An Amarillo Court of Appeals decision in Agrifund, LLC v. First State Bank of Shallowater, addressed an interesting question of whether a lender has a purchase money security interest in a harvested crop when the funds were used to purchase seed and chemical to grow the crop.  [Read Opinion here.] Background In 2017, the Garys borrowed money from Agrifund to finance their farming operation.  They received extensions of credit under a number of promissory notes with the final note executed in December 2017.  Payment of the final note included… Read More →

Assume that a landowner has pasture that abuts a highway.  The landowner has a solid barbed-wire fence to keep his livestock on his property.  One night, a car accident occurs and a motorist crashes through and causes significant damage to the landowner’s fence. With costs to repair barbed wire fences in the Panhandle averaging $10,000/mile, a vehicle damaging a landowner’s fence can be a serious economic hardship on the landowner.  Can the landowner take action to recover the cost of repair from the motorist? Yes, based upon a… Read More →