Section Newsletters

Articles on Agricultural Law

Frequently Asked Questions and Suggested Best Practices Related to Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Profession By Carolyn Elefant Agricultural Law, September 2025 AI in the practice of law is becoming unavoidable--familiarize yourself with obligations that may arise with usage of AI in your practice, including copyright, plagiarism, disclosure, privacy and confidentiality, duty to supervise, and legal ethics. 
Get Credit for Your Research By Jeffrey Mollet & Cari Brett Rincker Agricultural Law, September 2025 Submit your articles to the Agricultural Law Section Newsletter for publication!
Pending Illinois Legislation on Foreign Ownership of Property By Angela Peters Agricultural Law, September 2025 A summary of pending legislation that may impact the legal framework of foreign land ownership in Illinois. 
Report From the Chair By Garrett Thalgott Agricultural Law, September 2025 A note from the Chair of the Agricultural Law Section Council regarding the upcoming bar year. 
Resource Corner By Nancy M. Handegan Agricultural Law, September 2025 A quick look at some guidance the Farm Service Agency has provided, which can serve as a valuable resource in your practice. 
Formalities for Family Farm Estate Plan – The Promissory Note By Alan E. Stumpf Agricultural Law, April 2025 This article contains checklists for practitioners to use when drafting the family loan component of an operating agreement buyout or land sale. 
Rural Illinois Data Center Boom: Landowners, Are You Ready? By Ruth Robinson Agricultural Law, April 2025 Tech companies, including Meta, are pressing into unexpected parts of the country, on the hunt for huge swaths of flat land that have access to natural gas and transmission lines. Sleepy parts of Illinois, with large tracts of farmland that have nearby infrastructure to support the huge electricity demand that data centers require, are being shopped right now. The boom is on.
Will There Be a Legislative Response to the Illinois Supreme Court’s Decision Addressing Riparian Rights Along Non-Navigable Streams? By John H. Henderson Agricultural Law, April 2025 This article provides an update on the fate of HB1568 and discusses a very similar bill introduced in the current legislative session.
Option or Right of First Refusal Choose Your Words Carefully When Drafting Dispositive Provisions By Jeffrey A. Mollet & Michael A. Lawlor Agricultural Law, October 2024 A recent court opinion involved the interpretation of language in a will that provided for the disposition of certain farmland as well as the granting of certain purchase rights in that land to a tenant farmer.
Is This Your Father’s Blackacre? Checklist for Sale of Farm Land By Alan E. Stumpf Agricultural Law, March 2024 Tips and considerations to prepare for a farm sale transaction.
Legislative Analysis of S.2019/H.R. 4417: The ‘Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act’ Food Law, October 2023 The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act would transform the current balance of regulatory authority between the states and federal government by eliminating virtually all state and local legislative powers to impose standards or conditions on the preharveset production of agricultural products entering their own borders.
Legislative Analysis of S.2019/H.R. 4417: The ‘Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act’ Animal Law, October 2023 The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act would transform the current balance of regulatory authority between the states and federal government by eliminating virtually all state and local legislative powers to impose standards or conditions on the preharveset production of agricultural products entering their own borders.
U.S. Supreme Court Restricts Federal Jurisdiction Over Wetlands By Kristine A. Tidgren Agricultural Law, July 2023 On May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly narrowed the definition of “waters of the United States.” 
One Day Rest in Seven Act and ‘Employees Employed in Agriculture’ By Jeffrey A. Mollet Agricultural Law, March 2023 As of January 1, 2023, the One Day Rest in Seven Act, by its terms, applies to all “employers” in Illinois.
Is a Tenant Farmer Really a ‘Tenant’? By Jeffrey A. Mollet Agricultural Law, January 2023 An analysis of an area of law once thought to be clear cut—farm tenancy.
Trespass: Understanding the Basics and Requirements for Notice By Garrett Thalgott Agricultural Law, January 2023 Illinois adopted a law that makes it significantly easier for landowners to notify the public that entrance onto private property is forbidden. Unfortunately, there are many landowners that are still unaware of it and those that have heard of it often don’t know how to take advantage of it.
No Trust, No Authority, No Transaction? No Problem? By Jeffrey A. Mollet Trusts and Estates, November 2022 A look at the issues considered when an auctioneer brings a fully executed auction contract for a title commitment.
Climate Change Theory and Agricultural Law in 2022 By Alan E. Stumpf Agricultural Law, July 2022 We are seeing incentive driven technology advocated for those in agricultural production.
No Trust, No Authority, No Transaction? No Problem? By Jeffrey A. Mollet Real Estate Law, May 2022 A look at the issues considered when an auctioneer brings a fully executed auction contract for a title commitment.
No Trust, No Authority, No Transaction? No Problem? By Jeffrey A. Mollet Agricultural Law, April 2022 A look at the issues considered when an auctioneer brings a fully executed auction contract for a title commitment.
Will It Fly? By Alan Stumpf Agricultural Law, April 2022 A brief overview of the new revenue "Green Book" for the 2023 fiscal year.
‘Come Uppins’ Perhaps? Farmer Gets Bad News From Bankruptcy Court on Chapter 12 Conversion Request By Jeffrey A. Mollet Agricultural Law, January 2022 A summary and analysis of In re Steven Keith Jenkins, Debtor, a farm bankrupcy opinion.
Chapter 12 Bankruptcy Rates Have Increased in Most Agricultural States By Nigel Key, Jonathan Law, & Christine Whitt Agricultural Law, December 2021 Researchers from USDA, Economic Research Service recently created a new measure of bankruptcy rates that allows for a more accurate comparison of bankruptcy rates across states and over time.
Women Identified as Operators on 51 Percent of U.S. Farms in 2019 By Christine Whitt & Jessica E. Todd Agricultural Law, June 2021 In 2019, more than half of all farming operations in the U.S. had at least one woman operator.
Do Your Clients Know the Benefits of Leaving the Farm in Trust? By Curt Ferguson Trusts and Estates, May 2021 A look at how to limit the risks future generations may encounter when farms are kept in families.
Do Your Clients Know the Benefits of Leaving the Farm in Trust? By Curt Ferguson Elder Law, May 2021 A look at how to limit the risks future generations may encounter when farms are kept in families.
Do Your Clients Know the Benefits of Leaving the Farm in Trust? By Curt Ferguson Agricultural Law, March 2021 A look at how to limit the risks future generations may encounter when farms are kept in families.
Lesson From the Tax Court: The Right Way To Do Conservation Easements By Prof. Bryan Camp Agricultural Law, January 2021 Kumar Rajagopalan and Susamma Kumar v. Commissioner shows how taxpayers can properly deduct the donation of a conservation easement if they have good planning, good representation, and good luck.
Farm Leases for Today’s Agriculture By Jeffrey A. Mollet Agricultural Law, October 2020 As farms have grown, technology has become more prevalent, and farmland owners no longer reside on or are intimately connected with the farm, written leases have become far more common and prevalent in the agriculture space.
Guide to 2018 USDA Farm Bill Programs By Lynne R. Ostfeld Agricultural Law, October 2020 A list of programs that help farmers funded by the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or Risk Management Agency.

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