New York, like most states, has its own “right-to-farm” law. Unfortunately for neighbors that are complaining of activities that are due to farming, right-to-farm laws serve to protect qualifying farmers and ranchers from nuisance lawsuits filed by individuals who move into a rural area where normal farming operations exist, and who later use nuisance actions to attempt to stop those …
Animal Abuse Registry in Rockland County, New York
Following Suffolk County’s decision to maintain an animal abuse registry, Rockland County also enacted a law to have those convicted of animal abuse crimes register. Rockland County requires all persons convicted of an animal abuse crime to register with the database within five days of being sentenced or being released from incarceration. Each registrant has to pay an annual $50.00 …
Animal Abuse Registry in Orange County, New York
Orange County became the most recent county in New York State to require those convicted of animal abuse crimes to register in a database. Orange County calls this requirement Rocky’s Law, named after a dog that was left by its owners outside in the snow for five weeks without food or water. The law requires all convicted animal abusers to …
Overview of Farm Leases
I’m speaking tonight at the American Farmland Trust Legal Workshop on farm leases in Westchester County. I posted an updated outline on farm leases here on my JD Supra page. Whether you are a landlord or a tenant, I highly suggest working with a licensed attorney in your state to memorialize the terms of a written farm lease.
Save the Date: New York Agri-Women’s Annual Meeting
New York Agri-Women will have its 4th Annual Meeting on November 14-15, 2014 in Auburn, New York. New York Agri-Women’s President, Prof. Sheila Marshman, has done a fantastic job rallying the troops to get the annual meeting organized. This year’s theme is “Honoring the Past, Treasuring the Present, Shaping the Future” — a brilliant way to sum up how many …
Mediating the Divorce Involving Livestock and Pets
I recently co-authored an article on divorce mediation with companion and farm animals along with Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton that was published in the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation‘s quarterly publication. You can find the history of The Report online here. I posted the article on my JD Supra page. I am a trained divorce mediator and am …
Overview of USDA’s Rural Development Agency
I’m currently conducting a blog series where each week I give an overview of the responsibilities of a government agency regulating our food and agriculture system. I think it’s a helpful reminder for everyone on just how complex our regulatory system is. It’s a game of Who’s Who for government players in the U.S. food and agriculture economy. RD is …
Using Social Media to be an Advocate for Agriculture
I developed the below presentation for the Oneida County, New York 4-H program a few weeks ago. The below presentation includes primarily screenshots illustrating use of social media to “tell the story” of agriculture to the American consumer. It’s been a few years since I have had a “Blogroll” – the presentation notes several nice blogs from agriculture producers, including …
Overview of the Farm Service Agency and its Farm Loan Programs
As noted a few weeks ago, I’m currently doing a blog series on government agencies affecting our nation’s food and agriculture system. I think it’s a helpful exercise to know who the players are and what each agency is does. The Farm Service Agency (“FSA”) reports to the Under Secretary of the Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (“FFAS”) of the …
My Presentation on Livestock Judging
This is no April Fool’s Day Joke. I know that this is a food and agriculture law blog but I figured some of my readers might be interested on my presentation on how to judge livestock – specifically, beef cattle, swine, and meat sheep. I judged competitively at Lake Land College and Texas A & M University in undergrad and …
Mediator for the New York State Agriculture Mediation Program (NYSAMP)
Since completing the mediation apprenticeship program with the New York Peace Institute, my Community Dispute Resolution Center (“CDRC”) in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I have been admitted to the roster of mediators for the New York State Agriculture Mediation Program (“NYSAMP”). NYSAMP works with the CDRC’s in each country throughout New York to provide free mediation services for the New York …
“Agvocacy”, Social Media and Livestock Judging
I will be speaking on agriculture advocacy (“advocacy”), social media (including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, Pinterist, Google+, Tumblr, Quora, YouTube, Instagram, FourSquare and About.Me), marketing online, and livestock judging at the Oneida County Cooperative Extension Office in Oriskany, New York on Saturday, April 6, 2013 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The cost for 4-H members is $10 and the cost for …