Heading to Nebraska for the AALA Conference

Today I am getting on an airplane from LGA and heading to Omaha, Nebraska for the American Agriculture Law Association‘s (“AALA”) 31st Annual Agriculture Law Symposium.  I’m always excited to meet other food and agriculture attorneys.  Nebraska is such a great agriculture state.  I haven’t been to Omaha for a few years.

This year’s conference has an excellent line-up:

On Friday, the General Session consists of updates from industry experts discussing developments in commercial law, tax law, agriculture bankruptcy, sustainability, food law, land use law, environmental law, and the Farm Bill. I am particularly excited for the Keynote Address by Former Secretary of Agriculture and Senator Mike Johanns.  On Friday early afternoon there will be breakout sessions in:  1) tax law developments, 2) natural gas, wind and solar energy, 3) federal legal issues regarding livestock production, and 4) food safety.  I can tell that I’m attending the right conference when I wish I could be in four rooms at the same time.  Late afternoon will have breakouts discussing the:  1) Uniform Commercial Code, 2) non-point source developments, 3) wind farms, and 4) antitrust developments.  Again, another excellent slate of issues — all of which are important to the agriculture industry.

Saturday morning’s breakout sessions consist of the following topics:  1)  agriculture liens, 2) climate change, 3) Farm Bill, and 4) Good Agriculture Practices (“GAP”).  Even though Farm Bill policy conversations fascinate me, I think I’m going to attend the session on agriculture liens.  In the early afternoon that day there will be sessions on:  1) crop insurance, 2) agriculture competition for water, 3) nuisance and trespass suits with livestock production, and 4) taxation of natural resources.  I will likely attend the session on crop insurance since it has become a strong interest of mine over the last few years.  The final session of the day has breakout sessions on the following topics:  1) agriculture and forestry land use regulation, 2) sustainability, organic production and energy, 3) animal rights, 4) and social media.  I will probably attend the session on livestock animal welfare – a strong passion of mine.   The day ends with a session by Prof. Jesse Richardson on Conservation Easements.

I will try to post a debrief of the conference like I did last year.  You can follow my tweets live from the conference itself from @CariRincker and @RinckerLaw with the #AALA hashtag.  For those of you who are law students, please consider attending the conference next year.  Though generous donations, AALA is able to help law students with registration costs and travel expenses. If you are interested in joining AALA, you can find the membership form here.