Newsletter: Agricultural and food law research and information

As director of the National Agricultural Law Center, it is an honor to share a few highlights of recent and upcoming developments. I hope you enjoy reading the updates, and, as always, please don't hesitate to reach out any time with inquiries or suggestions on how we can better serve you.

We continue to expand Center staff. We recently welcomed Christina Cole as a new Staff Attorney, who will focus primarily on food safety and food labeling issues. Additionally, Sarah Cato has joined the Center team as Communications & Special Projects Coordinator. You can read more about both of these outstanding individuals below. We'll announce other staff additions in the near future, so be on the lookout for news on that front!

Our Research Fellow program continues to grow as well. The Research Fellow program is comprised of law students throughout the United States - Pennsylvania, Texas, Arkansas, Oregon, Illinois, Mississippi, and Vermont, just to name a few. In the past quarter, we began implementation of a Research Fellow-focused partnership program with the USDA Office of General Counsel, formally known as the Agricultural Law Advancement Program. This is a great opportunity for all involved, and I hope you'll read more about it below. Special thanks to USDA General Counsel Stephen Vaden for his critical assistance in bringing this concept to reality.

In June, we were honored to present another Agricultural Law Update to Congressional staffers. Special thanks to the offices of Senator Pat Roberts and Senator John Boozman for their continued assistance in helping facilitate this event and the use of the Senate Ag Committee Hearing Room. Congressional staffers play an extraordinarily important role in agriculture, and it is a great privilege to help them become more aware of emerging issues.

Also in June, we held the Sixth Annual Mid-South Agricultural & Environmental Law Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. This annual conference is a premiere agricultural law program and I hope you'll consider joining us in Memphis next year on June 4-5, 2020. I would be remiss if I didn't give a huge thanks to Ann Onidas at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Ann goes out of her way to ensure things run as smoothly as possible for this conference. She's excellent and is a pleasure to work with.

Friends and colleagues, thank you for your interest in the Center and best wishes to you as we begin to exit summer and to head into the fall season. As we do so, let's be sure to keep all of our farmers and others in the ag industry in our thoughts as they continue to struggle through an unprecedented range of challenges- from depressed prices, weather and flooding, to uncertain world markets.

Sincerely,

Center Director

New Partnerships & Programs

The Center values its partnerships with institutions around the nation. One recent example is a partnership with the USDA Office of General Counsel to launch a first-of-its-kind law student-focused initiative known as the Agricultural Law Advancement Program (ALAP). Under ALAP, certain law students across the United States who serve in the Center's Research Fellow program are eligible to serve as a legal intern in the USDA Office General Counsel, either in the D.C. office or in one of OGC Field Offices around the country. ALAP is designed to develop legal talent in the agricultural law field and better serve the long-term interests of the nation's diverse agricultural community. This past summer, two Center Research Fellows participated in ALAP - Zac Wilkerson (Little Rock, Arkansas Field Office) and Carley Pouland (Portland, Oregon Field Office).

Another recent example is the Center's partnership with the Western Resources Legal Center (WRLC), affiliated with the Lewis & Clark Law School. Under this partnership, the Center and WRLC work together to hire WRLC students to

undertake agricultural and food law research projects with an emphasis on projects relevant to the agricultural law community located in the western region of the United States. To date, WRLC students have assisted on a number of projects that have enhanced the Center's ability to serve stakeholders throughout the nation.

Welcome New Staff!

The Center is happy to welcome two new staff members, Christina Cole and Sarah Cato.

Christina, our newest Staff Attorney, was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. She attended University of Arkansas

School of Law where she graduated cum laude in 2016. After law school Christina worked at Walmart as part of the International Ethics and Compliance team, where she worked with associates in 11 international markets on a variety of issues ranging from trade, food safety and safety regulations. She is licensed to practice law in Arkansas. At the Center her primary research and scholarship focus is on issues related to food law.

Sarah, our new Communications and Special Projects Coordinator is from Osceola, Arkansas. She earned her degree in Agriculture Communications from the U niversity of Arkansas. While in school, Sarah worked as an intern for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Communications Department. Her work at the Center will focus on writing press releases, coordinating social media and constructing communications plans.

Six Years of Agricultural Law Continuing Education (and Counting!)

We were glad to host our Sixth Annual Mid-South Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference this past June in Memphis,

Tennessee. We started everything off with our traditional reception at Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous. After a great turnout- and a great time- at the reception, we hosted over 100 attendees at the conference the next day.

The conference featured nine invited speak ers discussing a wide range of agricultural and food law topics. Some of those topics included:

A hemp & trade update from USDA General Counsel Stephen Vaden
Ag labor & immigration- Tips for H-2A employers
Law & lending in a down farm economy
Navigating environmental law issues
Succession planning for lawyers

Find an overview of the conference, as well as conference materials here.

We've already began planning for next year's conference, and have set the date for June 4-5, 2020. If you'd like to receive email notifications for next year, email our Communications Coordinator, Sarah Cato .

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, May included two major publications focused on the laws surrounding the use of agricultural nutrients. The article " State Legal Approaches to Reducing Water Quality Impacts from the Use of Agricultural Nutrients on Farmland " is a national report surveying both mandatory and voluntary approaches states are taking to ad dress agricultural nutrient impacts. Foundational research, titled " Mandatory Legal Approaches to Agricultural Nutrient Management: State Compilation" includes an easy-to-navigate state-by-state compilation of the laws and regulations that relate to minimizing water impacts from the use of nutrients.

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 have hosted three webinars so far this quarter, the most recent of which featured Amanda Nichols, the Ocean and

Coastal Law Fellow with the National Sea Grant Law Center. Amanda joined us June 19 and provided an overview of the current status of organic aquaculture in the United States, as well as potential benefits to industry. A recording of this webinar can be found here.

On May 8 we were joined by Peggy Hall, associate professor and field specialist for Ohio State University, and Ellen Essman, senior research associate in the Agricultural & Resource Law Program in

Ohio State University Extension. Peggy & Ellen presented their research on the laws, regulations and programs in each of the 50 states that address water quality impacts from the use of agricultural nutrients. A recording of this webinar can be found here.

In April, Andrew Varcoe, partner at Boyden Gray & Associate, and Grant Ballard, partner at Ark Ag Law, PLLC, presented "U.S. Agriculture & Deference to Federal Agency Decision-

making: Recent & Emerging Issues. This webinar covered recent decisions by federal agencies and the impacts they could have on the agricultural field. A recording of this webinar can be found here .

Upcoming Webinars

Our next webinar is scheduled f or Aug ust 21st and will

feature attorney Steve McCarron, a principal at McCarron & Diess. Steve will present "An Introduction to the Perishable Commodities Act," which will cover the five major parts of PACA: licensing, prohibited conduct, the PACA trust, dispute resolution, and contract issues. Register for this webinar here.

Rusty Rumley will join us for our September webinar, where he will discuss "Industrial Hemp Regulation under the 2018 Farm Bill." This webinar will look at new regulations, the legal status of CBD and more common issues such as crop insurance. Register for this webinar here .

From Arkansas to D.C.: Congressional Briefing

Director Harrison Pittman and Senior Staff Attorneys Rusty and Elizabeth Rumley traveled to Washington D.C. in June for their quarterly discussion with House and Senate staffers.

On June 24th, Center staff provided an agricultural law update to interested staffers on recent legal issues, especially industrial hemp, checkoff programs, and ongoing pesticide litigation and developments. While in D.C. the Center staff also met with other stakeholders at USDA and on the Hill concerning a variety of recent and upcoming issues.

Continuing the Search for Research Fellows

Our research fellow program, which includes highly qualified law students from across the country, continues to expand in scope and resources. The NALC currently employs 10 students from 8 law schools, and is looking forward to several more joining us during the fall and spring semester. More information about the current fellows is located here.

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 .

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 April, Rusty Rumley traveled to Louisville, KY to the National Risk Management Education Conference for a presentation discussing hemp laws & regulations.
Rusty traveled to Syracuse, NY in April to present 'Ag Bankruptcy' and another session on estate planning at the FarmNet Conference.
Harrison Pittman traveled to the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Symposium "Harvesting the Future: Issues and Opportunities in Agricultural Law." Harrison presented a "Top 10" list of ag law issues that included hemp regulations and cell cultured meat.
Elizabeth Rumley traveled to Des Moines, IA in April to speak at the National Institute of Animal Agriculture's annual meeting. She discussed animal identification issues, including liability and confidentiality.
In May Rusty gave two presentations on industrial hemp, one at the Farm Bill Workshop in Kansas City, KS and the other at the John Huffaker Agricultural Law Conference in Lubbock, TX.
Harrison also attended the John Huffaker Ag Law Conference where he provided an ag law update covering pesticide litigation, international ag trade and the Endangered Species Act.
Harrison gave a 2018 Farm Bill & Regulatory Update at the Farm Business Law Conference in Little Rock in May.
Harrison traveled to Indianapolis in May for the Planting The Seed Ag and Food Conference: Tech and Trade, hosted by Barnes & Thornburg to discuss international ag trade.
Elizabeth discussed the field of agricultural law as a potential career path with future ag leaders in the state of Arkansas in Little Rock in May. The ag leader tour was hosted by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
In May Harrison attended the Farm Bureau program in Raleigh, North Carolina to discuss Checkoff Program litigation.
In June Rusty and Elizabeth discussed Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and liability statutes with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Station Directors at their annual meeting.
Harrison, Rusty & Elizabeth met with Congressional staffers to discuss recent and emerging issues in agricultural law, especially industrial hemp, pesticides, checkoff and feral hogs.
In March, Elizabeth spoke at the Illinois River Watershed Partnership meeting in Cave Springs, AR. She focused her discussion on the history of the dispute between Arkansas and Oklahoma in regards to the Illinois River watershed.