Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We sincerely appreciate your interest in the National Agricultural Law Center! It is always a pleasure to take a few moments and share updates with you about the Center and the Center-led Agricultural & Food Law Consortium.
In upcoming news, the Agricultural & Food Law Consortium is preparing to host the Second Annual Mid-South Agricultural & Environmental Law Program on April 17th at the University of Memphis School of Law. I want to take a moment here to say thank you to the folks at the Memphis School of Law for their generosity and assistance in this effort. We also want to thank our friends at the Delta Farm Press and the Natural Resources, Environment, & Energy Section of the Mississippi Bar Association for sponsoring this conference. For more information on the program, including online registration, click the link above. Feel free to share conference information with anyone you think may be interested, and we hope to see your there!
We've also been very busy this past quarter. In February, the Agricultural & Food Law Consortium members convened for strategic planning, along with stakeholders from the USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Agricultural Library, the National Association for State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), and other partners in the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. The meetings were intense and productive, and we will be sharing the new schedule of upcoming Consortium programs following the April 17th conference in Memphis. Later, in March, the Center hosted Brandon Willis, Administrator of the USDA Risk Management Agency. Mr. Willis was very generous with his time and energy, and we deeply appreciate his devoting so much of his time to being with us.
I hope you enjoy the brief updates in this newsletter. We sincerely appreciate your interest in the National Agricultural Law Center!
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Second Annual Mid-South Agricultural & Environmental Law Conference
The Center, as part of the Agricultural and Food Law Consortium, will be hosting the Mid-South Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference on Friday, April 17, 2015, at the University of Memphis School of Law, from 8:15 am through 4 pm.
The workshop will have speakers covering a wide range of topics, including:
- Agricultural & Environmental Law Update: Recent Trends and Developments
- 2014 Farm Bill for Practitioners, Lenders, and Other Ag Professionals
- USDA National Appeals Division 101: What You and Your Farm Client Need to Know
- Farm Succession & Estate Planning for Mid-South Agriculture
- Ethical Considerations for Farm Clients
- Easement Negotiation 101: Focus on Gas Pipelines and Energy Transmission Lines
The program has been approved in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee for five hours of general continuing legal education credit and one hour of ethics credit. Additionally, it has been approved in Arkansas for six hours of real estate CE.
For individuals seeking continuing education credit, the cost is $150. For other attendees not seeking professional credit the fee is $100, and for students the fee is $25. In all cases, the cost includes lunch and materials. More information and a link to register for the conference is available here.
A special thanks to our conference sponsors, including Delta Farm Press and the Mississippi Bar Association: Natural Resources, Environment & Energy Section.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
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A Visit with USDA-RMA Administrator Brandon Willis
On March 20, the Center hosted Brandon Willis, Administrator of the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) in the USDA Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. As part of the visit, Administrator Willis met with Center staff, key stakeholders, and a range of students, including students enrolled in the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law.
In light of shifts in federal farm policy under the 2014 Farm Bill, RMA has become an increasingly important agency for producers, lenders, and others in the agricultural industry. Administrator Willis discussed RMA and provided an update on agency activities.
Prior to his current role at RMA, Administrator Willis served as Senior Advisor to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Title I Commodity programs, farm legislation matters and disaster assistance, and before that as the Deputy Administrator of Farm Programs for USDA's Farm Service Agency. He also served as the Agriculture Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator Max Baucus (2006-2009). In 2005, he worked as a graduate assistant at the National Agricultural Law Center. Willis earned his bachelor's degree in crop and soil science from Utah State University, and his law degree from the University of Wyoming. In 2009, he completed his LL.M. in Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas School of Law.
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Focus on Outreach
Center staff has given multiple presentations to a wide range of audiences over the past quarter. You can see some recent examples below. If you're interested in learning more about any of the topics below, or in having Center staff present at a conference or webinar you're sponsoring, please contact us.
In-person presentations:
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Senior Staff Attorney Rusty Rumley presented on the Endangered Species Act and Landowner Liability in Harrison, AR. This presentation was made possible through a grant funded by the Southern Risk Management Education Center.
- Center Director Harrison spoke at the Winter Policy Conference Meeting of the National Assocation of State Departments of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., primarily focusing on updates regarding industrial hemp production in the United States.
- Senior Staff Attorney Elizabeth Rumley discussed legal issues surrounding animal rights and animal welfare with the Washington County Farm Bureau Young Farmer's group.
- Harrison Pittman delivered the keynote address to the Arkansas Farm Bureau County Farm Bureau Presidents, Vice Presidents, Legislative and Information Chairmen Conference, highlighting several national legal and policy issues relevant to Arkansas agriculture.
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Elizabeth and Rusty Rumley presented at the annual Arkansas Women in Agriculture Conference in Little Rock, AR. Elizabeth covered eminent domain and easements while Rusty addressed estate planning issues.
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Harrison Pittman & Rusty Rumley presented on legal liability issues at the "Plan, Produce, and Profit" workshop series, a collaborative project led by the Arkansas Food Innovation Center and funded by the Southern Risk Management Education Center.
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Elizabeth Rumley discussed the laws affecting farm animal confinement at the Nebraska Poultry Industries conference in Norfolk, NE.
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Harrison Pittman presented at the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts, focusing on environmental law issues relevant to the conservation community in Arkansas and throughout the Mississippi River Basin.
Webinar presentations
- Elizabeth Rumley discussed Center resources with the Animal Health and Welfare Advisory Committee meeting of the California Farm Bureau Federation.
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Employee Update
The Center was glad to welcome a new intern this quarter.
Welcome to:
Luke Lane is currently in his junior year of undergraduate studies at the University of Arkansas, where he is earning a degree in agriculture business and a minor in political science with a concentration in pre-law. He is currently serving as a Resident Assistant and the Public Relations Officer for the Agricultural Business Club. Additionally, Lane is currently working on his honors thesis involving the "Assessment of Economic and Legal Considerations for Industrial Hemp Production." This finished honors project will include a resource database as well as an interactive production budget for farmers in the state of Arkansas. Before coming to Fayetteville, he graduated as valedictorian of his high school in the rural community of Taylor, Arkansas, where he was heavily involved in his high school chapter of FFA and competed very successfully in the Agriculture Mechanics CDE competition.
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