“Hot Topics in Agricultural Law,” an ISBA Law Ed seminar, should warm up a chilly day next month in Bloomington. The presentation of the Agricultural Law Section will take place Friday, Jan. 26, in the DoubleTree Hotel.

Section council chair Donald L. Uchtmann of the University of Illinois in Urbana is coordinator and moderator of the program, which will provide 6.0 accredited MCLE hours. One hour of professionalism MCLE credit also has been applied for.

Uchtmann will open the seminar at 8:50 a.m. with introductions, and will proceed with the following topics and speakers.

9 a.m. – Update on Income Taxation, with Richard C. Walden a certified public accountant in Carlinville.

9:45 a.m. – Update on Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Taxation, with Michael G. Barton of Bellatti, Barton, Hamill & Cochran, Springfield.

10:45 a.m. – Non-Traditional “Farming” of Farmland: Wind, Biofuels and Long-wall Mining, a 90-minute panel discussion.

Speakers are Barbara K. Stille, senior vice president and general counsel of 1st Farm Credit Services, Normal; David Pritchard of Pritchard Osborne, Litchfield, and Jeffrey A. Mollet of the Silver Lake Group, Highland, section newsletter editor and past chair.

A luncheon break is scheduled at 12:15 p.m.

1:30 p.m. – Agricultural Real Estate Transactions and Development, a one-hour panel discussion.

Speakers are section council member Michael E. Massie of Massie & Rennick, Galva; Kurt S. Schroeder of Mathis, Marifian, Richter & Grandy, Belleville, and Robert E. Nelson of the Robert E. Nelson Law Office, Aurora.

2:30 p.m. – Agricultural Workers and Related Immigration Issues, with Stanley J. Horn of Azulay, Horn & Seiden, Chicago.

3:15 p.m. – Current Developments in Ag Law, Including Farm Lease Termination and Recreational Use, a half-hour panel discussion.

Speakers are section council members Margaret L. van Dijk, chief legal counsel of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Springfield; A. Bryan Endres of the University of Illinois, Urbana, and associate newsletter editor James R. Grebe of Hasselberg, Williams, Grebe, Snodgrass & Birdsall, Peoria.

3:45 to 4:45 p.m. – Legal Ethics and the Family Farm, with Gary A. Grasso of Burr Ridge, and section council member Mary E. Faupel of the Faupel Law Offices, Eureka, who also serves on the Real Estate Law Section Council and Committee on Legislation.