There was an interesting article on page 5 of the May 16, 2011 edition of County Folks by Jay Girvin, Esq. of Girvin & Ferlazzo, P.C. about whether a livestock owners can be held liable if their animal wanders off their farm and causes a highway accident. You can review the full article online here. Mr. Girvin accurately noted that …
Overview of State Laws Relating to the Amount of Space Given to Farm Animals
I am speaking today in Atlantic City at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s (“NJSBA”) Annual Meeting on a couple farm animal law issues. One of the topics that I will be addressing today includes an overview of state legislation/regulation over the amount of space given to farm animals. Seven states have had laws sponsored by the Humane Society of …
Monday Links
I hope all my readers had a nice weekend. After a tough workout, I was able to catch-up on my NetNewsWire Google Reader feed yesterday over a warm cup of coffee. I thought the following posts were worth noting: 1. I have worked as a legal consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization (“FAO”) of the United Nations in Rome. …
Role of Buyer’s Attorney in Real Estate Closing
I have had several real closings this week and was reminded this morning of this pamphlet from the New York State Bar Association (“NYSBA”) on the Attorney’s Role in Home Purchases. Most of us will purchase property at some point in our lives. The pamphlet properly describes the various responsibilities of the Buyer’s/Borrower’s attorney in real estate transactions including, but …
Information on the Existing Voluntary National Animal Identification System
I know that it has been a while since the agriculture community has talked about the National Animal Identification System (“NAIS”). As most of my readers know, the program is managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (“APHIS”) and participation is currently voluntary. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) expressed concern over NAIS. In February …
Approaching Wedding Season: Is a Prenuptial Agreement Prudent for Your Agriculture Business?
For those of you who missed it, in this previous post last fall I discussed why I thought prenuptial (“prenups”) agreements were “romantic.” Last night, I came across this Fact Sheet by Chris Zoller and David Marrison from The Ohio State University Extension Office discussing prenuptial agreements for farms. The Fact Sheet properly states that “[f]arm and agriculture businesses often …
Sunday Links
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 …
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. …
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 …
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, …
NYFB Farm Animal Welfare Symposium: Why Isn’t Good Care Enough?
I will be speaking at the New York Farm Bureau (“NYFB”) Farm Animal Welfare Symposium titled “Why Isn’t Good Care Enough?” in Syracuse on April 7, 2011. The event is closed to NYFB members only. Kay Johnson Smith, the Executive Vice President of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, will be the keynote speaker. Other speakers on the panel include Steve Kopperud …
NCBA Young Producers’ Council’s Social Media Guides for the Beef Industry
I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. It’s a snowy day here in NYC. I realize that I haven’t blogged on agriculture law and policy issues for a while. I hope to blog on some food, animal and agriculture law issues very soon. Not only have I been extremely busy here in NYC with my caseload …