Happy June!  We’ve got plenty of ag law news to kick off the summer.

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*US Supreme Court rules for landowner in Sackett v. EPA, abandons “significant nexus test” for WOTUS.  I’ll have a lengthy blog post about this decision on Monday, but meanwhile, you can read a Q&A interview I did with Progressive Cattle about the decision and what it means for agriculture here. You can also listen to me and two of the best water law professors in the country break it down on my Ag Law in the Field Podcast here.

*US Supreme Court unanimously sides with landowner in takings case involving tax sale windfalls.  The Court issued a unanimous opinion siding with Geraldine Tyler in a case challenging Hennepin County’s approach of keeping any excess funds generated when property is sold at a tax sale.  Here, Ms. Tyler owed $15,000 in property taxes, including interest and fees.  The county foreclosed on her home and sold it at auction for $40,000 and kept the balance for its own use.  Ms. Tyler claimed this constituted a taking under the Fifth Amendment, and the Justices agreed.  [Read Opinion here.]

*Plaintiffs seek court to vacate 2020 dicamba registration.  The plaintiffs in Center for Biological Diversity v. EPA have filed a Motion for Summary Judgment seeking to vacate the 2020 FIFRA registration of three over-the-top dicamba products.  If this storyline sounds familiar to you, the Center for Biological Diversity obtained similar relief in 2020 when it successfully obtained an order vacating the 2018 registration for several over-the-top dicamba products. The current lawsuit challenged the registration primarily on three grounds: FIFRA, Endangered Species Act, and procedural claims.  To read more, check out this great article by our friend Brigit Rollins at the National Agricultural Law Center.

*Planning pays off with non-probate transfers.  My friend, Garrett Couts, recently published a great article with Progressive Cattle talking about the benefits of non-probate asset planning.  He explains why this can be helpful and offers a list of the most common ways to do non-probate asset planning.  [Read article here.]

*Let’s talk ranch water.  Joel Cape had a fascinating article on his blog about the trademark (or lack thereof) involved with a Texas-originated drink, ranch water.  It’s really an interesting story, and offers a good reminder for developing businesses regarding trademarking their products.  [Read article here.]

*Reminder about new over-the-counter antibiotic rules.  As of Monday, there will be new rules in place regarding the over-the-counter purchase of many livestock antibiotics.  We previously wrote about this here.  With the deadline upon us, we just wanted to issue a reminder.

Online & Upcoming Courses

We’ve got a few of our main programs scheduled for the fall.

We’ve got one more Where’s the Beef? program, which covers the legal and economic considerations for direct beef  sales.  Join us in Decatur on September 12! [Register here.]

Our Ranchers Leasing Workshop–a half-day program designed to cover grazing and hunting leases–will be in Decatur on September 13.  [Register here.]

You have two more chances to catch our live Owning Your Piece of Texas Workshops, focused on the key laws Texas landowners need to know.  You can find us in Rosenberg on September 25 and Emory September 26.  [Register here.]

Lastly, if these dates do not work for you, remember we have online course options for both the Ranchers Leasing Workshop and the Owning Your Piece of Texas program.