First Quarter, 2020
 
Components



 

  Estate Planning

  Finance & Credit

  Food Labeling

  Food Safety

   Forestry

  International Trade

  Labor

  Landowner Liability

  Marketing Orders

  Nat'l Organic Prog.

  Native American Ag

  Packers & Stockyards

  PACA

  Pesticides

  Production Contracts

  Secured Transactions

   Specialty Crops  

  Sustainable Ag

  Urban Encroachment 

   Water Law  

 


AgLaw Reporter

  Case Law Indexes

  State Compilations  

  AgLaw Updates

  USDA JO Decisions


 
Dear Friends and Colleagues ,
I hope this newsletter finds you doing well, healthy, and safely navigating the new and disruptive COVID-19 world we've all woken up to over the past couple of months. Our thoughts are with everyone in the ag and food industries who continue to be hit particularly hard by COVID-19.
Due to COVID-19, we've decided to move the Seventh Annual Mid-South Agricultural & Environmental Law Conference to an online program. You can read about all the program details - new agenda, dates, reduced registration costs - for this change in the news item below. And, remember, if you register by May 18 you can obtain two "bonus" hours of CE/CLE at no additional charge. As you may recall, all available proceeds from this year's program will be used to support the Scott E. Fancher Agricultural Law Research Fellowship.
Staff Attorney Brigit Rollins has released a series of resources, including an eight-part blog series and a webinar, dissecting the many lawsuits concerning dicamba-based herbicides. We have received a lot of positive feedback on these resources, and are very happy with the end result. A recording of the webinar, The Deal with Dicamba: An Overview of Dicamba-Related Litigation, along with links to each blog article, can be found here.
To address the many questions surrounding COVID-19 and the agriculture industry, we have invited speakers dealing with these issues first hand to present webinars in the coming weeks. On April 22, we hosted COVID-19: Regulatory Changes Impacting Food Production and Distribution and on April 29, we will host Ag Labor during Seedtime and Harvest within a Global Pandemic:  What Agribusiness Must Know and do to Survive COVID-19 . Information for both of those programs is set below. If there is a potential webinar topic you'd like to see covered, please let us know!   
In conclusion, thanks, again, for your interest in the Center. We're honored to serve the nation's agricultural community and welcome any suggestions on how we can best serve you.  Please don't hesitate to reach out to us anytime we can be of any assistance.


Sincerely, 
Harrison Pittman Signature   
Center Director 

Seventh Annual Mid-South Ag & Environmental Law Conference: From Memphis to Online  
Due to uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we have moved our Seventh Annual Mid-South Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference to an online format. The conference will still feature 6 hours of continuing education, including an hour of ethics. 
The dates for the conference will still be June 4 and 5, each day taking three hours. Further, those who register by May 18th, 2 "bonus hours" of online continuing education will also be included. 
Find conference agenda and registration information  here.

The Deal with Dicamba
This quarter, Staff Attorney Brigit Rollins published a series of blog posts and a webinar addressing the hundreds of lawsuits filed in regard to dicamba-based herbicides. 
In her blog series, Brigit primarily followed two cases: Bader Farms, Inc v. Monsanto Co. and the several hundreds of cases filed by farmers against Monsanto and BASF that were consolidated into one lawsuit known as In re: Dicamba Herbicides Litigation. The eight-part series looked at every claim made in the cases, including those that were dismissed before trial. 
Each part to Brigit's series can be found here: 
To conclude her series, Brigit presented "The Deal with Dicamba: An Overview of Dicamba-Related Litigation" in a webinar on April 15. In this webinar Brigit provided an overview of the lawsuits filed in relation to dicamba, a look at claims being made by the plaintiffs, and what the outcome of each suit could mean for dicamba use in the U.S. A recording of this webinar can be accessed here.
COVID-19 and Agriculture: Resources from the NALC 
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has sparked many changes in the food and agriculture sector. From the Payment Protection Program to agricultural labor, we have been receiving a steady flow of questions in regard to COVID-19. 
In order to provide answers to these questions, we created the COVID-19 Resource Library. 
Set up in an FAQ format, our COVID-19 Resource Library serves as a hub of a resources published by the NALC, various state Cooperative Extension Services, federal agencies, independent law firms, and much more. The resource page can be accessed here.
On April 22 we were joined by J ohn Dillard of OFW law, for a webinar discussing COVID-19 and steps federal agencies have taken to maintain an adequete supply of safe food. 
This webinar provided a comprehensive overview of the federal regulatory changes that have been implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes changes in USDA and FDA inspections, enforcement of regulations related to transporting food, and worker safety. John also discussed guidance from several federal agencies on promoting a safe food supply and healthy workforce. A recording of this webinar can be found here. 
On April 29 we will be joined by Brandon Davis, Nathan Huff and  Michael Williams of Phelps Dunbar, LLP for a webinar discussing agricultural labor during the global pandemic.  From the CARES Act to SBA loan programs, this webinar will discuss several changes to finance, labor and the food supply caused by COVID-19. Registration and more information for this webinar can be found here. 

Publication Highlights  
New Publications 
As part of its mission, the Center continues to deliver webinars, articles, fact sheets and state compilations on numerous agricultural and food law topics. These resources are free to the public and serve as a research tool for both attorneys and non- attorneys. Outlined below are all publications from the past quarter.
  • Preparing for a Crop Insurance Audit: Farmers who faced a difficult season in 2019 may have relied on the federal crop insurance program to soften the blow. However, producers with crop insurance claims over $200,000 may be subjected to a mandated crop insurance audit. To help producers prepare for these audits, we partnered with Peggy Kirk Hall and Chris Zoller from Ohio State University Extension to publish this bulletin. 
  • Intestate Succession and Agriculture: In inheritance situations, title to property has passed from family members to their descendants through various methods, including intestate succession. A phrase often used used to describe land that has been inherited by multiple people through the process of intestate succession is "heir property." Heir property has continued to be a challenging problem for landowners that own real estate as tenants in common with other people. This publication outlines those concerns, discusses how the situation is created, and looks at possible solutions that some states are adopting. 
  •  50-State Survey: Landowner Liability for Spray Drift: Although lawsuits related to drift generally sound in negligence, there are two potential claims that may arise in these cases: The first is whether the application of pesticides is considered inherently dangerous. The second relates to a claim of strict liability against those who apply pesticides. This publication, by Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, Agricultural Law Specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Hannes Zetzche, a former NALC Reseach Fellow, includes a state-by-state survey, including citations, of what state courts have decided in regards to 10 whether pesticide application is inherently dangerous, and 2) whether strict liability is applicable in pesticide drift cases. 
Blog Articles 
We have kept our  Ag & Food Law Blog up to date with Daily Updates, as well as weekly posts about current issues in agricultural and environmental law. For example when the EPA released its replacement for the 2015 Waters of the United States rule, Staff Attorney Brigit Rollins wrote WOTUS Redefined: EPA Announces Final Rule, where she discussed the changes. 
Our other blog articles from this quarter were: 

"Every Third Wednesday" Webinar Series
We are happy to have continued our popular webinar series with a variety of presentations, both this past quarter and upcoming.  
Recent Webinars
We hosted three webinars this quarter, the most rec ent  being "Landowner Liability: How to Protect Your Operation." In this webinar NALC Senior Staff Attorney Rusty Rumley reviewed potential liability issues for landowners, and offered methods of reducing risk on a farming operation, such as insurance options and protection offered by state statutes. A recording of this webinar can be accessed here. 
Our February Webinar, "What's in a Name? Laws and Regulations Governing Alternative Protein Labels" featured NALC Senior Staff Attorney Elizabeth Rumley. In this webinar Elizabeth discussed the complicated legal landscape of alternative protein labeling. She covered the basics of food labeling in the alternative protein context, as well as current events such as recently passed state laws regulating the labeling of certain products within those states, as well as the status of those laws after legal challenges. A recording of this webinar can be found here.
In January our webinar featured Brandon Davis and Nathan Huff, partners at Phelps Dunbar, who presented "2020 Vision: Finding Clarity on Labor and Employment Risks in the New Year." This webinar discussed the rapidly changing landscape of agricultural labor. Brandon and Nathan gave an overview of recently issued guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor of the definition of "Agricultural labor," for purposes of H-2A labor certification and FLSA wage and hour compliance, and how that has affected this highly active space.

Upcoming Webinars
On April 29 we will be joined by  Brandon Davis,  Nathan Huff and  Michael Williams of Phelps Dunbar, LLP for a webinar discussing agricultural labor during the global pandemic.  From the CARES Act to SBA loan programs, this webinar will discuss several changes to finance, labor and the food supply caused by COVID-19.
Registration and more information for this webinar can be found here. 
We will be hosting another webinar on July 15, featuring Brook Duer, Staff Attorney for the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, who will discuss agriculture district programs. In this webinar, Brook will recap the development of various forms of agriculture district programs, outline which states have these programs, compare the different state programs currently employed, and briefly discuss the future of such programs. More information and registration for this webinar can be found here.
From Arkansas to D.C.: Senate Update
In March, Center Director Harrison Pittman and Senior Staff Attorneys Rusty Rumley and Elizabeth Rumley provided an agricultural law update to U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee staffers in the U.S. Senate Agricultural  Committee Hearing Room. Our staff addressed several topics such as industrial hemp, changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, checkoff programs, and more. 
Research Fellow Program Continues to Grow
Our Research Fellow program employs highly qualified law students from across the country, and its growth continues with the recent hiring of four new fellows. The NALC currently works with 20 Research Fellows from 16 different law schools in 14 states who continue to help update and produce resources on our website and with our partners. 
To read about our current Research Fellows, click here.
Focus on Outreach 
Center staff has given multiple presentations to a wide range of audiences over the past quarter.  You can see some recent examples below. If you're interested in learning more about any of the topics below, or in having Center staff present at a conference or webinar you're sponsoring, please contact us.
  • Center Director Harrison Pittman traveled to Washington D.C. in January to speak on the role of the judiciary in the future of agriculture at the Farm Foundation 2020 Roundtable. 
  • Harrison also presented on industrial hemp and wetlands issues at the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts in January. 
  • In January, Senior Staff Attorney Rusty Rumley attended the Farm Journal Hemp Summit in Chicago, IL.  
  • Harrison traveled to Arlington, VA in February to participate in the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture 2020 Winter Policy Conference. 
  • In February, Rusty gave a presentation discussing heir property at the Rural Life Conference at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. 
  • Rusty also traveled to Nebraska in February to present at the Agritourism and Adventure Travel Workshop, where he discussed legal liability in agritourism with a specific look at Nebraska's agritourism statutes. 
  • In March, Rusty attended the Ag Claims Association conference where he presented "From Farm Fields to the Courthouse: Legal Issues Surrounding Pesticide Use." 
  • Harrison traveled to Macon, GA in March, where he attended the Georgia Agricultural Law section annual symposium to provide an agricultural law update. 
  • Also in March, Harrison, Rusty and Senior Staff Attorney Elizabeth Rumley traveled to Washington, D.C. to provide an agricultural law update to U.S. Senate and House Agricultural Committee staffers.