workshop is provided with grant funds provided through the Southern Risk Management Education Center under a grant titled, “Wind Leasing:  Understanding and Limiting Legal Liability.”

The workshop will be held the High Plains Technology Center in Woodward, Oklahoma.   The workshop is geared toward landowners who may be approached for wind energy development, said Shannon Ferrell, assistant professor of agricultural law at Oklahoma State University.

"We want to provide landowners an opportunity to learn the basics of the electrical industry and how wind energy fits into that,” Ferrell said. “We also want them to learn what it takes for the landowners and the developers to have a successful wind energy project and to help landowners make informed decisions when entering into a wind energy lease.”

Other industry professionals will be on hand at the workshop to cover topics such as the impact of wind energy farms on wildlife; how wind farms affect the community in the areas of aesthetics, noise, tax revenue and impact on roads and highways; and the basics of wind energy and the grid.

This article posted July 5, 2012.

Upcoming Workshop on Legal Issues in Forestry

The National Agricultural Law Center, along with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service and the LSU AgCenter are hosting a series of three workshops dealing with legal, marketing, and business issues that affect forest landowners. Topics discussed at the conference will include wildlife management, insurance, leasing contracts, landowner liability, and agritourism.

The third and final workshop will be held in Monticello, Arkansas on April 13 at the Drew County Farm Bureau Building (656 Barkada Road). The April 13 workshop qualifies for Continuing Education for Foresters and Loggers.

Workshop presenters will include:

• Dr. Tamara Walkingstick, Arkansas Forest Resources Center Associate Center Director;
• Dr. Becky McPeake, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service;
• Dora Ann Hatch, State-wide Coordinator for Agritourism, LSU AgCenter;
• Rusty Rumley, Staff Attorney, National Agricultural Law Center; and
• Elizabeth Rumley, Staff Attorney, National Agricultural Law Center.

The workshops will be held from 9am – 4pm, with registration beginning at 8:30am. A registration fee of $20 per person/ $30 per couple will cover lunch. Payment is not due until the morning of the workshop.

For more information on any aspect of the conference or to pre-register, contact Rusty Rumley at (479) 575-2636, or via email at rrumley@uark.edu.

The workshops are conducted pursuant to a grant titled, “Managing Legal Risk for Alternative Uses of Forestland”, awarded through the Southern Risk Management Education Center.

Upcoming March 16 Workshop for Foresters and Loggers

The National Agricultural Law Center, along with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service and the LSU AgCenter are hosting a series of three workshops dealing with legal, marketing, and business issues that affect forest landowners. Topics discussed at the conference will include wildlife management, insurance, leasing contracts, landowner liability, and agritourism.

The next workshop will be held in Shreveport, Louisiana on Friday, March 16, 2012. The third and final workshop will be held in Monticello, Arkansas on April 13.

The March 16 workshop qualifies for Continuing Education for Foresters and Loggers.

Workshop presenters will include:

• Dr. Tamara Walkingstick, Arkansas Forest Resources Center Associate Center
Director;
• Dr. Becky McPeake, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Arkansas
Cooperative Extension Service;
• Dora Ann Hatch, State-wide Coordinator for Agritourism, LSU AgCenter;
• Rusty Rumley, Staff Attorney, National Agricultural Law Center; and
• Elizabeth Rumley, Staff Attorney, National Agricultural Law Center.
The workshops will be held from 9am – 4pm, with registration beginning at 8:30am. A registration fee of $20 per person/ $30 per couple will cover lunch. Payment is not due until the morning of the
workshop.

For more information on any aspect of the conference or to pre-register, contact Rusty Rumley at (479) 575-2636, or via email at rrumley@uark.edu.

The workshops are conducted pursuant to a grant titled, “Managing Legal Risk for Alternative Uses of Forestland”, awarded through the Southern Risk Management Education Center.

Montana leases suspended over climate change

Matthew Brown of the Associated Press reports in the Washington Post online that US District Judge Donald Molloy approved a deal on Thursday, 03-18-10, that suspended 38,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana "so it can gauge how oil field activities contribute to climate change."

According to Brown's article, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will suspend 61 leases in Montana over 90 days in order that a new round of environmental reviews can be conducted. The reviews must be finished before the suspensions can be lifted.

The leases were originally sold in 2008, at which point the plaintiffs, the Montana Environmental Information Center, the Oil and Gas Accountability Project, and the Wild Earth Guardians, brought the suit. The environmentalists "argued the industry has allowed too much waste and uses inefficient technologies that could easily be updated." The plaintiffs in the case view this decision as a good '"first step, in the BLM addressing climate change in oil and gas development,'" stated plaintiff's attorney Erik Schlenker-Goodrich.

How the reviews will be conducted is being worked out as reviewing leases for climate change impacts "will be a first" for the BLM. BLM spokesman, Greg Albright said it is not yet been determined whether the BLM will permanently adopt climate change reviews as a standard part of environmental impact reviews. '"This is really early, so I don't know what the ramifications will be,' Albright said."

Brown reports that the industry defendants believe the reviews won't delay the leases too long "because they were acquired speculatively, meaning there's no guarantee of drilling." The industry wants the BLM to finish their review within six months so those who hold the leases can move on with their plans.

A similar case over 70,000 acres of federal land in New Mexico is also pending at this time.

To read the Brown article in the Washington Post online, click here.
To learn more about climate change laws and cases in the United States, visit the National Agricultural Law Center's Climate Change Reading Room by clicking here.

Posted: 03/22/10

Monsanto Legal Battles in the News

Monsanto Co. is getting a lot of attention from federal courts these days, and the news is following the agricultural giant’s courtroom fights.

First, Reuters is reporting that despite the US government’s opposition, the United States Supreme Court said on Friday, January 15, 2010 that the High Court will hear Monsanto’s appeal of an earlier ruling that prevented the company from selling genetically modified alfalfa seed until an environmental review is conducted.

The Supreme Court will be reviewing a ruling issued by a U.S. appeals court in California. That court upheld an earlier injunction barring Monsanto from selling alfalfa seeds that are resistant to roundup, which is why they are called Roundup Ready seeds, until “the federal government finished an environmental impact study on how the Roundup Ready seed could affect nearby crops.”

The seed did originally receive approval by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) back in 2005. This led environmental groups and “conventional seed companies, led by Geertson Seed Farms,” to sue the USDA in February 2006. Monsanto intervened on the government’s side in the lawsuit.

Monsanto received support in its appeal to the Supreme Court from agricultural industry trade groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the American Seed Trade Association, and the National Corn Growers Association. The Supreme Court expects to hear arguments in April. Justice Stephen Breyer did not take part in considering the case as his brother is the federal judge in California that ruled on the lower court injunction in the case.

In other legal news, Reuters is also reporting that Monsanto is claiming victory over rival DuPont after a federal court ruled in Monsanto’s favor and found that DuPont violated a licensing agreement “in trying to combine certain genetic seed traits developed by Monsanto with its own [,]” writes Reuters’s Carey Gillam.

For their part, officials with DuPont argue the decision was ‘“narrow’” and will allow DuPont to continue with its anti-trust allegations against Monsanto. Gillam quotes DuPont spokesman Doyle Karr as stating, ‘“We’re going to move ahead because the case isn’t over yet [.]”’

This case started in May, 2009, when Monsanto sued Pioneer Hibred International, DuPont’s agricultural “unit.” Monsanto claims that DuPont was exceeding the scope of their licensing agreement because they were combining Monsanto’s Round Ready “genetic trait with DuPont’s Optimum GAT genetic traits in corn or soybeans.”’ Monsanto believes DuPont was going to use their product’s genetic traits to cover up any problems with DuPont’s product.

Scott Partridge is chief deputy general counsel for Monsanto, and he states in the Gillam story that ‘“The court ruled that the Monsanto-DuPont license agreements ‘are unambiguous and do not grant Pioneer the right to stack’” the two genetic traits from the two different products.

DuPont did counter-sue Monsanto last year. DuPont argued Monsanto was illegally acting to control the agricultural seed market by limiting competition. Monsanto is the largest player in the seed market. Gillam reports that “[a]mong other things, DuPont and others have specifically alleged that Monsanto has been trying to limit availability of its Roundup Ready gene, which comes off patent in 2014, as it pushes it second-generation, patented "Roundup Ready 2 Yield" genetic trait into the marketplace.”

The Justice Department is now involved in the allegations.

To read the Reuters article on the Monsanto alfalfa case click here.
To read the Reuters article on Monsanto and DuPont, click here.

Posted: 01/19/10

Drake Forum on America’s New Farmers set for first week in March

Readers of this blog interested in the future of farming or working with beginning farmers on issues from policy innovations to policy opportunities should consider attending the “The Drake Forum on America’s New Farmers: Policy Innovations and Opportunities.”

The forum is described as a “two day national policy conference” to identify various policy innovations and opportunities from the national to the local level that can help support new or beginning farmers. The conference will be held in Washington, DC on March 4 and March 5, 2010.

The forum will feature panels and keynote speakers on relevant topics affecting the next generation of farmers. The topics range from dealing with land purchasing, finance and credit, leases, education, training, urban agriculture, sustainability, and rural vitalization, as well as other topics.

Drake University Agricultural Law Center is organizing the forum and is receiving financial support from USDA Risk Management Agency; Farm Credit Council; the National Center for Agricultural Law Research; Walton School of Business Center for Applied Sustainability, University of Arkansas; Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, and the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust. The conference is also being held in cooperation of several organizations and coalitions.

To view the announcement of the forum click here.
To see a preliminary agenda of the forum click here.

To register for the forum click here.

Posted: 12/28/09

Love v. Vilsack could be settled by legislation

Back in 2000 Rosemary Love of Harlem, Montana brought a discrimination lawsuit with other women farmers alleging they were denied loans by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) because they are women. The suit is known as Love v. Vilsack, and if this suit sounds familiar it is because African American farmers, Native American farmers, and Hispanic farmers have brought similar discrimination lawsuits against the USDA.

Now, as Jerry Hagstrom reports for Agweek online, House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro (CT) has introduced legislation that “finally could bring settlement of a discrimination lawsuit” filed by Love and the other women farmers.
The bill would establish a compensation fund of $4.6 billion for women farmers whom the USDA have denied for operating loans, purchase loans and emergency loans since 1981.

Love’s struggle with the USDA has been long and emotional. Love was initially denied an operating loan during the 1981 farm crisis, but she did eventually get the loan with liquidation of her farm as collateral (the loan was only worth half what Love had requested).

Hagstrom writes that later Love developed cancer, and while undergoing surgery for said cancer in 1983 a loan supervisor came to the hospital she was at and demanded payment on the loan. Love managed to hold onto her farm and brought her gender discrimination case against the USDA in 1987. In 1998 a government investigator determined Love was subjected to unfair treatment, but the USDA has not resolved the case.

At a news conference announcing the bill Love stated, ‘“This has been a decades-long struggle for me and my family . . . This bill is important for future women farmers — for daughters and granddaughters who want to continue farming.”

DeLauro made the following state about the bill:

DeLauro said she is filing the bill because, “This is an issue of fundamental fairness — all farmers, regardless of their gender or ethnicity, should be judged on the merit of their applications for their loans. Years of discrimination and unnecessary hardship for these women, and all minorities, cannot be allowed to continue. It is time to do right by those that have been discriminated against in our past and present, to live up to our founding principles, and to legislate an end to this unfortunate and regrettable era.”

To read the Agweek online story click here.
For more information on the Love case click here to view a website set up by the women’s attorneys.
For a similar website on the Native American case click here.

Posted: 12/21/09

Leases

Subject Description: This subject area focuses on developments relating to leases in agriculture. These leases include farmland leases, wind leases, recreational leases, and all the other types of leases used by producers in agriculture.