I asked Chat GPT to draft a farmland lease. Here are the results and my analysis.
Online revenue management platforms for landlords are being challenged as price fixing tools. What will the implications be for tenant farmers?
The 45Z tax credit for production of sustainable fuels will require farmers to verify compliance with ag data.
The USDA is going to collect massive amounts of ag data as part of the Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities. How is all the data collected and how will it be used?
A recent presentation on the basics of agricultural contracts was a good reminder of the fundamental building blocks of any agreement.
The updated Core Principles for Ag Data now address the need for simple contracts, properly identifying data sharing partners, anonymization and AI.
Ten years ago American Farm Bureau published the Privacy and Security Principles for Farm Data. In 2024, these “Core Principles” for use of ag data have been updated.
What do these commonly used climate change terms mean for the farm?
With increased scrutiny over foreign ownership of US farmland, let’s take a step back and figure out who is a foreign person in the eyes of the law.
A more in-depth look at how we used good ag data to prevail in recent case involving flooding of farmland.
Technology providers should take care to properly license training data for use in their AI models.
The legal issues surrounding artificial intelligence will impact agriculture, too.
Farmers’ options for signing a soil carbon contracts are multiplying. What are some considerations before signing up the farm?
A Canadian farmer accepted a grain contract by replying with a thumbs up emoji. Would the result be the same in the US?
USDA’s Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities will require a lot of ag data. Let’s make sure we get the contracts with farmers right.
Artificial intelligent promises a lot, but requires some caution too.
Robotic farm equipment can help with many problems on the farm. Let’s make the legal system responsive to these needs rather than getting in the way.
Will artificial intelligence eventually replace the tasks handled by many farmers?
Modernizing grain contracts will only make US grain marketing more efficient.
Thanks to climate change, we are about to find out.
A group of companies has developed a set of transparency principles for carbon market developers in agriculture. What do they say and what happens next?
Tesla has had an enormous impact on auto manufacturers. Are there lessons for agricultural equipment manufacturers?
Is the latest SEC reporting rule going to push more control away from the farm and into corporate shareholders’ hands? Here is how to understand what reporting Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions means.
Does the next generation of Apple CarPlay foreshadow the next generation of farm equipment monitors?
Before we can really harness the power of ag data to improve farm policy, we need to modernize how ag data is collected and used at the federal level.
A longform guide to understanding how real estate law is slowing the adoption of modern soil carbon sequestration contracts.
Who controls the cloud becomes even more important in the era of international uncertainty.
Even if the war ends today, the Russian war on Ukraine is also a war on agriculture.
We must face the reality that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will affect all of us.
Last year the standard for review for administrative decisions was upended (Indiana and federal level). Recently our Court of Appeals explained that this change does not apply to zoning appeals.
There are a number of agricultural bills being considered this session, including one which would impact livestock farmers across the state by requiring additional site inspections.
Competition for groundwater is leading states and counties to change the way they regulate subsurface water.
A series of recent New York Times articles have sounded the alarm about PFAS chemicals in biosolids being land applied as fertilizer to agricultural ground. Is the concern legit?
Two recent Indiana Supreme Court cases shed light on how the utility regulatory commission could, in the future, decide that county solar zoning ordinances are unreasonable and therefore void.
The Supreme Court overturned Chevron in June. Now, instead of deferring to administrative agencies’ interpretation, courts must exercise their own “independent judgment” as to statutory construction. This change will have far-reaching consequences for agricultural and environmental regulations.
In a recent zoning dispute, an Indiana judge ruled that tacos are legally sandwiches.
On April 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that property owners could pursue their federal inverse condemnation claims against the State of Texas through the existing state law.
A new 2024 law changes the way people challenge administrative decisions, especially IDEM appeals.
In the Midwest, we’ve historically had more than enough water for everyone. This usually meant a hands off approach to water regulation. But 2024 may be the year that changes the status quo.
How worried should farmers and rural landowners be about PFAS liability?
This year, I traveled to Laos with our state’s ag leadership program. Laos is a hot communist country bombed by the U.S. not that long ago and it couldn’t be more different from its neighbors.
One area of law refuses to stay consistent from year to year—Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The EPA and Army Corps recently amended a rule (mostly) in alignment with the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision.
The Court narrowed the reach of the Clean Water Act in Sackett v. EPA by limiting what wetlands are considered Waters of the United States (WOTUS).
The Korean Peninsula is a land of opposites—modern and ancient, high-tech and steeped in tradition, North and South. During a recent trip, I learned about South Korean farming and the role US agriculture plays in today’s South Korea.
On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to California’s Prop 12 law, dealing a blow to livestock agriculture.
This spring, I was happy to be invited to speak to students at different events at Indiana University and at Purdue University. I think the future of agriculture is in good hands.
The Indiana Supreme Court just handed down a decision that explains how to analyze cases where government-induced flooding damages cropland.
As carbon capture and storage becomes a key in fighting climate change, state legislatures are addressing subsurface ownership in different ways. Who will guard rural landowners’ private property rights?
Brianna counts down the top stories of 2022 and looks ahead to 2023.
What does ESG have to do with agriculture?
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held argument on California’s Prop 12, which bans the sale of pork from hogs that don’t meet the state’s production standards. In this agriculture case, why were the Justices so focused on a state’s ability to legislate morality across state lines?
I attended a 3-day environmental conference in Chicago. Here are my top 3 takeaways.
The climate is changing. How will that impact dairy production?
If the title of this blog confuses you, welcome to the club! Two recent court decisions have sent us back to high school science class. Let’s take a look.
In an environmental ruling that will also impact agricultural government agencies, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Clean Air Act did not give the EPA broad authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Here in Indiana, the fight against livestock and solar farms seemed to have moved to the county level. Landowners can do a few things to improve their chances of obtaining the necessary county zoning approval for a new project.
Agriculture has been and will continue to be a leader in sustainability.
Whether land is a “wetland” covered by the Clean Water Act is a perennial issue for farmers and developers. Now the Supreme Court is taking that question up—will we finally get a solid answer?
While we are all watching to see what the Supreme Court does with California’s Prop 12, other state livestock laws have popped up across the country. Some could put livestock farms out of business entirely.
There are many companies offering farmers cash to sign soil carbon contracts. What is in these contracts and should you sign up your farm?