Monthly Archives: July 2022

Court of Appeals Reverses $60 Million Punitive Damage Award for Peach Farmer in Dicamba Trial

Posted on by

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently vacated a $60 million punitive damage verdict in a dicamba lawsuit filed by a Missouri peach farmer. Background Dicamba is a herbicide product that kills broadleaf weeds.  Traditional dicamba formulations also kill growing crops, and thus, dicamba was not used as an over-the-top herbicide during the growing season.  That changed, however, when Monsanto developed dicamba-tolerant soybean and cotton seeds.  The seeds, Xtend, were released in 2015.  However, at that time, there was no corresponding dicamba herbicide labeled… Read More →

July 22, 2022 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

Happy Friday!  Here are some of the ag law stories in the news over the past couple of weeks. * Court overturns punitive damage award in case involving peach farm and dicamba drift.  The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has overturned a $60 million punitive damage award in a case involving dicamba drift damage to a Missouri peach farm.  The court affirmed the remainder of the case, but has ordered a new trial on the sole issue of punitive damages.  I’ll have a blog post… Read More →

Direct Beef Sales Handbook Available!

Posted on by

We’re excited to unveil our newest handbook, “Where’s the Beef? Legal & Economic Considerations for Direct Beef Sales.” Whether you are just considering adding direct beef sales to your operation or you’ve been involved in selling beef directly to the consumer for years, this handbook is for you!  We walk through a number of the legal and economic issues related to selling beef in this manner including necessary permits, selecting a slaughter facility, budgeting, calculating breakeven costs, and more.  We also share insights from numerous interviews with producers… Read More →

Texas Supreme Court: Texas Central Has Eminent Domain Power for High Speed Rail

Posted on by

In a case we’ve been closely following, Miles v. Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure, Inc., the Texas Supreme Court held that Texas Central does have the right to exercise eminent domain power in building the high speed rail from Dallas to Houston. Background This case revolves around the proposed high-speed electric-powered passenger train that would run between Dallas and Houston. In 2012, TXHS Railroad, Inc. was formed and in 2015, the company changed its name to Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure, Inc. (“Texas Central”) with a purpose to “plan,… Read More →

July 8, 2022 Weekly Round Up

Posted on by

We’ve made it to July!  Here are some of the ag law stories in the news over the past couple of weeks. *Texas Supreme Court rules Texas Central Railroad has eminent domain authority for high speed rail project.  In a 6-3 ruling, the Texas Supreme Court has found that Texas Central Railroad does have eminent domain authority for its high speed rail project from Dallas to Houston. [Find opinions here.]  I’ll have a full blog post breaking down this decision next week.  In the next month, I’ll also… Read More →

Thank You To Our Sponsors!

Posted on by

We wanted to take a minute to give a big THANK YOU to all of the Texas Agriculture Law Blog sponsors.  We are so grateful for your support of this blog! We appreciate Capital Farm Credit,  Lone Star Ag Credit, Texas Corn Producers, Texas Farm Credit, Texas Forestry Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Insureberry (a division of Ag Workers Insurance), Texas Grain Sorghum Producers Association, Texas Land Associates, and Texan Title. If you’re a reader, please take a moment to thank these sponsors!