Texas Agriculture Law
It’s been a bit since our last Weekly Round Up post, but we’re back! Part of the reason for the delay was a recent trip I took with my family to the Nugget All-American sheep show and sale in Reno, NV. Because I’m a mom and bragging on our kids is what we do, I’m happy to report that both kiddos won banners. Braun’s lamb was Reserve Supreme Champion Wether and Champion Dorset Wether and Harper’s lamb was Reserve Speck Wether. My family also raised the Reserve Supreme… Read More →
Last week, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Hlavinka v. HSC Pipeline. [Read opinion here.] Background Plaintiffs (“Hlavinka”) own four tracts of land totaling 13,000 acres in Brazoria County, Texas. Although the family uses the land for agriculture, Mr. Hlavinka testified his primary purpose for purchasing the property was to sell pipeline easements. The land has 25 pipeline easements on it. Mr. Hlavinka recently negotiated two such easements in arms’ length, private sales transactions, receiving $3.45 million and $2 million, respectively. HSC installed the pipeline at… Read More →
Are you interested in selling beef directly to the consumer? What type of insurance do you need? How do you set your prices? Do you need any permits? Will it increase your profits? Not sure where to start? Wonder what mistakes people have made getting their business off the ground? We’ve got the program for you! Dr. Justin Benavidez and I will be hosting two in-person programs focused on the legal and economic issues related to direct beef sales. These day-long programs will cover a variety of issues… Read More →
The Texas Supreme Court issued its decision in Pape Partners, Ltd. v. DRR Family Properties, and in doing so, answered the question of whether it is the courts or the TCEQ that has jurisdiction over water rights ownership disputes in Texas. [Read Opinion here.] Background Lola Robinson owned two pieces of property in McLennan County, the farm and an adjacent 250-acre tract of land. In 1986, she obtained two water rights permits from the TCEQ to irrigate from the Brazos River for one of the farms. The permits did… Read More →
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Every year, I do an interview related to agriculture and mental health. Click to listen to prior interviews with Ted Matthews, Adrienne DeSutter, and Lesley Kelley. This year, I was thrilled to have my friend, Shannon Ferrell, join me to talk about the work he is doing in this area. Shannon offers important insight, information, suggestions, and encouragement. He summed up our discussion with the most important line: This world is better with you in it. To listen to my interview with… Read More →
Each year, the Texas Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers publishes a Rural Land Value Trends report. They just released their 2021 edition. Click here to download. This report breaks Texas into seven regions and then each region is broken into smaller sub-regions. The report then offers information regarding land prices and leasing rates for various types of property from irrigated cropland to rangeland to CRP land. Additionally, this is the only publication I am aware of that publishes average hunting lease rates… Read More →
A recent Austin Court of Appeals decision in Texas Health and Human Services Commission v. Estate of Clyde L. Burt, answers an important Medicaid qualification question. Is an applicant required to reside in a home prior to seeking nursing care in order for the home to be considered an excludable resource under the Medicaid rules? [Read opinion here.] Background Clyde and Dorothy Burt bought a home in 1974 and lived there until December 2010 at which time they sold the home to their daughter, Linda Wallace, and moved into… Read More →
It is hard to believe we have reached the end of April, but here we are! Lots of agricultural law news happening around the country. *Article highlights nuance with 10% cap on residence homestead tax. My colleague, Dr. Blake Bennett, recently published a fact sheet looking at a nuance within the Texas Property Code related to the 10% cap on the yearly increase for residence homestead taxes in Texas. The Texas Property Code places a 10% limitation on the amount a County Appraisal District may increase the appraised… Read More →
On March 28, the United States Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in National Pork Producers v. Ross, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 12 (Prop 12). To hear more about animal confinement statutes generally and Prop 12 specifically, click here for a podcast episode I did with Beth Rumley from the National Agricultural Law Center. Background Prop 12, passed by California voters in 2018, makes it illegal to sell pork in California unless the pig from which it comes was born to a sow housed… Read More →
I am excited to announce that Jesse Richardson, Gatlin Squires, and I recently had a law review article published in the William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review. [Click here.] Our article, Turtles All the Way Down: A Clearer Understanding of the Scope of Waters of the United States Based on the U.S. Supreme Court Decisions, takes a deep dive into the history surrounding the “waters of the United States” definition, charting approaches from regulations to Supreme Court cases to the recent Obama and Trump Rules. It was… Read More →
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