We’re here with our first Round Up of 2020!  We hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  Here are a few of the ag law stories in the news over the past couple of weeks.

*Man arrested for hauling marijuana, turns out it was legal hemp.  The Texas Tribune recently published a story about a man who was arrested for hauling what authorities suspected as being marijuana.  After testing was completed, it turns out that the plants were, as the man claimed, legal hemp.  [Read article here.]  A similar issue occurred in South Carolina where 183 pounds of plant material was seized under suspicion of being marijuana, while drivers claim it was legal hemp.  [Read article here.]  As our local news station reported, the legalization of hemp has created difficulties for law enforcement in these types of circumstances.  As I noted on the news, these issues are not likely not going away and anyone involved in hemp production or transportation needs to be aware. [View news story here.]

*Free agricultural employment law webinar. The National Agricultural Law Center will be hosting a free webinar on agricultural employment law titled, “2020 Vision: Finding Clarity on Labor and Employment Risks in the New Year” on January 15.  Speakers are my friends Nate Huff and Brandon Davis–two of the best in the business.  This will be great info.  [Click here for more information.]

*Farm Credit partners with farm groups to create online training course on stress management.  In December, Farm Credit announced that it would be partnering with a number of additional farm groups to create online training to help individuals who interact with farmers and ranchers to help them recognize signs of stress and offer assistance. [View article here.]

*Interview on agricultural leases.  I recently did an interview with James Hunt all about considerations for agricultural leases.  You can listen here.

Upcoming Programs

I’ll kick off my presentations for 2020 next week.  On Tuesday, I’ll be speaking via video on eminent domain to the Blacklands Income Growth Conference in Waco.  On Thursday, we’ll be hosting a Ranchers Leasing Workshop in Palestine.  This will be our only leasing event in East Texas this year, so be sure to register if you are in the area.  On Friday, I’ll in Carthage at the East Texas Landowner’s Conference, where I will discuss landowner liability, fence law, and eminent domain.

The following week, I will be in Amarillo at the Southwest Beef Symposium on Wednesday (January 22), Lubbock for the TAWC Water College on Thursday (January 23), and Floyd County for the Caprock Crops Conference on Friday (January 24).  I’ll look forward to seeing many of you at these events.

For my complete list of upcoming programs, click here.

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