top of page
Please sign up to receive email updates of new content (your email will be kept private and not sold). If you do sign up, you will get an email to confirm your email address that may end up in your junk mail folder. Email updates will not start till you confirm your email.
If you have issues or thoughts on topics that should address, click here to send them.
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.
Search
Landowner Oriented Agricultural Law Workshop To Be Held
Poultry barns and a small farm are surrounded by forested land in Wicomico County, Md., on June 18, 2010. (Photo by Matt Rath_Chesapeake Bay Program) This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC) and the Ag Law Education Initiative will host another one-day workshop on Feb. 26th at Chesapeake College. The So You Want to Own Farmland in Maryland workshop will be from 9:30 am to
Paul Goeringer
Jan 28, 20252 min read
The University of Maryland to Host Ag Law Program on January 16 in Cockeysville
Image of cattle in a field by Chesapeake Bay Program See here for the site’s reposting policy. College Park, MD – The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC) will host the, So You Want to Own Farmland in Maryland workshop on January 16th in Cockeysville from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. The program will be held at the Baltimore County Ag Center, 1114 Shawan Rd, Cockeysville, MD 21030. The free program will cover those legal issues that Maryland landowners may face.
Paul Goeringer
Dec 12, 20232 min read
Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment For Murphy-Brown in New Hog Farm Litigation
Image of hogs in confined operation by United Soybean Board The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. A federal district court in North Carolina recently granted summary judgment in favor of Murphy-Brown, LLC, regarding negligence and trespass claims brought by neighbors of a hog farm that contracts with Murphy-Brown. This litigation had been watched by those of us following right-to-farm law developments since it utilized
Paul Goeringer
Aug 29, 20233 min read
Talbot County Circuit Court Holds Right-to-Farm Law Did Apply to Agriculture Operation
Tractor pulling disc and tilling farmland in Red River Basin by USDA The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. Often, I rarely get to focus on a right-farm law decision in Maryland. Because the state’s right-to-farm law directs disputes into mediation, we often do not get decisions involving the law. Recently, a Talbot County Circuit Court judge reviewed the decision of the county agricultural resolution board involving a
Paul Goeringer
Jul 18, 20233 min read
Right-to-Farm Amendments: A Look at Common Changes with South Dakota’s Law
Grasslands for ranching in South Dakota image is by USDA-NRCS.jpg The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. In March, South Dakota’s governor signed House Bill 1090, which amended the state’s right-to-farm law. These changes mirror similar changes in North Carolina's changes to their right-to-farm law. These changes include clarifying when the operation gains the defense protections and who can bring a lawsuit and damages. Y
Paul Goeringer
Apr 4, 20234 min read
Landowner Oriented Agricultural Law Webinars Will Be Held in March and April
Antietam National Battlefield in Washington County, Maryland by the Chesapeake Bay Program See here for the site’s reposting policy. The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC) will host five webinars via zoom every Friday starting on Friday, March 31st and ending on Friday, April 28th. The free webinars will cover those legal issues that Maryland landowners may face. A grant funds the program through the Northeast Risk Management Education Center. The web
Press Release
Feb 28, 20232 min read
Looking Back at 2022: Top Legal Developments in Agricultural Law
Cattle looking under fence rail by Craig Oppenheimer The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. With 2022 over and 2023 just starting, I want to look back at the top legal developments impacting agriculture in 2022. These legal developments may seem like repeats from my 2022 update; click here. However, moving into 2023, we will likely see new issues emerge as lawsuits continue against certain pesticides, continued right-to-
Paul Goeringer
Jan 17, 20233 min read
Landowner Oriented Agricultural Law Workshops Will Be Held Across Maryland
Image highlighting workshop dates and topics covered including image of farm by Edwin Remsberg. Image developed by Meghana Kotraiah See here for the site’s reposting policy. The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC) will host two one-day workshops on Jan. 26th in Boonesboro and Jan. 31st at Chesapeake College. The So You Want to Own Farmland in Maryland workshops will be from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. The free program will cover those legal issues that Maryland
Paul Goeringer
Nov 15, 20222 min read
Supreme Court of Iowa Reverses Course on Right-to-Farm Rulings
Picture of hog snout by Alex Lafayette via University of Arkansas The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. I like to discuss recent right-to-farm court rulings from across the country because it helps us better understand how those laws are applied in other states. Iowa has often been an outlier in right-to-farm decisions, based on a 2004 decision that had often been used to find the law unconstitutional as appl
Paul Goeringer
Aug 23, 20224 min read
North Carolina Court Rejects Challenges to Changes Made to State Right-to-Farm Law
Image of piglets in hog operation by United Soybean Board The article is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. The end of 2021 saw development on the right-to-farm law front. The Court of Appeals of North Carolina recently rejected arguments that amendments to the state’s right-to-farm law were facially unconstitutional. To the court, the law was not unconstitutional on its face. The decision is in Rural Empowerment Assn. for Communit
Paul Goeringer
Jan 6, 20224 min read
Refresher on Right-to-Farm Laws: What Do They Do
Planting cover crops image by Edwin Remsberg This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. I often get asked questions about right-to-farm laws and how these laws operate. All 50 states have a version of a right-to-farm law that provides a defense against a nuisance action brought against an agricultural operation. The agricultural operation would need to meet the statutory requirements in the law to utilize the defense.
Paul Goeringer
Nov 9, 20212 min read
State Court Decision Highlights When Right-to-Farm Laws Might Not Apply
Image of poultry farm by Edwin Remsberg This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. A Texas state court of appeals recently announced a decision on appeal. The court upheld a trial court’s granting a permanent injunction to neighbors to prevent two poultry farms from operating near their houses (Huynh v. Blanchard, 2021). This case involves a nuisance claim and highlights when right-to-farm laws may not provide a defense t
Paul Goeringer
Sep 15, 20215 min read
Supreme Court of Mississippi Finds Use of Scare Guns Falls Under the Right-to-Farm Law
Soybean field by United Soybean Growers This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. I am back again, highlighting another court decision covering a state’s right-to-farm law and the use of scare guns. In Mississippi, two producers began using propane cannon scare guns to prevent deer from eating their cotton and soybean crops during the summer months. The propane cannons created loud noises, and the neighbors’ ensuing lawsuit tried to
Paul Goeringer
May 25, 20214 min read
Federal Judge Allows New Lawsuit to Continue Against Smithfield and Murphy-Brown
Hogs being grown in a confined operation by United Soybean Board This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. Late in 2020, we had a North Carolina Hog Farm Litigation settlement that ended several lawsuits filed against Murphy-Brown, LLC and Smithfield Foods. In May 2020, neighboring landowners filed a new set of federal lawsuits against Murphy-Brown and Smithfield, the same defendants in the prior lawsuits. Similar to the previous law
Paul Goeringer
May 4, 20214 min read
More on Scare Guns and the Right-to-Farm Law
Farm scene with open fields and buildings. Image by L. Shanley This is not a substitute for legal advice. See here for the site’s reposting policy. In 2015, I wrote a post covering the town of Trempealeau, Wisconsin, scare gun ordinances, and the Klein family. That post involved a 2013 challenge to the town’s scare gun ordinance requiring anyone seeking to use a scare gun to apply for a permit from the city and meet a minimum set of conditions. In 2017, the town changed the
Paul Goeringer
Apr 13, 20214 min read
bottom of page