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Note: This website is intended to provide general information about legal issues, crop insurance, farm policy, and other risk management issues and should not be construed as providing legal advice. It should not be cited or relied upon as legal authority. For advice about how the issues discussed here might apply to your individual situation, you should consult an attorney.
Welcome to the Maryland Risk Management Education Blog, provided by the University of Maryland Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. This blog provides readers with information on risk management issues important to Maryland agriculture, upcoming events, and new materials that may interest readers.
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Settlement Reached in Washington State Dairy Cases
This post should not be construed as legal advice. Earlier this week, three Washington dairies entered into an agreement which would...
Paul Goeringer
May 20, 20153 min read
Weekly News Update, May 15th Edition
It is fitting this news post was scheduled for me this week (which is also by pure accident), but 1 year ago this week I launched this...
Paul Goeringer
May 15, 20154 min read
Terminating a Lease on Farmland
This post should not be construed as legal advice. We are to that magical time of year when tenants and landlord have to decide if they...
Paul Goeringer
May 13, 20152 min read
What is a Currency Transaction Report?
This post should not be considered as legal advice. This post originally appeared in the April 28th issue of the Delmarva Farmer. A...
Paul Goeringer
May 6, 20153 min read
Can You Take the Corn Stalks With You?
Today, I am back harping on my favorite issue, agricultural land leases. A farmer recently told my colleague in another Western state...
Paul Goeringer
Apr 30, 20153 min read
News Update for Week Ending April 25
Happy Friday morning to everyone reading this. Remember upcoming are webinars covering issues related to leasing property,...
Paul Goeringer
Apr 24, 20153 min read
Reporting Exemption for Animal Feeding Operations Challenged
I’ve been on a kick here lately of updating you on recent litigation. That trend continues today. On April 15, a coalition of...
Paul Goeringer
Apr 23, 20152 min read
What About That Egg Case in California? Let’s Talk About Eggs Man
In 2008, California voters approved “Prop 2” which banned the use of traditional cage-systems with laying hens and required cages which...
Paul Goeringer
Apr 16, 20153 min read
Are You Currently Suing Syngenta? Overview of Current Agrisure Viptera® Class Action Litigation
You may laugh at my title, but currently over 1,300 farmers have filed Federal lawsuits against Syngenta. The lawsuits stem from Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera® which contains the MR162 genetic trait aimed at the control of armyworms. Syngenta began selling the seeds in 2011 after gaining U.S. approval in 2010. Key trading partners approved the seed variety around the same time except for China, which did not grant approval till December 2014. If you have paid attention to th
Paul Goeringer
Apr 9, 20153 min read
Weekly News Post for April 3, 2015
Happy Good Friday, happy Passover, or just happy Friday. Let’s take a look at some random news from the week. Roundup Will Face New Requirements: EPA released a statement that Monsanto will be required to have a weed resistant management plan for Roundup. The plan would include consumer education, remediation plans, and weed monitoring to address concerns of weed resistance. To read more, check out the Reuters article by Carey Gillam at http://www.reuters.com/article/2015
Paul Goeringer
Apr 3, 20152 min read
Frequently Asked Questions: Can I Use a Residential Lease to Rent Farmland?
This post should not be relied upon as legal advice. Before we start, let’s take a minute for a little review: the goals in leasing a house and farmland will be different. One is a place of residence and the other is a place an agricultural operation takes place on. Goals in a residence leasing relationship will be different than those in a lease for farmland. You should not laugh. Many new producers and new landlords make the common mistake of think
Paul Goeringer
Apr 2, 20152 min read
New Actively Engaged Rule Proposed by USDA: What Does It Mean For You?
The 2014 Farm Bill requires USDA to revise the regulations for the term “actively engaged” in agriculture. On March 24, USDA announced proposed regulations for actively engaged. This proposed rule could potentially impact some of your operations. Today, let’s look at who this proposed rule would and would not impact. First, what do we specifically mean by “actively engaged” in agriculture? To be eligible for many Federal farm programs, the individual or the bu
Paul Goeringer
Mar 30, 20153 min read
Farm Leases and Big Data: Issues That Cannot Be Settled By a Handshake Deal
This post should not be considered legal advice. Before we get started on the topic, I have to issue a nerd alert because I find most of the issues related to data gathered from precision ag, yield monitors, etc. to be utterly cool and dealing with the ownership issues of the data even cooler. With that said, on with this post. Earlier, Ashley Newhall posted an overview of legal issues associated with farm data ownership which may have gotten you thin
Paul Goeringer
Mar 18, 20153 min read
New Beginning Producer Crop Insurance Benefits From 2014 Farm Bill
I have previously highlighted the beginning farmer benefits in the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP); see 2014 Farm Bill Makes Changes to the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. But the 2014 Farm Bill also contains new beginning producer benefits for the crop insurance program as well. These benefits range from exemption from certain administrative fees, 10 additional percentage points of premium subsidy, use of past production history (if certain
Paul Goeringer
Mar 16, 20155 min read
A Look at Montgomery County’s Proposed Restrictions on Pesticide Use: What Exactly is Preemption?
This post should not be construed as legal advice. Many local governments may see holes in Federal and state laws and decide to implement local ordinances to fix these holes. But although local governments may have the best intentions when implementing such ordinances, these ordinances may not be valid due to something known as preemption. One such example is currently being debated in a Maryland county. In October 2014, Montgomery County proposed a
Paul Goeringer
Mar 15, 20154 min read
Weekly News Update for March 13
Good Friday morning everyone (or Saturday morning if you are getting this by email). Below are a couple of items you might find useful: New ALEI Publication Released – Ashley Newhall and Paul Goeringer have finalized a publication giving a general overview of business organization structures typically utilized in agricultural businesses. This information can be helpful to those new producers looking to start their first farm. The publication is titled Using a Business Orga
Paul Goeringer
Mar 13, 20152 min read
Quick Look at Yield Exclusion Option in 2014 Farm Bill
The spring crop is quickly approaching on March 16. Today let’s focus on new crop insurance options provided in the 2014 Farm Bill. One new option is Yield Exclusion (YE). YE allows for producers to exclude specific yields from eligible years from their actual production histories (APH). This exclusion can have an impact on producers’ APHs and crop insurance premiums. Eligible Counties in Maryland To be eligible, the county average planted acreage yield must b
Paul Goeringer
Mar 11, 20153 min read
Developing Your Agricultural Land Lease: Updating the Rental Rate
This post is not intended to provide legal advice. I realize that we are roughly 5 months away from when many of you will need to give...
Paul Goeringer
Mar 4, 20153 min read
Let’s Look at the Farmers’ Rights Act
This post should not constitute legal advice or lobbying for or against this piece of legislation. The purpose of this post is to review the possible implications of proposed legislation. Recently, the Maryland General Assembly’s House of Delegates and Senate both introduced legislation entitled Farmers’ Rights Act (HB 1019 & SB 532). If enacted,how would the legislation potentially impact Maryland agriculture? Let’s take a look at it today and see.
Paul Goeringer
Feb 24, 20155 min read
A Quick Overview of Pesticide Drift Liability
This post should not be considered legal advice. Recently I was asked to present at the University of Maryland Extension’s commercial pesticide training in Frederick and Denton. My topic was pesticide drift liability. I decided to bypass looking at the administrative process through the Maryland Department of Agriculture and focused on previous court decisions involving drift liability related to negligence, trespass, and using the pesticide outside the label. N
Paul Goeringer
Feb 23, 20154 min read
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