In light of the arrest of horse breed Ernest Paragallo for the neglect and malnourishment of horses, New York horse breeders are concerned whether they are at risk for criminal prosecution. Paragallo, a well-known horse breeder in the racing community and a resident of Long Island, is facing 35 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in Greene County, New York. After …
Farm Lease Considerations
Even though a landowner might be leasing his or her farm to family members, neighbors, or friends, it is highly suggested that the terms of the lease be memorialized in writing. This is particularly important since oral contracts involving a tenancy in land are not enforceable. There are several issues that should be discussed between the landowner and tenant. In …
Ohio Puts The Livestock Care Standards Board To Vote
In the midst of Ohio 4-H County Fair season, the state’s legislature took the initiative this summer to try to create a 13-member Livestock Care Standards Board as an amendment to Section 1 of the Article XIV of the Ohio Constitution. The Joint Resolution of the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate passed on July 13, 2009; therefore, the constitutional …
The Not-So-Simple Definition of “Agriculture Law”
As I mentioned in my previous blog, I recently joined JD Supra where my documents can be found here. Today, JD Supra featured my profile on its facebook page. I was asked what exactly agriculture law was from an editor in Florida where I did my best to answer her in limited space. Since I oftentimes receive this question (lately …
Documents Now Posted to JD Supra
Last week, I opened an account with JD Supra, a online resource allowing attorneys to post articles, court pleadings, and e-books for the general public. You can find my profile here where you can see either a Word or Portable Document Format (“PDF”) version of a few articles that I have written. I also uploaded the Food and Agriculture Organization …
YPC Spotlight: Interview with Brandon Carlson
Last January in Phoenix at the annual convention, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“NCBA”) organized Young Producer’s Council (“YPC”)– a suborganization under NCBA for members ages 18-35. YPC serves as a great way for young people to get involved in NCBA. YPC elects producer members to be a voting member on NCBA. YPC is chaired by Dustin Dean and vice-chaired by Steven …
A Place To Start: Wind Working Groups
I recently co-authored an article with Brandon Jensen from Budd-Falen Law Offices, LLC regarding wind lease terms that farmers and ranchers should negotiate that was published in a handful of trade publications including Beef Magazine’s Cow-Calf Weekly. As emphasized in that article, wind leases should not be entered into lightly and great care should take place when deciding whether to …
Livestock Producer’s Guide to FOIA
You may find a time when you may want to see the documents available to the public about yourself or your livestock operation. Maybe you want to see the files on your Confined Animal Feeding Operation (“CAFO”) or on your recent Forest Service (“FS”) livestock trespass ticket. Or possibly you would like information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers …