Can you believe we’ve hit 100 episodes of the Ag Law in the Field Podcast?  It’s crazy to think it was 5 years ago when I set out to start this show with an idea, some good friends who agreed to be guests, and Google to teach me what to do.   Every episode I interview an ag lawyer or other expert on an important agricultural law topic.  Over the first 100 episodes, I’ve been fortunate to have some of the best in the ag law world join me for the show!

If you’re new to the idea of a podcast, don’t be intimidated!  It’s free to listen to these audio-only interviews from your smart phone or your computer. Below, if you simply click on the title for each episode, that will take you directly to that episode page.  All you have to do is just click the black triangle (the “play” button) and you’ll be off and running.  You can also visit our website to look through all of the available episodes by clicking here.  If you’ve got a smart phone, you can find us on your Podcast App or iTunes.

In case you want to read our prior episode rundowns, here they are:  [Episodes 1-10, click here; Episodes 11-20, click here; Episodes 21-30, click here;  Episodes 31-40, click here; Episodes 41-50, click here; Episodes 51-60, click here; Episodes 61-70, click here; Episodes 71-80, click here; and, finally, Episodes 81-90, click here.

With that background, here’s our recap of Episodes 91-100!

Episode #91: Stacey Barber (Community Property).  Since Texas is a community property state, it’s important to understand exactly what that means and how it comes into play in situations like divorces, estate planning, at someone’s death.  Stacey Barber did a great job walking us through this area of law and explaining the difference between separate and community property and why it really matters.

Episode #92:  Andrew Decker (When Ag Law meets Criminal Law).  Who would have thought that a guinea and a turkey would land a criminal defense lawyer and an ag lawyer chatting for 45 minutes about open range law?  Listeners have loved this story from Andrew Decker about his growing clientele of criminal defendants charged with crimes related to birds and fences.

Episode #93: Joel Cape (Seed Law).  When can a farmer save seed and use it again next season?  What legal protections apply to the use and sale of seed?  These are just some of the questions we chatted about with Joel Cape, an Arkansas-based ag lawyer who has represented seed companies, seed sellers, and growers navigating these legal issues.

Episode #94: Jill Mader (Farm Transition Conversations).  Jill Mader, a farm transition facilitator from Canada, says she does the “softer side of farm transitions.”  I love that description of her work, and loved our interview where Jill discusses the importance of having these conversations, shares some tips and tricks to help get them started, and reminds us the importance of reaching some common ground.

Episode #95:  Paul Goeringer (2020 Ag Law Year in Review).  This show is as much of a holiday tradition as eggnog and Christmas carols.  Each December, Paul Goeringer and I do a rundown of the major ag law stories of the past year.  We had lots of material to work with, including the Clean Water Act, dicamba, and beef checkoff litigation.

Episode #96:  Jake Parker (North Carolina Nuisance Update Part 3).  By this point, I feel like Jake Parker from North Carolina Farm Bureau is about due a co-host byline given his numerous appearances on the show.  Jake is always willing to update us on what is happening with the hog farm nuisance lawsuits in North Carolina, and this time, he had a lot of information to share, including a US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit opinion and a settlement announcement.

Episode #97:  Jeff Peterson (Hot Topics in Ag Finance Law).  There have been a number of ag finance issues in the news recently, so I went to Jeff Peterson, an ag lawyer specializing in ag finance who grew up on a family dairy to help us understand the ins and outs of these issues including the Dean Foods preferential payment letters, detailing with operating debt a lender is unwilling to roll over, and non-payment for livestock.

Episode #98: Grant Ballard (Crop Insurance Disputes).  Grant Ballard is a nationwide expert on litigating crop insurance disputes on behalf of farmers and ranchers.  He did a great job on this episode of discussing crop insurance generally, identifying where disputes commonly arise, offering tips for producers purchasing crop insurance, and giving us a rundown on two of his most impactful cases.

Episode #99: Chelsea Good (Dealer Statutory Trust).  When a new law affecting livestock producers and sellers comes out of Washington, DC, it’s big news for the agricultural industry.  Chelsea Good, VP of Government and Industry Affairs for the Livestock Marketing Association joined me to explain this new federal law and the protections it offers to producers and sellers in the event they have sold livestock and not been paid.

Episode #100:  Thoughts from Tiffany’s Dad.  I knew I wanted to do something fun to celebrate my 100th episode.  I convinced my Dad, who is a diesel mechanic and runs our family farm and ranch to join me.  We had a really fun chat about the history and story of our family farm, his advice to people getting started in agriculture, and some of the ag law issues he has seen play out over the years.  This has been hands-down my favorite (and our most popular!) episode to date.  Click here for a little sneak peek.