As usual, things around here have been crazy.  I apologize for the lack of a Round Up post last Friday, but I spend most of my week on the road.  Last Tuesday, I was in Childless for an Extension wildlife meeting talking about hunting leases.  Then, on Friday I spoke at our Ranchers Leasing Workshop event in Bryan.  Saturday, I was able to speak at the Agricultural Economics Department Tailgate before the Texas A&M University football game.  Then, this Tuesday I made my way to Lubbock to speak at the West Texas Agricultural Chemicals Institute Conference.  Welcome to those of you joining from these events!

Here are some ag law stories in the news.

*Texas court issues injunction preventing 2015 WOTUS rule in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  The US District Court fro the Southern District of Texas issued an injunction this week preventing the 2015 WOTUS definition from being applied in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi until the pending litigation involving the rule is resolved.  The court refused to issue the requested nationwide injunction, however.  You may recall from this prior post that there are two other injunctions in place from other federal courts, meaning that the 2015 WOTUS rule is not in effect in 29 states. [Read Order here.]

*Duke University study looks at water use for fracing in the Permian Basin.  A study out of Duke University concluded that the Permian Basin water use per well has increased nearly 800% from 2011 to 2016.  [Read study here.]

*Dicamba drift reports sharply down in Tennessee.  The University of Tennessee reports that there has been a 50% decline in dicamba-related complaints made to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture as compared to this time last year.  Researchers are unsure what caused the decline, but speculate it may be more widespread use of tolerant crops, additional education, and more experience with the technology.  [Read article here.]

*Ten Common Estate Planning Mistakes.  Hallock & Hallock law firm published a great article on common estate planning mistakes that they see in their practice.  [Read article here.]

*Ag Biotechnology and Implications of Syngenta Settlement.  A couple of weeks ago, my friend Paul Goeringer hosted a great webinar featuring ag law legend, Drew Kershen.  Professor Kershen offers a great discussion of the Syngenta litigation, the proposed settlement, and the potential implications this may have on seed companies and farmers alike.  [Listen here.]

*My appearance on Ag Law Today.  My friend Cari Rincker recently started her own Agricultural Law podcast with Purdue University.  I was her very first guest on the show, where we talked about the basics of grazing leases.  Cari’s show is actually video, rather than just audio, so to view our chat, click here.

Programs Next Week

On Monday evening, I’ll be in East Texas to talk about agricultural law in Nacogdoches.  Click here for more info.  On Tuesday, we’ll be hosting our Ranchers Leasing Workshop in conjunction with the TSCRA Ranching 101 program at 1:00 in Ft. Worth.

Ranchers Leasing Workshop is now available on demand to be taken anytime at your own pace. To register click here.

To see all of my upcoming programs, click here.