It has been another couple of busy weeks for agricultural law news around the country. Let’s get caught up.
Photo by Terren Hurst
*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 legal visa holders domiciled in Texas, meaning the law does not apply to them. [Read Opinion here.]
*Challenge filed to lab-grown meat ban law. Speaking of legal challenges to new laws, two California food companies are challenging Texas’ ban on lab grown meat through 2027. The companies claim the law is unconstitutional. [Read article here.]
*Appeal filed in lesser prairie chicken lawsuit. Two environmental groups have filed an appeal in Texas v. US Department of the Interior, challenging the Texas federal court decision to remove the lesser prairie chicken from being listed under the Endangered Species Act. We wrote about this decision here. The appeal specifically focuses on the court’s denial of the groups’ motions to intervene in the case. [Read Notice of Appeal here.]
*Rep. Harris’ groundwater bill that would have paused permits from East Texas aquifer fails to pass. For those of you watching the contentious groundwater fight in East Texas, a bill introduced by Rep. Cody Harris that would have paused export permits while the state studied the underlying aquifers in East Texas. In the end, the pause on export permits did not pass in the Texas legislature and will not be included. The requirement that the state conduct a groundwater study did pass. [Read article here.]
*One Big Beautiful Bill Impact on Agriculture. Next week, on September 17, the National Agricultural Law Center will be hosting a free webinar with Kristine Tidgren discussing the tax provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill that will impact agriculture. Click here for more info. We also recently published a podcast episode looking at the bill’s broader impact on agriculture with Dr. Justin Benavidez, Chief Economist at the House Committee on Agriculture.
*Three estate planning mistakes farmers and ranchers make-and how to avoid them. The title of this article by Cari Rincker caught my eye, and the content did not disappoint. She offers simple, practical, important advice.
*Federal court upholds irrigation return flow exemption in California lawsuit. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held the California Grassland Bypass Project is not required to obtain a NPDES permit for return flows from irrigated agriculture. Todd Neely wrote a great article on this decision here.
*Bennett Trust Land Stewardship Conference set for October 6-7. Join us in Fredericksburg for the women-focused Bennett Trust Land Stewardship Conference. This is always one of my favorite programs of the year, and I am looking forward to seeing many of you there again this time. [More info here.]
Upcoming Programs
The next couple weeks are going to be a marathon. In addition to hauling my kids to three livestock shows, I’ll be speaking today virtually at the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management Brush Lectureship, Monday virtually to Dr. Cleere’s animal science class at Texas A&M, and then to a group of real estate agents and title company staff in Dallas on Tuesday. To see a complete list of my upcoming programs, click here.
Don’t forget we are hosting our only 2025 Owning Your Piece of Texas program and Ranchers Leasing Workshop in Bryan, TX on October 29 and 30. These are award-winning programs that attendees absolutely love! Click here for more information.
