Third Quarter, 2019
 
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 ,
We've had a lot going on in the third quarter of 2019, and it's great to share a few recent and ongoing highlights with you. Among other things, we have added in new staff, launched a new call for proposals, and are seeking applications for new positions at the Center.
In August, Brigit Rollins joined the Center team as our newest Staff Attorney. Brigit's primary focus is environmental law, and she has really hit the ground running. Brigit was an outstanding Research Fellow for the Center while she attended Lewis & Clark Law School, and we're thrilled to have her on board as a Staff Attorney.
We also have several employment openings at the Center. Currently, we are seeking to hire two new Staff Attorneys, one that will focus primarily on food safety and labeling and the other on agricultural finance and credit. We are also seeking applications from law students around the nation who are interested in joining our Research Fellowship program. You can read more below about these opportunities.
Additionally, we recently launched a new call for Requests for Proposals in which we seek collaboration with individuals, organizations and institutions to conduct research and outreach activities in furtherance of the Center's mission. If you're interested, please take a moment to learn more in the article about Letters of Interest below.
Be sure to pencil June 4-5, 2020 in for the Seventh Annual Mid-South Agricultural & Environmental Law Conference in Memphis, Tennessee! This year's program will offer another outstanding lineup of speakers from throughout the nation. Bookmark the conference page and look for announcements about the agenda and registration in the near future.
Finally, I'd like to take a moment to remember a dear friend and colleague, Scott Fancher. Scott passed away on August 23 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Scott was an outstanding agricultural lawyer, a U.S. Marine, farmer, dedicated Farm Service Agency County Executive Director, singer and songwriter, wine and moonshine maker, and a very dear personal friend and mentor. He contributed in countless ways to the Center and its growth over the past decades. We'll forever miss his friendship, advice, and intellect.
Thanks, again, to all of you for your interest in the Center. I hope you'll share this newsletter with others you think may be interested. And, as always, don't hesitate to reach out to us anytime we can be of any assistance.

Sincerely, 
Harrison Pittman Signature   
Center Director 
New Partnerships 
One of the Center's newest partners is the Center for Agricultural Law & Taxation (CALT) at Iowa State University. This partnership enhances the ability to deliver quality, nonpartisan research and information on taxation, bankruptcy, estate planning and related content to stakeholders throughout the nation. As part of the partnership, Center Research Fellow Jessica Witherspoon is assigned to work with CALT on various projects, the first of which is a series of estate planning articles. Jessica is currently completing coursework for an LL.M. in taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
Welcome new staff! 
The Center is excited to welcome our newest Staff Attorney, Brigit Rollins! 
Brigit is from Santa Rosa, California and received her Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies from  Sonoma State University in California. While at Sonoma State, Brigit studied different types of agricultural methods and how those methods could be used to promote environmental sustainability. 
After graduating from Sonoma State in 2015, she started as a law student at Lewis & Clark School of Law. During her time there Brigit worked as a student clerk for the Western Resource Legal Center, where she worked on cases assisting small ranches, farms and municipalities. She also interned with the California Farm Bureau and worked as a law clerk for the Sacremento-based environmental law firm Somach Simmons & Dunn.
Brigit began her work at the Center as a Research Fellow during her second year of law school. As a Staff Attorney at the Center, her primary area of research and scholarship is environmental law as it intersects with agriculture. 
We're Hiring! 
The Center is currently welcoming applicants for two full time Staff Attorney positions and multiple part time Research Fellow.
The first full time Staff Attorney position has a primary emphasis on agricultural fiance and credit issues impacting the agricultural and food sectors. This includes agricultural liens, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, and bankruptcy/debt management.  The second Staff Attorney position will be focused on food safety and labeling issues. 
The research fellow positions will focus on conducting legal research and writing projects that meaningfully assist the Center and its partners in serving state, regional and national stakeholders. Potential fellows must have completed their first year in law school and have an interest in agricultural law. For more information about the program, including additional preferred qualifications, please contact  Elizabeth Rumley . 
Information on all of these job postings can be found here.
Recent Publications 
As part of its mission, the Center continues to work with partners across the U.S. 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. 
For example, i n August we published the "Farmland Owner's Guide to Solar Leasing," a guide intended to help farmland owners understand solar energy development and the solar energy leasing process. This guide organizes solar leasing issues into a checklist tool that reviews questions to ask and actions to take when thinking about solar energy development on the farm. 
Other new resources this quarter included: 

"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 recent being "Industrial Hemp Regulation under the 2018 Farm Bill." In this webinar Senior Staff Attorney Rusty Rumley discussed the current legal landscape for industrial hemp, as well as potential hurdles producers may face including THC testing, crop insurance and the legality of CBD. A recording of this webinar can be found here. 
Our August webinar, "An Introduction to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act," featured McCarron & Diess attorney Steve McCarron. In this webinar Steve discussed the five major parts of PACA: licensing, prohibited conduct, the PACA trust, and contract issues. 
Rusty Rumley was again featured in our July webinar, "Practical Considerations for Hunting Leases." In this webinar Rusty walked attendees through issues to address while drafting a hunting lease such as restriction of certain hunting practices, the use of ATV's, the number of hunters allowed on the property and more. More information can be found  here.
Upcoming Webinars
Our next webinar is scheduled f or November 16. Elizabeth Rumley, Senior Staff Attorney for the Center, will present "An Overview of 'Ag-Gag' Laws: In Arkansas and Beyond." In this webinar Elizabeth will provide an introduction to these laws, their format in different states, a discussion of current events (including litigation) and more. Details and registration for this webinar can be found  here.
Reading Room Addition: Endangered Species Act 
The Center maintains a library of 50 subject-based Reading Rooms, each containing a comprehensive list of current electronic resources for an agricultural or food law topic. This list of Reading Rooms has grown by one this quarter, with the addition of the Endangered Species Act Reading Room! 
The ESA Reading Room contains major statutes, regulations, case laws and more resources related to the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act Reading Room can be accessed here.
Call for Letters of Interest

We are currently seeking formal collaboration with individuals, organizations and institutions to conduct research and outreach activities that support the delivery of objective agricultural and food law research and information to the nation's agricultural community. These include presentations for webinars, white papers, fact sheets, guides, or other resources. Letters of interest may relate to any topic related to agricultural and food law. However, priority consideration will be given to those that focus on the following topics: 
  • Ag Finance, i.e. bankruptcy, statutory/ag liens, Article 9 
  • Ag Labor
  • International Ag Trade/Agreements 
  • Water Law, i.e. availability issues, water rights  
The deadline is 5:00 p.m. CST, December 15, 2019. Find award amounts, requirements and more information 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.
  • In July Rusty Rumley presented "Practical Considerations for Hunting Leases" for the Center's July webinar. 
  • Rusty also traveled to Little Rock, AR in July to present at the AFBF Southern Region Legislative Conference where he covered Right to Farm statutes in the southeast United States. 
  • Center Director Harrison Pittman traveled to Little Rock, AR in July to present at the Southern Region Farm Bureau Conference. 
  • Rusty gave a hemp presentation in Pittsburg, PA in July for the Council of State Governments.
  • In August Harrison was part of an AETN broadcast where he was interviewed on international agricultural trade.
  • Harrison also traveled to Jonesboro, AR in August for the Agricultural Council of Arkansas meeting.
  • Rusty gave a Business and Liability presentation for veterans wanting to farm at two Armed to Farm presentations this quarter: once in August in Victor, NY and again in September in Cleveland, OH.
  • Harrison was able to attend USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue's visit to Arkansas in August at the Arkansas Department of Agriculture in Little Rock. 
  • In September Rusty presented "Industrial Hemp Regulations under the 2018 Farm Bill" for the Center's September webinar.
  • Harrison attended the 2019 National Association of State Departments of Agriculture's annual meeting in Albuquerque, NM in September. 
  • Harrison also traveled to Portland, OR in September to attend the Western Resources Legal Center Strategic Planning Meeting.