Category Archives: Weekly Round Up

April 29, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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It is hard to believe we have reached the end of April, but here we are!  Lots of agricultural law news happening around the country. *Article highlights nuance with 10% cap on residence homestead tax.  My colleague, Dr. Blake Bennett, recently published a fact sheet looking at a nuance within the Texas Property Code related to the 10% cap on the yearly increase for residence homestead taxes in Texas.  The Texas Property Code places a 10% limitation on the amount a County Appraisal District may increase the appraised… Read More →

April 15, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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It has been another busy couple of weeks in the agricultural law world.  Here are some of the stories in the news. *Important property tax deadlines approaching for Texas landowners.  Don’t forget there are important property tax deadlines this month for many Texas landowners receiving open space tax valuation. This includes filing an application for ag use, open space, or wildlife management valuation, changing land from open space to wildlife management use, and any new purchasers of land who intend to continue receiving open space valuation. [Read more here.]… Read More →

April 1, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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Happy April! We’ve got lots of happenings in the agricultural law world today. *US Supreme Court will hear case challenging constitutionality of California’s Proposition 12. The United States Supreme Court has granted the Petition for Certiorari in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, a case challenging the animal confinement provisions and corresponding product sales limitations imposed on pork producers. Lower courts dismissed the challenge brought by the National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation claiming that the law runs afoul of the Constitution. [Read article here.]… Read More →

March 18, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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It has a been a wild couple of weeks around here with seven presentations since the last Weekly Round Up.  Like my schedule, it’s been a busy couple of weeks in the ag law realm as well. * Parties continue settlement discussions in Texas v. New Mexico.  As noted last week, the Special Master overseeing the litigation in Texas v. New Mexico postponed the trial date and gave the parties until March 1 to report back on settlement negotiations.  The parties have asked for additional time to continue ongoing negotiations and will… Read More →

March 4, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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Happy Friday!  There have been a number of agricultural law stories in the news over the past couple of weeks. *Texas Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Hlavinka v. HSC Pipeline Partnership.  The Texas Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in an important eminent domain case analyzing what a pipeline must show in order to claim common carrier status and the ability of a landowner to testify regarding other pipeline easement values.  To read my summary of the court of appeals’ decision being reviewed by the Supreme Court, click… Read More →

February 18, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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It has been another busy couple of weeks in the agricultural law world.  Here are a few of the stories in the news recently. *Bayer declares force majeure in glyphosate contracts.  Earlier this week, Bayer announced it would declare force majeure in glyphosate contracts due to mechanical issues.  A supplier of an ingredient used in glyphosate is facing mechanical difficulties, which Bayer says it expects to take three months to remedy.  The declaration of force majeure typically excuses the declaring party’s obligations under a contract due to an… Read More →

January 21, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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2022 has kicked off with a bang in the agricultural law realm.  There has been plenty of news over the last couple of weeks. *Livestock Forage Protection deadline next week.  The deadline to sign up for the Livestock Forage Protection Program is January 31, 2022 for anyone in a qualifying county.  LFP provides payments to livestock producers who are also producers of grazed forage crops that have suffered a loss of grazed forage due to qualifying drought conditions.  Sign up is done through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) office… Read More →

January 7, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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Welcome to our first Weekly Round Up of the year.  Here are a few of the ag law stories in the news over the past several weeks. *State of Texas files amicus brief supporting landowner in Texas Central Railway case.  The State of Texas has filed an amicus brief on the side of the landowner in Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure v. Miles, a lawsuit challenging Texas Central Railway’s use of eminent domain power.  [Read prior blog post here.]  The State’s briefing supports the landowner’s argument that Texas… Read More →

December 17, 2021 Weekly Round Up

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Here we are with our final Weekly Round Up of 2021!   It has been quite the year. We will have our annual nationwide and Texas-specific year-in-review blog posts coming up over the next couple of weeks, and we recently released an Ag Law in the Field Podcast episode recapping the year from an ag law perspective here. Here are some recent news stories that may be of interest. *EPA considering modifications to dicamba approval, but offers no timeline.  A senior regulatory specialist with EPA stated that “the agency… Read More →

December 3, 2021 Weekly Round Up

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Happy December!  There has been a lot of agricultural law news over the past few weeks, so here are some of the biggest stories impacting agriculture. *Texas Supreme Court denied petition for review in Lyle v. Midway Solar.  Earlier this year, the El Paso Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit filed by mineral owners against a solar company for building a solar farm on the property.  The court held that the accommodation doctrine would apply, but that because the mineral owner had not sought to actually develop the minerals,… Read More →