Questions from Tiffany’s Desk: What Signs Do I Need on My Farm/Ranch?

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After my blog post about amendments to the Texas Farm Animal Liability Act, my email inbox was bombarded with questions about the various signs that landowners should consider having, what the differences are between the signs, and where to purchase the signs.  I thought it might be helpful to do a rundown on the common signs landowners should consider having from a liability protection perspective. Rural landowners should consider hanging two signs from a liability protection perspective: The Texas Farm Animal Liability Act sign and the Texas Agritourism… Read More →

August 13, 2021 Weekly Round Up

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It is time for another recap of some of the key agricultural law stories in the news over the past couple of weeks. * Court orders Maui County to obtain NPDES permit for injection wells on remand.  You all likely remember the US Supreme Court decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, in which the US Supreme Court held that NPDES permits are required for both direct discharges into waters of the United States and for indirect discharges that are the functional equivalent of a direct… Read More →

Goliad County Cattle Seized for Cruel Treatment Returned, Case Dismissed

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A recent situation involving the immediate seizure of cattle in Goliad County brought a lot of attention to the laws regarding when livestock can be seized when allegations of animal cruelty have been made. Background  When Mr. Franke, an 81-year old Goliad County cattle rancher died, he left 100 head of cattle and a portion of land to the Padillas, a couple who had worked for Mr. Franke caring for his livestock for years.  Mr. Franke’s children challenged Mr. Franke’s will, arguing they should be entitled to the… Read More →

July 30, 2021 Weekly Round Up

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Happy Friday!  On Tuesday, I commented to a couple of friends it had been a quite couple of weeks on the agricultural law front.  Apparently, that opened the flood gates and we’ve got a full slate of news for today’s Weekly Round Up! * United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upholds ruling in Montana beef checkoff case.  The Ninth Circuit has upheld the decision of the District of Montana upholding the Montana Beef Checkoff.  Specifically, the court found that because of the MOUs between the… Read More →

2021 Texas Legislative Recap – Key Bills for Agriculture

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As we do after every Texas Legislative Session, we’re here with a recap of the 87th Texas Legislature and the bills impacting agriculture.  As you will see, it was a busy session with a number of ag-related bills being passed.  We have linked each bill below to allow easy access to the full text. Also, as has become tradition, J Pete Laney joined me on the Ag Law in the Field Podcast to discuss these bills and give us his thoughts from someone involved on the ground with… Read More →

Owning Your Piece of Texas Online Course!

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We’ve been working hard over the last year on a really exciting project.  Our Owning Your Piece of Texas: Key Laws Texas Landowners Need to Know Online Course is now available!   Given the popularity of our live Owning Your Piece of Texas courses, we wanted to have an online, on-demand option for rural landowners and agricultural producers interested in learning about various laws they may encounter.  Topics include water law, oil and gas law, eminent domain, special use tax valuation, renewable energy leases, fence law, landowner liability,… Read More →

July 16, 2021 Weekly Round Up

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I’m not sure how this happened, but it is the middle of July and the summer is flying by.  There are plenty of agricultural law stories in the news. *President Biden addresses several agricultural issues in Executive Order Promoting Competition in the American Economy.  President Biden recently issued his Executive Order on Promoting the Competition in the American Economy.  [Read Fact Sheet here.]  This Executive Order addresses a number of issues, including several related to agriculture.  Namely, the Executive Order: (1) directs USDA to consider new rules under… Read More →

2020 Texas Rural Land Value Trends Report Released

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One of the most useful resources for rural Texas landowners is the annual Rural Land Value Trends Report published by the Texas Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.  The 2020 Report was recently released. 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… Read More →

AFPC Analyzes Proposed Tax Change Impact on Representative Farms

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The Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University recently released a report looking at the likely impacts of proposed changes to the estate and capital gains taxes. [View Report here.]  Specifically, the report analyzed the impact that changes to the lifetime exclusion for estate taxes and the elimination of the stepped up basis for capital gains taxes would have on the AFPC’s 94 representative farms.  The results were clear in showing that for the representative farms, the proposed policy changes would greatly increase tax liability. Estate… Read More →

July 2, 2021 Weekly Round Up

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It has been a busy couple of weeks in the agricultural law world.  Here’s a recap of some of the biggest stories. * Texas Supreme Court will not hear Texas Central Railway eminent domain case.  The Texas Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in Miles v. Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure.  This denial leaves in place the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals ruling that Texas Central is considered a “railroad company” and an “interurban railroad,” thereby giving it eminent domain power to condemn land for the high… Read More →