Happy Friday!  It’s been a busy week here as I have been working with several of my colleagues in the Texas A&M Agricultural Economics Department on a series of educational videos on the legal and economic issues related to hemp production. If this is a topic of interest to you, be sure you subscribe to this blog as we will be releasing our videos and written materials within the next month!

Here are some of the ag law stories in the news over the past couple of weeks.

Image by Ralf Bitzer from Pixabay

*USDA freezes supplemental CFAP payments pending review.  The USDA announced that it has frozen the supplemental CFAP payments that were announced by President Trump just days before he left office.  The freeze is in place to allow the Biden administration to review the program.  The application process will still continue, with the deadline being February 26.  [Read article here.]  Beyond the additional CFAP payments, the USDA announced a freeze on new federal regulations and a review of recently issued rules that have not yet taken effect.  [Read article here.]

*Article discusses how to value sweat equity.  My friend, Shannon Ferrell, was recently interviewed for an article discussing how to value sweat equity when working on a farm or ranch transition plan.  This is a question facing many agriculture families and this article might help get some thoughts rolling on how to address this in your own operation.  [Read article here.]

*Millennials need to talk estate planning with parents.  Bloomberg published a great article encouraging millennials to start having conversations about estate and long term care planning with their parents.  In addition to providing an overview of the documents that should be drafted, the article offers some tips on how to start and handle the conversation.  [Read article here.]

*American Farm Bureau study shows COVID-19 taking a toll on farmers’ mental health.  Mental health is an important topic to me.  A recent study shows that, not surprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on mental health of those involved in agriculture. [Read article here.]  If you are in need of mental health resources, the National Agricultural Law Center has compiled a great list of resources in all 50 states, which is available here.  Additionally, know that you are not alone.  To hear more about this, be sure to listen to my prior podcast episode with Lesley Kelly here.

*Superior Service Award.  I was very honored to receive a Superior Service Award last week from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.  I have a really fun job and love the opportunity to work with great people, both within Extension and our clientele.  I appreciate your support of this blog and my programming efforts!  [Read article here.]

Upcoming Programs

Although many of my programs will still be virtual for a while, my schedule is starting to fill up for the year. Be sure to check out my complete list of upcoming presentations here.