Monthly Archives: September 2025

Permanent Increase to Estate Tax Lifetime Exemption

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Anytime I do an estate planning presentation, the topic of the federal estate tax is one on the minds of many in the audience.  In July, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included an important provision permanently increasing an individual’s lifetime exemption to $15 million. Today, we are going to just hit the high notes of the estate tax and the change to the law included in the One Big Beautiful Bill.  For more information on the estate tax, click here for a podcast episode I did with… Read More →

Probate or Problems: Avoid Family Feuds with Estate Planning for Your Land

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I recently had the chance to join Mac and Wayne on their National Land Podcast to chat about the topic of estate planning.  We had a really fun conversation about things land owners should consider and mistakes we’ve seen in our careers.  You can listen here. If you are interested in farm and ranch estate planning in particular, we have lots of great resources!  Check out the Successful Succession video series I made in conjunction with Texas Corn Producers here.  We also have a playlist of our podcast… Read More →

September 12, 2025 Weekly Round Up

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It has been another couple of busy weeks for agricultural law news around the country.  Let’s get caught up. *Federal judge dismisses challenge to Texas’ new foreign ownership law.  A federal judge in the Southern District of Texas has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB 17, the law recently passed by the Texas Legislature prohibiting citizens, businesses and governments from certain countries from owning real property in Texas.  The court held that the plaintiffs, three Chinese citizens, lacked standing to bring their claims as they are… Read More →

Federal Court Upholds Air Emissions Exemption for Livestock & Poultry Operations

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I was honored to co-author (along with my friend, Paul Goeringer) the 1,000th article published by Southern Ag Today. Southern Ag Today is a collaboration between 12 universities across the South, including Texas A&M.  Each weekday, Southern Ag Today publishes a short article related to agricultural economics in the South.  If you are not subscribed, you are missing out!  You can get subscribed here by clicking on the green “subscribe” box on the righthand side of the screen. For article number 1,000, we focused on an EPA rule… Read More →

2025 USDA NASS Cash Rent Rates Published

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Each year, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service conducts a nationwide survey to gather data and compile a report showing average cash rental rates across the United States.  These results are based upon the survey responses from landowners and producers around the country.  Please note that all reported cash rent amounts are listed in a per acre/per year format. To view the database with the data for each state, click here.  To view the database with data for each county in the US, click here. Pastureland The statewide average for… Read More →