Happy May Day! I have had a great visit in Illinois visiting Lake Land College and family. Our pastureland grass is lush and green. Illinois has been hit with a lot of rain this spring. Dad *hopes* to plant corn next weekend. Had a nice afternoon catching up on blogs. Here are a few that caught my eye: 1. April …
Wind Energy Property Agreements
I came across a great article this morning by Jessica Shoemaker from the Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc. (“FLAG”) titled “Negotiating Wind Energy Property Agreements.” You can find the article online here. I also co-authored an article on wind leases that you can find here. If you are interested in negotiating a wind lease on your farm or ranch I …
Interview with Dr. Temple Grandin
I have previously noted on this blog my admiration for Dr. Temple Grandin as an animal scientist. She truly is an extraordinary woman and has done so much for the livestock industry. Last night, I was reading National Cattlemen’s Beef Association‘s (“NCBA”)Beef Issues Quarterly for Fall 2010 and on Page 23 there is a great interview with Dr. Temple Grandin. …
Spring Cleaning: Animal Handling Procedures in Employee Handbooks
I have written blogs/articles and have spoken on livestock animal cruelty law in New York and my various recommendations for building a defense. Among them, I recommend that livestock producers have an employee handbook in place that enumerates recommended animal handling procedures and regularly train employees on those procedures. An employee handbook is not a contract but is instead a general …
New York Business Structures
Over the weekend I stumbled across the materials from the First Annual Meeting of New York Agri-Women and reviewed this excellent article titled “Doing Business in New York State: Structures and Strategies” by Bruce L. Anderson, Brian M. Henehan, and Charles J. Sullivan, Esq. Mr. Sullivan spoke on business organizations at the New York Agri-Women’s annual meeting. If you have …
Monday Links
It’s been a long while since my last “links” post so I thought I would post a few links today of posts that caught my eye. For those of you who are Mac users, I have really loved using NetNewsWire and recently downloaded the application on my iPhone 4. I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. …
Video Blog Introduction
I spoke to Cornell University‘s Sigma Alpha Mu agriculture sorority group tonight via Skype and it got me in the video blogging mood. For those of you who don’t know me, I posted an E-Introduction on YouTube tonight. After speaking to Sigma Alpha tonight, it reminded me of my previous post regarding the “not-so-simple definition of agriculture law.” Share this …
Speaking on Farm Animal Law Issues at the New Jersey State Bar Association Annual Meeting
You can catch me speaking on “Hot Topics” of farm animal law on May 18th in Atlantic City at the New Jersey State Bar Association (“NJSBA”) Annual Meeting during the session on animal law from 3:30 – 5:30pm. I am currently planning to speak on farm animal welfare, family/matrimonial law and estate planning issues affecting livestock operations, and the Grain, …
Child Support Calculations in New York
As I wrote in yesterday’s post, divorce is something that affects people of every industry– including farmers, ranchers, and agri-businesses. A party does not necessarily have to be going through divorce to be owed child support. In New York, the court calculates (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) child support based upon the Child Support Standards Act (“CSSA”). The statutory formula is …
The New “No Fault” Divorce Law in New York
I want to preface this blog by saying that I’m a huge fan of marriage, family, Prince Charming, and (most) romantic gushy stuff (and if you want to send me flowers I prefer daisies or violet roses!). I believe that love is sometimes a choice and couples should do everything they possibly can to stay together- in the good times …
The Pedigree of a Stockman
On my flight from Denver back to New York City after the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“NCBA”) Annual Convention and Trade Show, I found a great piece in the Shorthorn Country by Patrick Wall, the Director of Genetic Improvement and Eastern Regional Director for the American Shorthorn Association (don’t tell my dad, but I have always loved fuzzy Shorthorn cattle). …
Environmental Steaks
I recently subscribed to the monthly electronic newsletter from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“NCBA”) called “Environmental Steaks” to update NCBA members about key federal environmental policy issues. If you are a beef cattle producer, I highly recommend subscribing to this e-newsletter. If you are an NCBA member, you can subscribe by emailing information@beef.org or calling NCBA’s office in Washington …