Agricultural Law and Taxation Blog

“Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2021 – Numbers 6 and 5

Overview

As I pointed out in the previous articles in this series, agricultural law and agricultural tax law intersect with everyday life of farmers and ranchers in many ways.  Some of those areas of intersection are good, but some are quite troubling.  In any event, it points to the need for being educated and having good legal and tax counsel that is well-trained in the special rules that apply to agriculture.

This is the third installment in my list of the “Top Ten” agricultural law and tax developments of 2021.  The list is comprised of what are, in my view, the most important developments in agricultural law (which includes taxation that impacts farmers and ranchers) to the sector as a whole.  The developments primarily are focused on the impact to production agriculture, but the issues involved will also have effects that spillover to rural landowners and agribusinesses as well as consumers of agricultural products.

The Sixth and Fifth most important agricultural law and tax developments of 2021 – it’s the topic of today’s post.

6.  The Potential Peril Associated With Deferred Payment Grain Sales. On November 8, a group of Mississippi farmers filed a class action against UMB Bank, N.A. for misleading them about the financial status of a grain elevator they sold grain to that filed bankruptcy before paying them.  Island Farms, LLC, et al. v. UMB Bank, N.A., No.___, (S.D. Miss. filed Nov. 8, 2021).    The case is a grim reminder of the financial peril a farmer can be in when grain is delivered to an elevator, but payment is not made on delivery.  After grain is delivered, but before it is paid for, the seller is an unsecured creditor of the buyer.  If the buyer files bankruptcy before making payment, the seller is not likely to recover much, if anything. 

Based on the plaintiffs’ complaint, they delivered grain to a grain elevator that, unbeknownst to them, was insolvent and being propped up by the defendant bank. The elevator’s grain purchases involved the farmers delivering and transferring title to the grain to the elevator.  The elevator would then weigh, inspect and access the grain, and deliver payment in the form of a check within a period of a few days, or at another date if any particular farmer so desired.

The elevator is one of the largest grain elevator operations serving farmers in the Mississippi Delta, and was highly leveraged with massive amounts of debt. The elevator’s principal creditor was the bank, with loans dating back to 2015. The total balance on the loans was approximately $70 million as of September 2021. $37 million was the balance on a revolving loan and $33 million was the balance on a term note. The bank required the grain elevator to post collateral, which meant that virtually all of its assets were collateralized. The loan agreements gave the bank a continuing security interest upon all property of the grain elevator, whether then owned or later acquired. The elevator’s most valuable collateral was the grain they stored, and the amount they could borrow was determined in part by the amount of grain in inventory.

By the spring of 2021, the elevator was in serious financial distress, having less than $4,000 cash on hand, and was effectively insolvent. In addition, throughout 2021 the elevator failed to make payments to reduce the balance of the revolving loan, which it was contractually obligated to reduce.   However, the bank permitted the elevator to keep the balance of the loan at the maximum level throughout the year.  The elevator was required to furnish audited financial statements to the bank within 120 days of December 31, the end of its fiscal year.

The plaintiffs claim that the elevator was kept afloat by the bank’s forbearance on their loans. The bank was aware that if it called the loans, there would be little grain it could claim as security for the grain elevator’s debt. As a result, the plaintiffs claim that the bank proposed to wait until the grain elevator had as much grain as practicable before calling the loan and thereby effectively forcing the grain elevator into bankruptcy – which it filed for Chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcy on September 29, 2021.

Although the elevator was in financial distress, the farmers claim that it continued to hold out to farmers the opposite. In the spring of 2021, the elevator issued an update that stated it would be better prepared financially than in years past. The update also mentioned that the elevator had funding in place from multiple sources to ensure everyone got paid on time. However, several checks that the elevator wrote bounced during the harvest season. By the end of September, the bank notified the elevator that all amounts owed under the loan would be due immediately.  As a result, the elevator filed Chapter 11 on September 29, 2021, effectively placing the bank in priority position as a secured creditor in accordance with its security agreements and the farmers in non-priority, general unsecured creditor status. 

The plaintiffs claim that the elevator made knowingly false representations and concealed information that it had a duty to disclose. Additionally, they claim the bank aided and abetted the elevator’s fraud by remaining silent while knowing that the farmers would deliver their crops with a time interval before being paid. The plaintiffs specifically claim that the bank deliberately propped up the grain elevator until the crops were delivered during harvest season. The plaintiffs claim that the bank was the beneficiary of the elevator’s fraud, and that it has been unjustly enriched at the plaintiffs’ expense. The plaintiffs further claim that in addition to equitable title of the crops, they had a constructive trust over the grain for the purpose of getting paid. They assert that had the grain elevator clearly indicated its financial position, the plaintiffs would have sold their crops elsewhere. Ultimately, the plaintiffs seek forfeiture of all money received by the bank in the matter.

The Mississippi case points out the problems that a farmer can encounter when a buyer fails before making paying on delivered grain. While state indemnity funds and bonding programs might be available, they often don’t go far in making any particular farmer whole.  Certainly, the financial status of a buyer should be examined carefully before delivery is made.  That means seeing a certified audit of the buyer before making delivery.  Also, carefully using a letter of credit or an escrow account might provide security against a buyer’s default and achieve deferability.  In any event, planning is required anytime an ag commodity is sold on a deferred basis to a buyer.

Update:  Shortly after the elevator filed bankruptcy, two farming entities sued for an expedited determination that the grain contracts they had with the debtor were executory and subject to an immediate deadline for the executor to assume them. In In re Express Grain Terminals, LLC, No. 21-11832-SDM, 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 3415 (Bankr. N.D. Miss. Dec. 14, 2021), the court determined that the contracts were executory and set deadlines for the debtor to assume or reject them. The debtor was required to provide adequate assurance of performance of both the monetary and non-monetary requirements of the executory contracts. The issues became whether the executory contracts were a part of a “single contract” under the Master Trade Agreement (MTA), and whether the executory contracts were actually contracts for “financial accommodations” under 11 U.S.C. §365(c)(2). The court determined that the individual farmer contracts were the executory contracts that the debtor could assume or reject. Based on state law, the court found that the individual farmer contracts were severable. In addition, the language of the MTA and the individual grain contracts demonstrated the severable nature of the individual grain contracts. In addition, the court determined that the parties’ conduct indicated the severable nature of the individual grain contracts. The court also held that the individual grain contracts with farmers were not contracts for financial accommodation because they were not contracts for the extension of cash or line of credit.

5.  U.S. Supreme Court May Decide Whether FIFRA Preempts State Law – Roundup Litigation. Since 2015, thousands of cancer victims have sued Monsanto in state and federal court, alleging that Roundup caused their non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In 2021, a state court in California and a federal court in California issued important decisions on whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) pre-empts a state-law failure-to-warn claim when the warning cannot be added to the Roundup product without the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) approval. 

Background.  In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Bates, et al. v. Dow Agrosciences LLC, 544 U.S. 431 (2005) provided guidance on how courts are to analyze FIFRA preemption claims in the future.  The plaintiffs in Bates were 29 Texas peanut farmers who claimed that in the 2000 growing season their crops were severely damaged by the application of the defendant’s pesticide. The farmers claimed that the defendant knew or should have known that the pesticide would stunt the growth of peanuts in acidic soils. However, the pesticide label stated that the pesticide was recommended in all areas where peanuts were grown. Before the 2001 growing season, the defendant reregistered the pesticide with the EPA, and the EPA approved a supplemental label that specified that the product was not to be used on peanuts grown in soils with a high acidity level (pH of 7.2 or greater). After negotiations failed, the farmers gave notice of intent to sue under Texas law, and the defendant filed a motion for declaratory judgment in Federal District Court on the grounds that FIFRA preempted the farmers’ claims.  The farmers also brought tort claims based in strict liability and negligence, fraud, breach of warranty and violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act. The District Court granted the defendant’s motion, finding that FIFRA preempted the farmers’ claims, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed. The Fifth Circuit reasoned that the farmers’ claims were preempted because if the claims were successful, the defendant would be induced (as opposed to being actually required) to change its label. Accordingly, the farmers’ successful claim would impose an additional “requirement” on the defendant under state law – something the states cannot do under FIFRA.

The Supreme Court began its analysis in Bates by noting that FIFRA preemption applies to state rules that:  (1) establish a requirement for labeling or packaging that; (2) is in addition to or different from what FIFRA requires. The Court noted, therefore, that rules that require manufacturers to design reasonably safe products, use due care in conducting appropriate testing of their products, market products free of manufacturing defect, and to honor their express warranties or other contractual commitments are not preempted because they do not qualify as requirements for labeling or packaging. Thus, the Court ruled that the farmers’ claims for defective design, defective manufacture, negligent testing and breach of express warranty were not preempted. The Court rejected the Fifth Circuit’s “inducement” test as overbroad – that the farmers’ claims were preempted because, if successful, the defendant would be induced to change the pesticide label. However, the Court ruled that the farmers’ fraud and negligent- failure-to-warn claims were premised on common law rules that qualified as “requirements” for labeling or packaging. But, such claims are only preempted, the Court reasoned, if the state level common law rules establish requirements that are “in addition to or different from” FIFRA’s standards. The farmers claimed that their claims based on fraud and failure-to-warn were not preempted because these common law duties were equivalent to FIFRA’s requirements that a pesticide label not contain “false or misleading” statements, or inadequate instructions or warnings.

Ultimately, the Court ruled that it had not received sufficient briefing on whether FIFRA preempted the farmers’ fraud and failure-to-warn claims brought under Texas law, and remanded the case to the Fifth Circuit for a resolution of those claims. In remanding on these claims, the Court emphasized that a state law labeling requirement must in fact be equivalent to a requirement under FIFRA to survive preemption. If, for example, the element of falsity contained in a Texas common law fraud action imposes a broader obligation than FIFRA’s requirement that labels not contain “false or misleading statements,” the action would be preempted to the extent of the difference. The Court also opined that state law requirements must be measured against any relevant EPA regulations that give content to FIFRA’s misbranding standards. Likewise, the Court stated that jury instructions must ensure that nominally equivalent labeling requirements are genuinely equivalent such that a pesticide manufacturer should not  be held liable under a state labeling requirement unless the manufacturer is also liable for misbranding under FIFRA.

In rejecting the “inducement” test of the Fifth Circuit and utilizing a “parallel requirements” test for determining FIFRA preemption, it is likely that more claims against pesticide manufacturers will survive preemption. It is no longer a valid ground for preemption that a state-based claim, if successful, would induce a manufacturer to change a label. Under the “parallel requirements” test, preemption applies only to claims that, if successful, would actually require a label to be changed. Thus, the key is whether applicable state law imposes broader obligations on pesticide manufacturers than does FIFRA.

Note:   Nothing in FIFRA precludes states from providing a remedy to farmers and state law claims can be asserted based on alleged FIFRA violations to the extent that the claims would not impose a requirement that is in addition to or different from FIFRA requirements.  However, a federal claim cannot be asserted.  See, e.g., G & M Farms, Inc. v. Britz-Simplot Grower Solutions, LLC, et al., No. 1:13-cv-0368 LJO MJS, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75458 (E.D. Cal. May 29, 2013).              

Based on the Court’s opinion in Bates, it became reasonable to believe that additional litigation would be brought against applicators and other parties that have some connection with the activity that caused damages along with pesticide manufacturers, and that some state legislatures might reexamine state statutes governing pesticides with an eye toward conformity with FIFRA. In any event, the Court illustrated its preference against preemption without clear direction from the Congress.

2021 developments.  In a California case, a married couple claimed that their usage of Roundup on their properties for several decades caused the husband’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  They made numerous legal claims, including a claim that Monsanto knew or had reason to know that its Roundup products were defective and inherently dangerous and unsafe when used in the manner that Monsanto instructed.  The jury determined that Monsanto had designed Roundup in a manner that was a substantial factor causing the husband’s harm; that Roundup had potential risks that were known or knowable in light of scientific and medical knowledge that were generally known in the scientific community at the time of manufacture, distribution and sale; that Monsanto was negligent in designing, manufacturing and supplying Roundup; and that Monsanto negligently failed to warn and instruct of Roundup’s danger.  The trial court jury awarded $2,055,000,000 to the plaintiffs.  The trial court reduced the total damage award to $86.7 million. 

In 2021, the appellate court affirmed in Pilliod v. Monsanto Co., 67 Cal. App. 5th 591 (2021), pet. for review den., No. S270957, 2021 Cal. LEXIS 7965 (Cal. Sup. Ct. Nov. 17, 2021).  The appellate court determined that Monsanto had not shown that FIFRA preempted the plaintiffs’ design defect and failure to warn claims because it failed to identify any state-law requirements that were in addition to or different from FIFRA’s misbranding requirements. 

Also in 2021, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion on the application of FIFRA preemption in a bellweather case involving Roundup.  Hardeman v. Monsanto Co., 997 F.3d 941 (9th Cir. 2021).  In Hardeman, the trial court jury returned a verdict in the plaintiff’s favor of $5,267,634.10 in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages for the plaintiff’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma allegedly caused by long-term used of Roundup.  Monsanto appealed claiming that FIFRA preempted the plaintiff’s failure to warn claims; that the trial court committed numerous errors; and that the punitive damage award was excessive in violation of California law and the Constitution’s Due Process Clause.  The appellate court disagreed, holding that the plaintiff’s failure-to-warn claims based on Roundup’s labeling were consistent with FIFRA and, therefore, neither expressly nor impliedly preempted.  FIFRA’s requirement, the appellate court found, that a pesticide not be misbranded were consistent with (if not broader) than California’s common law duty to warn.  Thus, Monsanto could comply with both FIFRA and California law which eliminated any preemption claim.  The appellate court also held that the trial court had applied the correct standard for the admission of the plaintiff’s expert witness testimony, and properly included and excluded various evidence as to Roundup being likely carcinogenic – a risk that was known at the time of the plaintiff’s exposure.  The appellate court also upheld the trial court’s reduction of punitive damages from $75 million to $20 million was proper.    

Note:   On August 16, 2021, Monsanto filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court held a conference on the matter on December 10.  While the Court did not decide whether to take the case at its conference on December 10, on December 13 the Court invited the U.S. Solicitor General to file briefs expressing the views of the United States on the matter.  Monsanto Co. v. Hardeman, No. 21-241, 2021 U.S. LEXIS 6152 (U.S. Sup. Ct. Dec. 13, 2021).    The issue the Court may consider is whether FIFRA preempts a state law failure-to-warn claim when the warning cannot be added to a product without the EPA's approval and the EPA has repeatedly concluded that the warning is not appropriate.  A side issue in the case is whether the Ninth Circuit's standard for admitting expert testimony is inconsistent with the Court's precedent and  Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.

Conclusion

The next installment in this series will detail what I view as the fourth and third most important developments in ag law and ag tax from 2021.  Stay tuned and keep reading.

Navigable Waters Protection Rule – What’s Going on with WOTUS?

Overview

The scope of the federal government’s regulatory authority via the Clean Water Act (CWA) over “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) has been controversial for many years.  What’s the current status of the law on this issue?  It’s an important issue for farmers, ranchers and rural landowners.

Status update of the regulatory definition of a WOTUS – it’s the topic of today’s post.

Background

The scope of the federal government’s CWA regulatory authority over wet areas on private land, streams and rivers has been controversial for more than 40 years. Many court opinions have been filed attempting to define the scope of the government’s jurisdiction.  On two occasions, the U.S. Supreme Court attempted to clarify matters, but in the process of rejecting the regulatory definitions of a WOTUS proffered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) didn’t provide clear direction for the lower courts.  See Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, 531 U.S. 159 (2001); Rapanos v. United States, 547 U.S. 175 (2006). 

Particularly with its Rapanos decision, the Court failed to clarify the meaning of the CWA phrase “waters of the United States” and the scope of federal regulation of isolated wetlands. The Court did not render a majority opinion in Rapanos, instead issuing a total of five separate opinions. The plurality opinion, written by Justice Scalia and joined by Justices Thomas, Alito and Chief Justice Roberts, would have construed the phrase “waters of the United States” to include only those relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water that are ordinarily described as “streams,” “oceans,” and “lakes.”  In addition, the plurality opinion also held that a wetland may not be considered “adjacent to” remote “waters of the United States” based merely on a hydrological connection. Thus, in the plurality’s view, only those wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are “waters of the United States” in their own right, so that there is no clear demarcation between the two, are “adjacent” to such waters and covered by permit requirement of Section 404 of the CWA.

Justice Kennedy authored a concurring opinion, but on much narrower grounds.  In Justice Kennedy’s view, the lower court correctly recognized that a water or wetland constitutes “navigable waters” under the CWA if it possesses a significant nexus to waters that are navigable in fact or that could reasonably be so made. But, in Justice Kennedy’s view, the lower court failed to consider all of the factors necessary to determine that the lands in question had, or did not have, the requisite nexus. Without more specific regulations comporting with the Court’s 2001 SWANCC opinion, Justice Kennedy stated that the COE needed to establish a significant nexus on a case-by-case basis when seeking to regulate wetlands based on adjacency to non-navigable tributaries, in order to avoid unreasonable application of the CWA. In Justice Kennedy’s view, the record in the cases contained evidence pointing to a possible significant nexus, but neither the COE nor the lower court established a significant nexus. As a result, Justice Kennedy concurred that the lower court opinions should be vacated, and the cases remanded for further proceedings.

Justice Kennedy’s opinion was neither a clear victory for the landowners in the cases or the COE. While he rejected the plurality’s narrow reading of the phrase “waters of the United States,” he also rejected the government’s broad interpretation of the phrase. While the “significant nexus” test of the Court’s 2001 SWANCC opinion required regulated parcels to be “inseparably bound up with the ‘waters’ of the United States,” Justice Kennedy would require the nexus to “be assessed in terms of the statute’s goals and purposes” in accordance with the Court’s 1985 opinion in United States v. Riverside Bayview Homes. 474 U.S. 121 (1985). 

The “WOTUS Rule”

The Obama Administration attempted take advantage of the lack of clear guidance on the scope of federally jurisdictional wetland by dramatically expanding the federal government’s reach by issuing an expansive WOTUS rule.  The EPA/COE regulation was deeply opposed by the farming/ranching and rural landowning communities, and triggered many legal challenges.   The courts were, in general, highly critical of the regulation and it became a primary target of the Trump Administration.

The “NWPR Rule”

The Trump Administration essentially rescinded the Obama-era rule with its own rule – the “Navigable Waters Protection Rule” (NWPR). 85 Fed. Reg. 22, 250 (Apr. 21, 2020).  The NWPR redefined the Obama-era WOTUS rule to include only: “traditional navigable waters; perennial and intermittent tributaries that contribute surface water flow to such waters; certain lakes, ponds, and impoundments of jurisdictional waters; and wetlands adjacent to other jurisdictional waters.  In short, the NWPR narrowed the definition of the statutory phrase “waters of the United States” to comport with Justice Scalia’s approach in Rapanos.  Thus, the NWPR excludes from CWA jurisdiction wetlands that have no “continuous surface connection” to jurisdictional waters.  The rule much more closely followed the Supreme Court’s guidance issued in 2001 and 2006 that did the Obama-era rule, but it was challenged by environmental groups.  Indeed, the NWPR has been challenged in 15 cases filed in 11 federal district courts.   

In early 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed a Colorado trial court that had entered a preliminary injunction barring the NWPR from taking effect in Colorado as applied to the discharge permit requirement of Section 404 of the CWA.  The result of the appellate court’s decision is that the NWPR is effective in every state.  Colorado v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 989 F.3d 874 (10th Cir. 2021). 

A primary aspect of the litigation involving the NWPR is whether it should apply retroactively or whether it is limited in its application on a prospective basis.  For example, in United States v. Lucero, No. 10074, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 6307 and 6327 (9th Cir. Mar. 4, 2021), the defendant, in 2014, operated a business that charged construction companies for the dumping of soil and debris on dry lands near San Francisco Bay. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) later claimed that the dry land was a “wetland” subject to the dredge and fill permit requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). As a result, the defendant was charged with (and later convicted of) violating the CWA without any evidence in the record that the defendant knew or had reason to know that the dry land was a wetland subject to the CWA. On further review, the appellate court noted that the CWA prohibits the “knowing” discharge of a pollutant into covered waters without a permit. At trial, the jury instructions did not state that the defendant had to make a “knowing” violation of the CWA to be found guilty of a discharge violation. Accordingly, the appellate court reversed on this point. However, the appellate court ruled against the defendant on his claim that the regulation defining “waters of the United States” was unconstitutionally vague, and that the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule should apply retroactively to his case. 

The NWPR was also held to apply prospectively only in United States v. Acquest Transit, LLC, No. 09-cv-555, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40143 (W.D. N.Y. Mar. 3, 2021) and United States v. Mashni, No. 2:18-cv-2288-DCN, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123345 (S.D. S.C. Jul. 1, 2021). 

Current Challenge

Most recently, a federal district court in South Carolina remanded the NWPR to the EPA. South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, et al. v. Regan, No. 2:20-cv-016787-BHH (D. S.C. Jul. 15, 2021).  The NWPR was being challenged on the scope issue.  Even though the NWPR was remanded, the court left the rule intact.  That fit with the strategy of the present Administration.  If the court had invalidated the NWPR, then the Administration would have had to defend the indefensible Obama-era rule in court.  That wouldn’t have turned out well for the Administration.  Last week’s opinion not vacating the NWPR allows the Administration to proceed in trying to write a new rule without bothering to defend the Obama-era rule in court.

Conclusion

The litigation involving WOTUS will continue, as will the rule-writing.  Ultimately, the issue on the scope of the federal government’s regulatory control over wet areas on private property as well as streams and lakes may be back before the Supreme Court.

Montana Conference and Ag Law Summit (Nebraska)

Overview

The second of the two national conferences on Farm/Ranch Income Tax and Farm/Ranch Estate and Business Planning is coming up on August 2 and 3 in Missoula, Montana.  A month later, on September 3, I will be conducting an “Ag Law Summit” at Mahoney State Park located between Omaha and Lincoln, NE.

Upcoming conferences on agricultural taxation, estate and business planning, and agricultural law – it’s the topic of today’s post.

Montana

The second of my two 2021 summer conferences on agricultural taxation and estate/business planning will be held in beautiful Missoula, Montana.  Day 1 on August 2 is devoted to farm income taxation, with sessions involving an update of farm income tax developments; lingering PPP and ERC issues (as well as an issue that has recently arisen with respect to EIDLs); NOLs (including the most recent IRS Rev. Proc. and its implications); timber farming; oil and gas taxation; handling business interest; QBID/DPAD planning; FSA tax and planning issues; and the prospects for tax legislation and implications.  There will also be a presentation on Day 1 by IRS Criminal Investigation Division on how tax practitioners can protect against cyber criminals and other theft schemes. 

On Day 2, the focus turns to estate and business planning with an update of relevant court and IRS developments; a presentation on the farm economy and what it means for ag clients and their businesses; special use valuation; corporate reorganizations; the use of entities in farm succession planning; property law issues associated with transferring the farm/ranch to the next generation; and an ethics session focusing on end-of life decisions.

If you have ag clients that you do tax or estate/business planning work for, this is a “must attend” conference – either in-person or online.

For more information about the Montana conference and how to register, click here:  https://www.washburnlaw.edu/employers/cle/farmandranchtaxaugust.html

Nebraska

On September 3, I will be holding an “Ag Law Summit” at Mahoney St. Park, near Ashland, NE.  The Park is about mid-way between Omaha and Lincoln, NE on the adjacent to the Platte River and just north of I-80.  The Summit will be at the Lodge at the Park.  On-site attendance is limited to 100.  However, the conference will also be broadcast live over the web for those that would prefer to or need to attend online.

I will be joined at the Summit by Prof. Ed Morse of Creighton Law School who, along with Colten Venteicher of the Bacon, Vinton, et al., firm in Gothenburg, NE, will open up their “Ag Entreprenuer’s Toolkit” to discuss the common business and tax issues associated with LLCs.  Also on the program will be Dan Waters of the Lamson, et al. firm in Omaha.  Dan will address how to successfully transition the farming business to the next generation of owners in the family. 

Katie Zulkoski and Jeffrey Jarecki will provide a survey of state laws impacting agriculture in Nebraska and key federal legislation (such as the “30 x 30” matter being discussed).  The I will address special use valuation – a technique that will increase in popularity if the federal estate tax exemption declines from its present level.  I will also provide an update on tax legislation (income and transfer taxes) and what it could mean for clients. 

The luncheon speaker for the day is Janet Bailey.  Janet has been deeply involved in Kansas agriculture for many years and will discuss how to create and maintain a vibrant rural practice. 

If you have a rural practice, I encourage you to attend.  It will be worth your time. 

For more information about the conference, click here:   https://www.washburnlaw.edu/employers/cle/aglawsummit.html

Conclusion

The Montana and Nebraska conferences are great opportunities to glean some valuable information for your practices.  As noted, both conferences will also be broadcast live over the web if you can’t attend in person.   

Key “Takings” Decision from SCOTUS Involving Ag Businesses

Overview

The power to “take” private property for public use (or for a public purpose) without the owner's consent is an inherent power of the federal and state governments.  However, the United States Constitution limits the government's eminent domain power by requiring federal and state governments to pay for what is “taken.”  The Fifth Amendment states in part “...nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” 

Whether a taking has occurred is not an issue when the government physically takes the property, with the only issue being whether the taking is compensable and the amount of compensation due to the landowner.  However, for non-physical (regulatory) takings, the issue is murkier.  At what point does government regulation of private property amount to a compensable taking?

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the issue of physical/non-physical takings in a case involving a California strawberry growing operation.

Takings and the constitution – it’s the topic of today’s post.

Background

The power to “take” private property for public use (or for a public purpose) without the owner's consent is an inherent power of the federal and state government. However, the United States Constitution limits the government's eminent domain power by requiring federal and state governments to pay for what is “taken.”  The Fifth Amendment states in part “...nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.”  The clause has two prohibitions: (1) all takings must be for public use, and (2) even takings that are for public use must be accompanied by compensation.  Historically, the “public use” requirement operated as a major constraint on government action. For many years, the requirement was understood to mean that if property was to be taken, it was necessary that it be used by the public – the fact that the taking was “beneficial” was not enough. Eventually, however, courts concluded that a wide range of uses could serve the public even if the public did not, in fact, have possession. Indeed, so many exceptions were eventually built into the general rule of “use by the public” that the rule itself was abandoned.

Actual physical takings of property by the government are easy to identify.  When a non-physical taking has occurred is not as easy to spot.

Regulatory (Non-Physical) Takings

A non-physical taking may involve the governmental condemnation of air space rights, water rights, subjacent or lateral support rights, or the regulation of property use through environmental restrictions.  How is the existence of a regulatory taking determined?  There are several approaches that the Supreme Court has utilized.

Multi-factor balancing test.  In a key case decided in 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court set forth a multi-factored balancing test for determining when governmental regulation of private property effects a taking requiring compensation.  In Penn Central Transportation Co. et al. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104 (1978), the Court held that a landowner cannot establish a “taking” simply by being denied the ability to exploit a property interest believed to be available for development.  Instead, the Court ruled that in deciding whether particular governmental action effects a taking, the character, nature and extent of the interference with property rights as a whole are the proper focus rather than discrete segments of the owner’s property rights.  In 2005, the Court confirmed the multi-factor test and noted that the touchstone for deciding when a regulation is a taking is whether the restriction on property usage is functionally equivalent to a physical taking of the property.  Lingle, et al. v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 544 U.S. 528 (2005).  

Total regulatory taking.  In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003 (1992), the landowner purchased two residential lots with an intent to build single-family homes.  Two years later, the state legislature passed a law prohibiting the erection of any permanent habitable structures on the Lucas property.  The law's purpose was to prevent beachfront erosion and to protect the property as a storm barrier, a plant and wildlife habitat, a tourist attraction, and a “natural health environment” which aided the physical and mental well-being of South Carolina's citizens.  The law effectively rendered the Lucas property valueless.  Lucas sued the Coastal Council claiming that, although the act may be a valid exercise of the state's police power, it deprived him of the use of his property and thus, resulted in a taking without just compensation.  The Coastal Council argued that the state had the authority to prevent harmful uses of land without having to compensate the owner for the restriction.

The Supreme Court ruled for Lucas and opined that the state's interest in the regulation was irrelevant since the trial court determined that Lucas was deprived of any economically viable alternative use of his land.  The Lucas case has two important implications for environmental regulation of agricultural activities.  First, the Lucas court focused solely on the economic viability of the land and made no recognition of potential noneconomic objectives of land ownership.  However, in the agricultural sector land ownership is typically associated with many noneconomic objectives and serves important sociological and psychological functions.  Under the Lucas approach, these noneconomic objectives are not recognized.  Second, under the Lucas rationale, environmental regulations do not invoke automatic compensation unless the regulations deprive the property owner of all beneficial use.

Under the Lucas approach, an important legal issue is whether compensation is required when the landowner has economic use remaining on other portions of the property that are not subject to regulation.

Unconstitutional conditions.  In Nollan v. California Coastal Commission,483 U.S. 825 (1987), the plaintiff owned a small, dilapidated beach house and wanted to tear it down and replace it with a larger home.  However, the defendant was concerned about preserving the public's viewing access over the plaintiff's land from the public highway to the waterfront.  Rather than preventing the construction outright, the defendant conditioned the plaintiff's right to build on the land upon the plaintiff giving the defendant a permanent, lateral beachfront easement over the plaintiff's land for the benefit of the public.  Thus, the issue was whether the state could force the plaintiffs to choose between their construction permit and their lateral easement.  The Court held that this particular bargain was impermissible because the condition imposed (surrender of the easement) lacked a “nexus” with, or was unrelated to the legitimate interest used by the state to justify its actions - preserving the view.  The Court later ruled similarly in Dolan v. Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994).  These cases hold that the government may not require a person to give up the constitutional right to receive just compensation when property is taken for a public use in exchange for a discretionary benefit that has little or no relationship to the property. The rule of the cases does not apply to situations involving impact fees and other permit conditions that do not involve physical invasions, but it would apply to monetary exactions where none of the plaintiff’s property is actually taken.  See, e.g., Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, 133 S. Ct. 2586 (2013).

State/Local Takings – Seeking a Remedy

For a landowner that has sustained a state/local regulatory (or physical) taking, can compensation be sought initially in federal court or must legal procedures be first pursued in state court with federal courts only available if compensation is denied at the state level?  The U.S. Supreme Court answered this question in 1985.  In Williamson Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U.S. 172 (1985), the Court held that if a state provides an adequate procedure for seeking just compensation, there is no Fifth Amendment violation until the landowner has used the state procedure and has been denied just compensation.  However, 28 U.S.C. §1738, would then be applied with the resulting effect that the failure to receive compensation at the state level generally meant that there was no recourse in the federal courts because of the preclusive effect of the landowner having already litigated the same issue(s) in the state courts.  See, e.g., San Remo Hotel L.P., v. City and County of San Francisco, 545 U.S. 323 (2005). 

The Court dealt with this “catch-22” in 2019 in Knick v. Township of Scott, 139 S. Ct. 2162 (2019, pointing out that there is a distinction between the substance of a right and the remedy for the violation of that right.  It’s the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment that establishes that the government can only take (either physically or via regulation) private property by paying for it. The government’s infringement on private property is what triggers possible compensation.  The Constitutional violation has occurred and a state court decision that makes the landowner financially whole simply remedies that violation.  It doesn’t redefine the property right.  Thus, the majority opinion reasoned, laws confer legal rights and when those rights are violated there must be legal recourse.  See, e.g., Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803).  As the majority noted, “a government violates the Takings Clause when it takes property without compensation, and…a property owner may bring a Fifth Amendment claim [in federal court]… at that time.”

Physical Takings

California case.  Earlier this week, the Court again dealt with the takings issue in Cedar Point Nursery, et al. v. Hassid, et al., No. 20-107, 2021 U.S. LEXIS 3394 (U.S. Sup. Ct. Jun. 23, 2021).  The lead plaintiff is a large strawberry growing operation in California, employing over 400 seasonal workers and about 100 full-time workers.  A California labor regulation, based on the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 that gives ag employees a right to self-organize, grants labor organizations a “right to take access” to an ag employer’s property in order to solicit support for unionization.  Cal Code Regs., tit. 8, §20900(e)(1)(C).  Under the regulation, an ag employer must allow union organizers onto their property for up to three hours daily, 120 days per year.  In the fall of 2015, at 5 a.m., members of the United Farm Workers entered the plaintiff’s property without any prior notice being given.  They entered the plaintiff’s trim shed where hundreds of workers were preparing strawberry plants.  The organizers used bullhorns to stir up the workers and encourage them to join in a protest.  Other workers left the worksite.  The plaintiff filed charges against the union for taking access without notice.  In return, the union claimed that the plaintiff had committed an unfair labor practice similar to the claim it had made during the summer of 2015 against a California grower and shipper of table grapes and citrus. 

The ag businesses believed that the union would try to enter their properties again in the future, they sued claiming that the access regulation was an unconstitutional per se physical taking of an easement that was given, without compensation, to union organizers.  The trial court held that the regulation did not amount to a per se physical taking because it did not “allow the public to access their property in a permanent and continuous manner for whatever reason.”  Instead, the trial court held that the regulation was a non-physical taking to be evaluated under the muti-factor balancing test of Penn Central.  A majority of the appellate court affirmed, identifying the various types of non-physical takings discussed above and again determining that the balancing test of Penn Central applied.  The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and reversed.

The Supreme Court determined that an actual physical appropriation of private property was involved.  It was a per se governmental taking.  The Court noted that the regulation didn’t merely restrict the use of private property, it appropriated it for the use and enjoyment of third parties.  One aspect of property ownership is the right to exclude others, and the Court determined that the ability of the union to take access of a part of an ag operation’s private property took that right away.  In addition, the right of access, even though temporary, still constitutes a taking.  There was no benefit of the loss of a property right flowing back to the ag businesses. 

Conclusion

The distinction between outright physical and non-physical takings is not always clear.  But, the Court’s decision in Cedar Point Nursery is a clear indication that the loss of the right to exclude others, even on a temporary basis, when no benefit inures to the property owner, is a fundamental property right that will be classified and protected as a physical taking with no balancing test required.

No Expansion of Public Trust Doctrine in Iowa – Big Implications for Agriculture

Overview

I wrote last fall about a legal theory that could have significant negative implications for private property rights in general and agricultural production activities in particular.  I was writing about the “public trust” doctrine and you can read last fall’s article here:  https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/the-public-trust-doctrine-a-camels-nose-under-agricultures-tent.html.

I mentioned in last fall’s article that some activist groups and academics are pushing the courts to expand the public trust doctrine beyond its historic application to accomplish certain environmental and conservation objectives.  But as I mentioned then, any judicial expansion of the public trust doctrine will result in curtailing vested property rights.  That’s a big deal for agriculture because of agriculture’s use of natural resources such as land, air, water, minerals and the like.  Expanding the public trust doctrine also takes the power away from citizens and their elected officials to determine environmental and conservation policy. 

Recently, the Iowa Supreme Court refused to expand the doctrine to apply to farming practices in the state concluding that the issues involved were political ones that should be left up to the legislature. 

The public trust doctrine and a recent Iowa Supreme Court decision – it’s the topic of today’s post.

Background

As I noted last fall, the public trust doctrine is not new.  It derives from the seas being viewed as the common property of the public that cannot be privately used or owned.    They are held in “public trust.”  This concept from England ultimately became part of the U.S. common law and has its primary application to the access of the seashore and intertidal waters. 

The U.S. Supreme Court’s first application of the public trust doctrine was in 1842 in Martin v. Lessee of Waddell, 41 U.S.367 (1842). In the case, the issue was who had the right to submerged land and oyster harvesting off the coast of New Jersey.  The Court, largely based on the language in the charter granted by the King to a Duke to establish a colony and for policy and economic reasons, determined that the land area in issue belonged to the state of New Jersey for the benefit of the people of the state.  The Court dealt with the issue again in 1892 in a case involving a railroad that had been granted a large amount of the Chicago harbor. Illinois Central Railroad Company v. Illinois, 146 U.S. 387 (1892).  The Court determined that the government cannot alienate (interfere with) the public’s right to access land under waters that are navigable in fact except for situations where the land involved wouldn’t interfere with the public’s ability to access the water or impair navigation. 

As generally applied in the United States (although there are differences among the states), an oceanfront property owner can exclude the public below the mean high tide (water) line.  See e.g., Gunderson v. State, 90 N.E. 3d 1171 (Ind. 2018).  That’s the line of intersection of the land with the water's surface at the maximum height reached by a rising tide (e.g., high water mark).  Basically, it’s the debris line or the line where you would find fine shells.  However, traceable to the mid-1600s, Massachusetts and Maine recognize private property rights to the mean low tide line even though they do allow the public to have access to the shore between the low and high tide lines for "fishing, fowling and navigation.”  In addition, in Maine, the public can cross private shoreline property for scuba diving purposes.  McGarvey v. Whittredge, 28 A.3d 620 (Me. 2011). 

Other applications of the public trust doctrine involve the preservation of oil resources, fish stocks and crustacean beds.  Also, many lakes and navigable streams are maintained via the public trust doctrine for purposes of drinking water and recreation.  But, whether the doctrine applies in such situations is a matter of state law.  That’s where the recent Iowa Supreme Court decision comes into play.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, et al. v. State

A long-standing battle in Iowa over the level of nitrates and phosphorous in an Iowa waterway and farm filed runoff came to a head in Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, et al. v. State,

No. 19-1644, 2021 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 84 (Jun. 18, 2021).  For approximately the past decade activist groups and certain academics have sought more regulatory control over farming practices that they deem contribute to excessive nutrients in an Iowa river and higher drinking water prices in Des Moines and elsewhere.  They have sought to remove from the state legislature the power to make these decisions and have also sought more federal control.

The plaintiffs, two social justice organizations, sued the State of Iowa and state officials and agencies associated with agriculture and the environment claiming that the public trust doctrine required them to enact legislation and rules forcing farmers to adopt farming practices that would significantly reduce levels of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff into the Raccoon River. The plaintiffs claimed that such a requirement would improve members’ feelings by enhancing aesthetics and recreational uses of the river and by reducing members’ water bills (at least in the Des Moines area).  They sought declaratory and injunctive relief.

In response, the State argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue and that the issue was nonjusticiable (i.e., not capable of being decided by a court). After the trial court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss, the defendants sought an interlocutory appeal (i.e., an appeal of the trial court’s ruling while other aspects of the case proceeded).

On review, the state Supreme Court first noted that the scope of the public trust doctrine in Iowa is narrow, and that the doctrine should not be overextended. The Supreme Court noted that for a party to have standing to sue, they must have a specific personal or legal interest in the litigation and be “injuriously affected.”  For a party to be injuriously affected, the Supreme Court stated that the injury complained of must be likely to be redressed by the court’s favorable decision. On that point, the Supreme Court determined that it would be speculative that a favorable court decision would result in a more aesthetically pleasing river or lower water rates.   

Further, the Supreme Court determined the injunctive relief was not appropriate and that what the plaintiffs were seeking could only be accomplished through legislation. The Supreme Court pointed out that the plaintiffs admitted that the defendants lacked authority to require limits for nitrogen and phosphorous from agricultural nonpoint sources – the matter was up to the legislature. As a result, the Supreme Court determined the plaintiffs’ claims must be dismissed due to lack of standing.

The plaintiffs also claimed that constitutional due process rights were at stake and the Court should address them.  The Supreme Court disagreed, pointing out that the plaintiffs’ own arguments cut against the Court being able to address such a claim.  Because the plaintiffs were asking the Court to broaden the application of the public trust doctrine, the plaintiffs were essentially asking the Court to inject itself into political matters where there would be a lack of judicially discoverable and manageable standards.  As the Supreme Court pointed out, “different uses matter in different degrees to different people.” Publicly elected policy makers decide these matters.  Not the courts.

Consequently, the Court determined that granting any meaningful relief to the plaintiffs would result in the judicial branch asserting superiority over the legislature.  An impermissible outcome under the co-equal system of government. 

Conclusion

The push for an expansion of the public trust doctrine is not likely to subside. Activists that are unable to win at the ballot box have long tried to use the judicial system to do their policy work for them.  Many agricultural activities and uses of natural resources on private property remain at risk of an expanded doctrine.  State legislators and all citizens should be aware of the court battles going on over the public use doctrine and what an expansion of the doctrine would do to limit property rights (without compensation).

Ag Law and Tax Potpourri

Overview

Periodically, I cover recent “happenings” in ag law and tax.  It’s been a while since a selected a few developments for summary on this blog.  So, today is the day.  A snippet of taxes, environmental law and property law

Recent developments in the courts of relevance to agricultural producers, rural landowners and taxpayers in general – it’s the topic of today’s post.

“Roberts Tax” is a “Tax” Entitled to Priority in Bankruptcy 

 In re Szczyporski, No. 2:20-cv-03133, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61628 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 31, 2021).

As you likely recall, in 2012, Chief Justice Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court badly twisted the law to salvage Obamacare by concluding that Obamacare’s requirement that certain persons buy government-mandated health insurance was constitutional because the mandate was a “tax” withing the taxing power of the Congress – even though Obamacare calls it a “penalty.” National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 (2012).  The cost of that “shared responsibility payment” was offset by a credit under I.R.C. §36B.   I.R.C. §36B of the grants “premium tax credits” to subsidize certain purchases of health insurance made on “Exchanges.” The tax credit consists of “premium assistance amounts” for “coverage months.”  I.R.C. §36B(b)(1). An individual has a coverage month only when he is covered by an insurance plan “that was enrolled in through an Exchange established by the State.  I.R.C. §36B(c)(2)(A). The law ties the size of the premium assistance amount to the premiums for health plans which cover the individual “and which were enrolled in through an Exchange established by the State. I.R.C. §36B(b)(2)(A). The credit amount further depends on the cost of certain other insurance plans “offered through the same Exchange.  I.R.C. §36B(b)(3)(B)(i). 

The tax Code provision that Obamacare created clearly states that the credit is available to a taxpayer only if the taxpayer has enrolled in an insurance plan through “an Exchange established by the State.”  I.R.C. §36B(b)(2)(A).  When several persons living in a state that didn’t have a state exchange claimed they were exempt from the mandate to buy health insurance because of its cost absent the credit, Chief Justice Roberts again applied his contorted legal logic to conclude that “an Exchange established by the State” meant “an Exchange established by the State or Federal Government.”  King v. Burwell, 576 U.S. 473 (2015). In other words, he completely rewrote the law a second time to salvage it. 

Note.  Justice Scalia had enough of the nonsense of Chief Justice Roberts when he wrote in his dissent in King, “The Court holds that when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act says “Exchange established by the State” it means “Exchange established by the State or the Federal Government.” That is of course quite absurd, and the Court’s 21 pages of explanation make it no less so.”  He also stated, “Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is not established by a State is “established by the State” and “The Court’s next bit of interpretive jiggery-pokery involves other parts of the Act that purportedly presuppose the availability of tax credits on both federal and state Exchanges.” 

This all brings us to the current case.  In Szczyporski, the debtor was required to file an income tax return in 2018, but hadn’t obtained the government-mandate health insurance resulting in the IRS assessing the “Roberts Tax” for 2018. In 2019, the debtor filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy and the IRS filed a proof of claim for taxes in the amount of $18,027.08 which included the Roberts Tax of $927. The IRS listed the Roberts Tax as an excise tax and the balance of the tax claim as income taxes. The debtors objected on the basis that the Roberts Tax is a penalty that is not qualify for priority treatment under 11 U.S.C. §507(a)(8). The debtor’s Chapter 13 plan was confirmed in 2020, and the IRS filed a brief objecting to the debtor’s tax treatment of the Roberts Tax.

The bankruptcy court ruled that the Roberts Tax was a “tax” under the bankruptcy Code entitled to priority treatment. In re Szczyporski, 617 B.R. 529, 2020 Bankr. LEXIS 1725 (Bankr. E.D. Pa., Jun. 23, 2020).  On appeal, the federal district court affirmed, citing National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 (2012). While that decision involved facts outside of the bankruptcy context, the Supreme Court concluded that the Roberts Tax was a “tax” because it was enacted according to the taxing power of the Congress. Thus, it was either an excise or income tax, both of which are entitled to priority in bankruptcy. Here, the district concluded it was an income tax.

Settlement Proceeds Are Taxable Income

Blum v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2021-18 

A damage award that a taxpayer receives that is not attributable to physical injury or physical sickness is includible in gross income.  In many lawsuits, there is almost always some lost profit involved and recovery for lost profit is ordinary income.  See, e.g., Simko v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 1997-9.  For recoveries in connection with a business, if the taxpayer can prove that the damages received were for injury to capital, no income results except to the extent the damages exceed the income tax basis of the capital asset involved.  The recovery is, in general, a taxable event except to the extent the amount recovered represents a return of basis.  Recoveries representing a reimbursement for lost profit are taxable as ordinary income.

In Blum, the petitioner was involved in a personal injury lawsuit and received a payment of $125,000 to settle a malpractice suit against her attorneys.  She did not report the amount on her tax return for 2015 and the IRS determined a tax deficiency of $27,418, plus an accuracy-related penalty.  The IRS later conceded the penalty, but maintained that the amount received was not on account of personal physical injuries or personal sickness under I.R.C. §104(a)(2).  The Tax Court agreed with the IRS because the petitioner’s claims against the law firm did not involve any allegation that the firm’s conduct had caused her any physical injuries or sickness, but merely involved allegations that the firm had acted negligently in representing her against a hospital. 

EPA Properly Approved Missouri Water Quality Standards

Missouri Coalition for the Environment Foundation v. Wheeler, No. 2:19-CV-04215-NKL, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102806 (W.D. Mo. Jun. 1, 2021)

In 2009, the state of Missouri proposed water quality standards for nutrient standards for nutrient pollutants in Missouri lakes.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) originally rejected the proposed standards, but ultimately accepted a revised version of the standards in 2018.  The plaintiffs, a coalition of environmental groups, sued claiming that the water quality standards should be set aside on the basis that the EPA’s determination was arbitrary and capricious.  The court upheld the state standards, finding them to have been grounded upon a rational basis that they would adequately protect the designated uses of protected waterbodies.

Plaintiffs’ Use of Road on Defendant’s Property Deemed a Prescriptive Easement

Ramsey v. Keesee, 2021 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 231 (Ky. Ct. App. Apr. 16, 2021)

The plaintiffs each owned property adjacent to the defendant’s eastern boundary line. A road ran along the boundary on the defendant’s property, which was the only local road that connected to a state highway. One of the plaintiffs began maintaining the road without the defendant’s consent. In response, the defendant closed the gate on the road with a lock on it to prevent the plaintiffs from using it. The plaintiffs sued and sought to remove the gate from the road. The trial court determined the plaintiffs had acquired a prescriptive easement over the road by actual, hostile, open and notorious, exclusive and continuous possession of the road for the statutory period of 15 years. As a result, the trial court held that the plaintiffs had the right to use the road for agricultural purposes and to maintain the road in a reasonable manner.

On appeal, the defendant argued that one of the plaintiff’s use of the road two or three times per week did not constitute open and notorious possession because it was insufficient to put the defendant on notice. The appellate court noted that under state common law, it is the legal owner’s actual or imputable knowledge of another’s possession of lands that affects the ownership. As a result, the appellate court held that the plaintiff’s use of the road put the defendant on constructive notice. The defendant then argued that one of the plaintiff’s use of the road was permissive as she had maintained the gates on the road. The plaintiff argued that he always believed the road at issue was an old county road and that he never sought permission to use the road. The appellate court determined that the gates on the road were never intended to prevent the plaintiffs from using the road, but were primarily for farm purposes. The defendant also claimed that the trial court erred in determining the use and location of the prescriptive easement as two of the plaintiffs had not maintained the road. The appellate court noted that maintenance of the road was not a necessary element to establish an easement by prescription. Lastly, the defendant argued that the plaintiffs’ nonuse of the north part of the road resulted in an abandonment of the prescriptive easement. The appellate court noted that mere non-use of an easement does prove that an easement has been abandoned, and held that the plaintiffs occasional use of the road rebutted the defendant’s abandonment claim.

Conclusion

The developments never cease.  There will be more as time goes on.

Valuing Ag Real Estate With Environmental Concerns

Overview

For federal estate tax purposes, valuation is typically the primary issue.  Quite often, there are more dollars at stake with respect to the valuation issue than with respect to all other issues combined.  As such, the facts of a particular case concerning valuation may be more important than applicable law and IRS rulings. 

What if ag land has an environmental issue associated with it?  Such things as the presence of hazardous materials and wetlands can have a significant impact on land value.  But, what is the degree of the impact on value, and how is it measured?

Valuing ag land with environmental concerns – it’s the topic of today’s post.

Practical Aspects

When valuing agricultural land, it is important to preserve all contemporaneous data applicable to the decedent’s estate.  This includes creating a checklist of assets requiring action by others as to evaluation.  The checklist should include appraisals, environmental land-use restrictions recorded in the real estate records; environmental audits; and assessment figures for property tax purposes. 

If a decedent’s estate contains contaminated real estate, or real estate subject to use restrictions, the estate executor will need to justify a reduction in value for estate tax purposes.  That will require sufficient proof of the existence of contamination and any associated land use restrictions as of the date of the decedent’s death and the effect on the land’s value. 

Note:   Property valuation is also important during the landowner’s life for purposes of gift taxes, property taxes, or to establish a selling price.  The issue is complicated by the fact that the effect of contamination on value, like other elements influencing valuation is frequently more subjective than it is tangible and quantifiable. 

Specific Problems

Two of the big ways that environmental constraints can impact the value of agricultural land involve hazardous materials and wetlands. 

Hazardous chemicals/waste.  Farms and ranches use various chemicals in the process of raising crops and livestock and operating machinery and equipment.  It was not uncommon in the past for a farm or ranch to have a dump site on the premises.  Various hazardous substances could be present at those sites.  When hazardous chemicals are present, they will increase the cost of owning the property in terms of monitoring and cleanup costs as well as potential legal liability. 

In recent years, the IRS has been all over the board on whether cleanup costs are currently deductible or must be capitalized.  In short, the answer depends on whether the taxpayer created the mess that is being cleaned up or is cleaning up someone else’s mess.  In a 2004 ruling, a corporation in the business of manufacturing products that it placed in inventory was required by state and federal law to clean up the soil and water contaminated by hazardous waste that the corporation had disposed of at the site.  The IRS ruled that the soil and groundwater mediation costs had to be capitalized into the costs of the products that the corporation produced.  Rev. Rul. 2004-18, 2004-1 C.B. 509.  In 2005, the IRS extended the ruling by concluding that environmental remediation costs are more in the nature of repairs than capital improvements and are allocable to the inventory produced in the tax year during which the costs are incurred. Rev. Rul. 2005-42, 2005-2 C.B. 67.

Note:  Because costs incurred to clean up environmentally contaminated property may involve a pre-existing material condition or defect, the tangible property regulations could come into play.  In such event, remediation costs may be treated as a betterment because they ameliorated a material condition or defect in existence before the taxpayer bought the property, which would require the costs to be capitalized.  Capitalization could have a particularly harsh effect on individual landowners, who may be less capable of sustaining a large outlay for cleanup costs without an offsetting deduction.  Also, if the property is held merely as an investment and not as part of the landowner’s trade or business, the landowner will be subject to the passive loss rules.  Thus, even if the remediation costs are deductible, costs in excess of income from the property may offset only other passive income that the landowner may have.  See I.R.C. §469. 

The presence of hazardous chemicals/waste will also make the property less desirable in the marketplace.  

Wetlands.  Wetland laws and regulations restrict land use and may cause the land to be unmarketable and, perhaps, worthless because of the loss of value to the particular property owner.  If the restriction eliminates all of the economic value of the property without a federal permit, some court’s have held that a governmental taking has occurred.  For example, in 2014, the United States Court of Federal Claims held that the denial of a CWA §404 permit constituted a taking.  Lost Tree Village Corporation v. United States, 115 Fed. Cl. 219 (2014), aff’d., 787 F.3d 1111 (Fed. Cir. 2015).  Under the facts of the case, the landowner bought the tract at issue as part of a transaction in which the landowner purchased an entire peninsula on which the tract was located. The landowner developed the other land into a gated community and did not treat the tract as part of the same economic unit, but later decided to develop the tract. In order to develop the tract, the landowner needed to acquire a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit. The permit was denied, and the landowner sued for a constitutional taking. Initially, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims determined that a constitutional taking had occurred and that the relevant parcel against which to measure the impact of the permit denial was the tract plus a nearby lot and scattered wetlands located nearby that the landowner owned. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the tract was the relevant parcel. On remand, the Court of Federal Claims, held that the loss of value caused by the permit denial was 99.4 percent of the tract's value, or $4,217,888 based on the difference in the tract's value before and after the permit denial. The court rejected the government's argument that the "before valuation" must account for the permit denial. The court said that the government cannot lower the tract's value by arguing the possibility of the permit denial.

The presence of a wetland on tract can also trigger a reduction in the land’s assessed value for property tax purposes.  In a significant case from New Jersey, the New Jersey Superior Court upheld a state tax court decision that reduced a property tax assessment from nearly $20 million to $976,500.  Bergen County Associates v. Borough of East Rutherford, 265 N.J. Super. 1, 625 A.2d 524 (1993), certification den., 134 N.J. 482, 634 A.2d 528 (1993).  The court found persuasive testimony that indicated that the application process for permits to dredge and fill wetlands had become “much stricter” in the late 1980s, and were “virtually impossible to obtain.”  It is important to note that the taxpayer was not denied a permit to fill the property.  Instead, the taxpayer went directly to court to argue for a substantial assessed valuation reduction based on the land use restrictions. 

On the property tax valuation issue, as long as the property has a value in use (e.g., it is producing income), a lack of marketability will not support a claim for lack of value.  However, the IRS Examination Technique Handbook for Estate Tax Examiners instructs IRS estate and gift tax examiners to consult assessment records as good sources of information for estate and gift tax values. 

Valuation Principles

IRS test.  The IRS test for valuation is the “willing-buyer/willing-seller” test. Treas. Reg. §§20.2031-1(b); 25.2512-1.  For estate (and gift) tax purposes, property must be valued at its fair market value as of the valuation date in accordance with the IRS test.  The test necessarily focuses on the marketability of any particular property.  But, there is value in use that is separate from marketability.  Value in use focuses on value to the particular owner of the property. 

Consider the following example:

Kenny Dewitt owns a farm that produces an income stream (net of expenses) of $350,000 per year in harvested crops.  Assume that the farm normally would has a capitalization rate of four percent (typical for cropland), producing a “clean” value of $875,000.  Due to contamination from leaking underground storage tanks and nitrate contamination of groundwater, the property is neither marketable nor mortgageable, leaving the equity yield (which is generally higher than the cost of debt financing) the primary component of the capitalization rate.  In addition, a higher return on equity will be demanded to reflect the additional risk of holding contaminated property and its lack of marketability.  As a result, the capitalization rate could easily become eight percent, which decreases the value of the property by 50 percent to $437,500.  After this value is calculated, the costs of cleaning up the property still will have to be taken into account. 

Note:   It’s probably overly simplistic to determine the “clean value” of a property and then subtract the cost of cleanup.  Additional factors such as contingent liabilities to the public and stigmatization may affect value to at least the same extent as the actual remediation costs. 

Stigma.  A physical cleanup of a tract does not eliminate the loss of value resulting from stigmatization. Even when property has been cleaned up to the satisfaction of the state and federal government, potential buyers tend to remain reluctant, making the property less desirable in the marketplace.  Additionally, if interested buyers can be found, lenders may be reluctant to finance the acquisition of contaminated or potentially contaminated property.  That could make financing the property more costly.  That, in turn, can impact market value.  Thus, it’s safe to say that external environmental factors can influence market value.

Conclusion

Buying agricultural land often is fairly straightforward.  However, when environmental factors are present determining fair market value takes on a completely different twist.

The Agricultural Law and Tax Report

Overview

 

Starting Monday May 3, I am hosting a daily 2-minute program, The Agricultural Law and Tax Report on farm radio stations nationwide and on SiriusXM 147.  The purpose of each report is to educate farmers and ranchers and rural landowners on the unique legal and tax issues that they are often faced with.  Each program explains what the law is on a particular topic, and how actual court cases and IRS rulings have been decided based on that law, and what the application is to a farming or ranching operation.

 

Topical Coverage

 

Some of the topics that I will address include:

 

Contract Issues - (auction sales; farm leases; hunting leases; grain and livestock sale contracts; types of clauses to protect the farmer-seller; remedies if there is a breach).

 

Ag Financing Issues - (collateral issues; rules governing lenders and farm borrowers; foreclosure issues and Farmers’ Home (FSA); redemption rights for farmland; agricultural liens).

 

Agricultural Bankruptcy - (Chapter 12 farm bankruptcy issues).

 

Farm Income Tax - (handling USDA/CCC loans; government payments; crop insurance proceeds; pre-paying expenses; deferred payment contracts; commodity trading income; easement payments; crop and livestock share rental income).

 

Real Property Issues - (fences and boundaries; buying and selling farmland; recoveries from settlements and court judgments (such as the Roundup litigation, etc.)).

 

Farm Estate Planning - (types of title ownership; disruption of family farm if there is no will or trust; planning approaches to facilitate keeping the farm in the family; federal estate tax planning; gifting of farm assets; treating off-farm and on-farm heirs fairly).

 

Liability Issues - (food product liability issues (labeling and disparagement laws); liability for trespassers and others on the property; trespassing dog laws; nuisance law; employer's responsibility for farm employees; animal diseases; fence laws).

 

Criminal Law Issues - (what can the government search without a warrant; cruelty to animal laws; government programs and criminal liability; environmental liability for farmers and ranchers).

 

Water Law Issues - (types of water law systems; use of surface water for crops and livestock; use of subsurface water; boundary disputes).

 

The initial sponsor is First State Bank headquartered in Lincoln, NE.  If you are interested in also becoming a sponsor, please let me know.

 

Many thanks to John Mellencamp and Sony Music Publishing Co. for the "bumper" music that accompanies each show. And...special thanks to Donn Teske.

 

Check with your local farm radio station to see if they are carrying The Agricultural Law and Tax Report. If not, please call your local station and request it, and let me know

 

My hope is that you find the show profitable for your farming business, rural practice, and your local rural community.

Ag Law and Taxation - 2016 Bibliography

Overview

Today's post is a bibliography of my ag law and tax blog articles of 2016.  Earlier this year I have provided bibliographies for you of my blog articles for 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017.  This now completes the bibliographies since I began the blog in July of 2016.  At the end of 2021, I will post a lengthy blog article of all of the articles published through that timeframe. 

The 2016 bibliography of articles – it’s the subject matter of today’s post.

BUSINESS PLANNING

Treasury Attacks Estate and Entity Planning Techniques With Proposed Valuation Regulations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/treasury-attacks-estate-and-entity-planning-techniques-with-proposed-valuation-regulations.html

Using an LLC to Reduce S.E Tax and the NIIT

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/using-an-llc-to-reduce-se-tax-and-the-niit.html

IRS Audit Issue – S Corporation Reasonable Compensation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/irs-audit-issue-s-corporation-reasonable-compensation.html

Rents Are Passive, But They Can Be Recharacterized - And Grouped (Sometimes)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/rents-are-passive-but-they-can-be-recharacterized-and-grouped-sometimes.html

Tribute To Orville Bloethe

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/tribute-to-orville-bloethe.html

CIVIL LIABILITIES

Registration of a Pesticide Doesn't Mean It Might Not Be Misbranded

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/07/registration-of-a-pesticide-doesnt-mean-it-might-not-be-misbranded-.html

Death of Livestock In Blizzard Was a Covered Loss by “Drowning”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/death-of-livestock-in-blizzard-was-a-covered-loss-by-drowning.html

FIFRA Pre-Emption of Pesticide Damage Claims

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/fifra-pre-emption-of-pesticide-damage-claims.html

Agritourism Acts, Zoning Issues and Landowner Liability

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/agritourism-acts-zoning-issues-and-landowner-liability.html

The “Agriculture” Exemption From The Requirement To Pay Overtime Wages

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/the-agriculture-exemption-from-the-requirement-to-pay-overtime-wages.html

The Scope and Effect of Equine Liability Acts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/the-scope-and-effect-of-equine-liability-acts.html

What’s a Rural Landowner’s Responsibility Concerning Crops, Trees and Vegetation Near an Intersection?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/whats-a-rural-landowners-responsibility-concerning-crops-trees-and-vegetation-near-an-intersection.html

CONTRACTS

Some Thoughts on Production Contracts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/some-thoughts-on-production-contracts.html

CRIMINAL LIABILITIES

Prison Sentences Upheld For Egg Company Executives Even Though Government Conceded They Had No Knowledge of Salmonella Contamination.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/07/prison-sentences-upheld-for-egg-company-executives-even-though-government-conceded-they-had-no-knowledge-of-salmonella-contam.html

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Registration of a Pesticide Doesn't Mean It Might Not Be Misbranded

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/07/registration-of-a-pesticide-doesnt-mean-it-might-not-be-misbranded-.html

FIFRA Pre-Emption of Pesticide Damage Claims

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/fifra-pre-emption-of-pesticide-damage-claims.html

Air Emissions, CWA and CERCLA

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/air-emissions-cwa-and-cercla.html

Are Seeds Coated With Insecticides Exempt From FIFRA Regulation?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/are-seeds-coated-with-insecticides-exempt-from-fifra-regulation.html

ESTATE PLANNING

The Situs of a Trust Can Make a Tax Difference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/07/the-situs-of-a-trust-can-make-a-tax-difference.html

Treasury Attacks Estate and Entity Planning Techniques With Proposed Valuation Regulations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/treasury-attacks-estate-and-entity-planning-techniques-with-proposed-valuation-regulations.html

Common Estate Planning Mistakes of Farmers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/common-estate-planning-mistakes-of-farmers.html

Staying on the Farm With the Help of In-Home Care

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/staying-on-the-farm-with-the-help-of-in-home-care.html

Including Property in the Gross Estate to Get a Basis Step-Up

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/including-property-in-the-gross-estate-to-get-a-basis-step-up.html

Farm Valuation Issues

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/farm-valuation-issues.html

The Future of the Federal Estate Tax and Implications for Estate Planning

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/the-future-of-the-federal-estate-tax-and-implications-for-estate-planning.html

Tribute To Orville Bloethe

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/tribute-to-orville-bloethe.html

INCOME TAX

House Ways and Means Committee Has A Blueprint For Tax Proposals - Implications For Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/07/house-ways-and-means-committee-has-a-blueprint-for-tax-proposals-implications-for-agriculture.html

In Attempt To Deny Oil and Gas-Related Deductions, IRS Reads Language Into the Code That Isn’t There – Tax Court Not Biting

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/07/in-attempt-to-deny-oil-and-gas-related-deductions-irs-reads-language-into-the-code-that-isnt-there-tax-court-not-biti.html

IRS Does Double-Back Layout on Self-Employment Tax

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/irs-does-double-back-layout-on-self-employment-tax.html

S.E. Tax on Passive Investment Income; Election Out of Subchapter K Doesn’t Change Entity’s Nature; and IRS Can Change Its Mind

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/se-tax-on-passive-investment-income-election-out-of-subchapter-k-doesnt-change-entitys-nature-and-irs-can-change-it.html

Handling Depreciation on Asset Trades

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/handling-depreciation-on-asset-trades.html

Claiming “Bonus” Depreciation on Plants

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/claiming-bonus-depreciation-on-plants.html

Proper Reporting of Crop Insurance Proceeds

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/proper-reporting-of-crop-insurance-proceeds.html

Permanent Conservation Easement Donation Opportunities and Perils

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/permanent-conservation-easement-donation-opportunities-and-perils.html

Sales By Farmers/Rural Landowners Generate Common Questions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/sales-by-farmersrural-landowners-generate-common-questions-.html

Expense Method Depreciation - Great Tax Planning Opportunities On Amended Returns

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/expense-method-depreciation-great-tax-planning-opportunities-on-amended-returns.html

The DPAD and Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/the-dpad-and-agriculture.html

Donating Food Inventory to a Qualified Charity - New Opportunity for Farmers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/donating-food-inventory-to-a-qualified-charity-new-opportunity-for-farmers.html

Farm Valuation Issues

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/farm-valuation-issues.html

Treatment of Farming Casualty and Theft Losses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/treatment-of-farming-casualty-and-theft-losses.html

More on Handling Farm Losses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/more-on-handling-farm-losses.html

Selected Tax Issues For Rural Landowners Associated With Easement Payments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/selected-tax-issues-for-rural-landowners-associated-with-easement-payments.html

Are You A Farmer? It Depends!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/are-you-a-farmer-it-depends.html

Rents Are Passive, But They Can Be Recharacterized - And Grouped (Sometimes)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/rents-are-passive-but-they-can-be-recharacterized-and-grouped-sometimes.html

It’s Fall and Time to “Hoop it Up”!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/its-fall-and-time-to-hoop-it-up.html

Utilizing the Home Sale Exclusion When Selling the Farm

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/utilizing-the-home-sale-exclusion-when-selling-the-farm.html

Farmland Acquisition – Allocation of Value to Depreciable Items

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/farmland-acquisition-allocation-of-value-to-depreciable-items.html

Tribute To Orville Bloethe

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/tribute-to-orville-bloethe.html

IRS Continues (Unsuccessfully) Attack on Cash Accounting By Farmers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/irs-continues-unsuccessfully-attack-on-cash-accounting-by-farmers.html

The Uniform Capitalization Rules and Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/the-uniform-capitalization-rules-and-agriculture.html

The Non-Corporate Lessor Rule – A Potential Trap In Expense Method Depreciation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/the-non-corporate-lessor-rule-a-potential-trap-in-expense-method-depreciation.html

REAL PROPERTY

Texas Mineral Estates, Groundwater Rights, Surface Usage and the “Accommodation Doctrine”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/texas-mineral-estates-groundwater-rights-surface-usage-and-the-accommodation-doctrine.html

So You Want To Buy Farmland? Things to Consider

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/so-you-want-to-buy-farmland-things-to-consider.html

What’s the Character of the Gain From the Sale of Farm or Ranch Land?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/09/whats-the-character-of-the-gain-from-the-sale-of-farm-or-ranch-land.html

Utilizing the Home Sale Exclusion When Selling the Farm

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/12/utilizing-the-home-sale-exclusion-when-selling-the-farm.html

REGULATORY LAW

New Food Safety Rules Soon to Apply to Farmers and Others In the Food Production Chain

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/10/new-food-safety-rules-soon-to-apply-to-farmers-and-others-in-the-food-production-chain.html

New Regulations on Marketing of Livestock and Poultry

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/new-regulations-on-marketing-of-livestock-and-poultry.html

The Future of Ag Policy Under Trump

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/the-future-of-ag-policy-under-trump.html

Verifying Employment – New Form I-9; The Requirements and Potential Problem Areas

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/verifying-employment-new-form-i-9-the-requirements-and-potential-problem-areas.html

SECURED TRANSACTIONS

Feedlot Has Superior Rights to Cattle Sale Proceeds

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/08/feedlot-has-superior-rights-to-cattle-sale-proceeds.html

WATER LAW

Watercourses and Boundary Lines

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2016/11/watercourses-and-boundary-lines.html

Ag Law and Taxation - 2017 Bibliography

Overview

Today's post is a bibliography of my ag law and tax blog articles of 2017.  This will make it easier to find the articles you are looking for in your research.  In late January I posted the 2020 bibliography of articles.  In late February I posted the bibliography of the 2019 articles.  Last month, I posted the 2018 bibliography of articles.  Today’s posting is the bibliography of my 2017 articles.  Later this month I will post the 2016 bibliography. 

The library of content continues to grow with relevant information for you practice or your farming/ranching business.

The 2017 bibliography of articles – it’s the subject matter of today’s post.

BANKRUPTCY

The Most Important Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/the-most-important-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016.html  

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016 (Ten Through Six)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016-ten-through-six.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law Developments of 2016 (Five Through One)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-developments-of-2016-five-through-one.html

Farm Financial Stress – Debt Restructuring

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/farm-financial-stress-debt-restructuring.html

Qualified Farm Indebtedness – A Special Rule for Income Exclusion of Forgiven Debt

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/qualified-farm-indebtedness-a-special-rule-for-income-exclusion-of-forgiven-debt.html

What Are a Farmer’s Rights When a Grain Elevator Fails?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/what-are-a-farmers-rights-when-a-grain-elevator-fails.html

Agricultural Law in a Nutshell

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/agricultural-law-in-a-nutshell.html

The Business of Agriculture – Upcoming CLE Symposium

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/the-business-of-agriculture-upcoming-cle-symposium.html

Tough Financial Times in Agriculture and Lending Clauses – Peril for the Unwary

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/tough-financial-times-in-agriculture-and-lending-clauses-peril-for-the-unwary.html

What Interest Rate Applies to a Secured Creditor’s Claim in a Reorganization Bankruptcy?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/what-interest-rate-applies-to-a-secured-creditors-claim-in-a-reorganization-bankruptcy.html

PACA Trust Does Not Prevent Chapter 11 DIP’s Use of Cash Collateral

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/paca-trust-does-not-prevent-chapter-11-dips-use-of-cash-collateral.html

Are Taxes Dischargeable in Bankruptcy?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/are-taxes-dischargeable-in-bankruptcy.html

Christmas Shopping Season Curtailed? – Bankruptcy Venue Shopping, That Is!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/christmas-shopping-season-curtailed-bankruptcy-venue-shopping-that-is.html

BUSINESS PLANNING

The Most Important Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/the-most-important-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016 (Ten Through Six)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016-ten-through-six.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law Developments of 2016 (Five Through One)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-developments-of-2016-five-through-one.html

C Corporation Penalty Taxes – Time to Dust-Off and Review?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/c-corporation-penalty-taxes-time-to-dust-off-and-review.html

Divisive Reorganizations of Farming and Ranching Corporations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/divisive-reorganizations-of-farming-and-ranching-corporations.html

The Scope and Effect of the “Small Partnership Exception”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/the-scope-and-effect-of-the-small-partnership-exception.html

Using the Right Kind of an Entity to Reduce Self-Employment Tax

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/using-the-right-kind-of-an-entity-to-reduce-self-employment-tax.html

Employer-Provided Meals and Lodging

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/employer-provided-meals-and-lodging.html

Self-Employment Tax on Farming Activity of Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/self-employment-tax-on-farming-activity-of-trusts.html

Minority Shareholder Oppression Case Raises Several Tax Questions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/minority-shareholder-oppression-case-raises-several-tax-questions.html

Farm Program Payment Limitations and Entity Planning – Part One

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/farm-program-payment-limitations-and-entity-planning-part-one.html

Farm Program Payment Limitations and Entity Planning – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/farm-program-payment-limitations-and-entity-planning-part-two.html

Summer Ag Tax/Estate and Business Planning Conference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/summer-ag-taxestate-and-business-planning-conference.html

An Installment Sale as Part of an Estate Plan

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/an-installment-sale-as-part-of-an-estate-plan.html

The Use of a Buy-Sell Agreement for Transitioning a Business

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/the-use-of-a-buy-sell-agreement-for-transitioning-a-business.html

The Business of Agriculture – Upcoming CLE Symposium

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/the-business-of-agriculture-upcoming-cle-symposium.html

Forming a Farming/Ranching Corporation Tax-Free

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/forming-a-farmingranching-corporation-tax-free.html

Farmers Renting Equipment – Does it Trigger A Self-Employment Tax Liability?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/farmers-renting-equipment-does-it-trigger-a-self-employment-tax-liability.html

New Partnership Audit Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/new-partnership-audit-rules.html

Self-Employment Tax on Farm Rental Income – Is the Mizell Veneer Cracking?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/self-employment-tax-on-farm-rental-income-is-the-mizell-veneer-cracking.html

IRS To Finalize Regulations on Tax Status of LLC and LLP Members?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/irs-to-finalize-regulations-on-tax-status-of-llc-and-llp-members.html

H.R. 1 – Farmers, Self-Employment Tax and Business Arrangement Structures

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/hr-1-farmers-self-employment-tax-and-business-arrangement-structures.html

Summer 2018 – Farm Tax and Farm Business Education

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/summer-2018-farm-tax-and-farm-business-education.html

Partnerships and Tax Law – Details Matter

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/partnership-and-tax-law-details-matter.html   

CIVIL LIABILITIES

The Most Important Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/the-most-important-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016 (Ten Through Six)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016-ten-through-six.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Developments of 2016 (Five Through One)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-developments-of-2016-five-through-one.html

Recreational Use Statutes – What is Covered?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/recreational-use-statutes-what-is-covered.html

Is Aesthetic Damage Enough to Make Out a Nuisance Claim?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/is-aesthetic-damage-enough-to-make-out-a-nuisance-claim.html

Liability Associated with a Range of Fires and Controlled Burns

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/liability-associated-with-a-range-fires-and-controlled-burns.html

What’s My Liability for Spread of Animal Disease

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/whats-my-liability-for-spread-of-animal-disease.html

Dicamba Spray-Drift Issues

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/dicamba-spray-drift-issues.html

Agricultural Law in a Nutshell

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/agricultural-law-in-a-nutshell.html

The Business of Agriculture – Upcoming CLE Symposium

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/the-business-of-agriculture-upcoming-cle-symposium.html

Right-to-Farm Laws

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/right-to-farm-laws.html

CONTRACTS

The Most Important Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/the-most-important-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016 (Ten Through Six)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016-ten-through-six.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law Developments of 2016 (Five Through One)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-developments-of-2016-five-through-one.html

Another Issue With Producing Livestock on Contract – Insurance

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/another-issue-with-producing-livestock-on-contract-insurance.html

The Ability of Tenants-in-Common To Bind Co-Tenants to a Farm Lease – and Related Issues

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/the-ability-of-tenants-in-common-to-bind-co-tenants-to-a-farm-lease-and-related-issues.html

Ag Goods Sold at Auction – When is a Contract Formed?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/ag-goods-sold-at-auction-when-is-a-contract-formed.html

Agricultural Law in a Nutshell

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/agricultural-law-in-a-nutshell.html

The Business of Agriculture – Upcoming CLE Symposium

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/the-business-of-agriculture-upcoming-cle-symposium.html

Ag Contracts and Express Warranties

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/ag-contracts-and-express-warranties.html

What Remedies Does a Buyer Have When a Seller of Ag Goods Breaches the Contract?           

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/what-remedies-does-a-buyer-have-when-a-seller-of-ag-goods-breaches-the-contract.html  

COOPERATIVES

The Most Important Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2016

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/the-most-important-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law Developments of 2016 (Five Through One)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2016-ten-through-six.html

What Is a Cooperative Director’s Liability to Member-Shareholders and Others?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/what-is-a-cooperative-directors-liability-to-member-shareholders-and-others.html

CRIMINAL LIABILITIES

The Necessity Defense to Criminal Liability

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/the-necessity-defense-to-criminal-liability.html

The Business of Agriculture – Upcoming CLE Symposium

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/the-business-of-agriculture-upcoming-cle-symposium.html

What Problems Does The Migratory Bird Treaty Act Pose For Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Landowners?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/what-problems-does-the-migratory-bird-treaty-act-pose-for-farmers-ranchers-and-rural-landowners.html

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Drainage Activities on Farmland and the USDA

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/drainage-activities-on-farmland-and-the-usda.html

The Application of the Endangered Species Act to Activities on Private Land

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/the-application-of-the-endangered-species-act-to-activities-on-private-land.html

Eminent Domain – The Government’s Power to “Take” Private Property

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/eminent-domain-the-governments-power-to-take-private-property.html

Spray Drift As Hazardous Waste?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/spray-drift-as-hazardous-waste.html

What Problems Does The Migratory Bird Treaty Act Pose For Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Landowners?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/what-problems-does-the-migratory-bird-treaty-act-pose-for-farmers-ranchers-and-rural-landowners.html

The Prior Converted Cropland Exception From Clean Water Act Jurisdiction

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/the-prior-converted-cropland-exception-from-clean-water-act-jurisdiction.html

Air Emission Reporting Requirement For Livestock Operations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/air-emission-reporting-requirement-for-livestock-operations.html

ESTATE PLANNING

Rights of Refusal and the Rule Against Perpetuities

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/rights-of-refusal-and-the-rule-against-perpetuities.html

Some Thoughts On Long-Term Care Insurance

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/some-thoughts-on-long-term-care-insurance.html

Overview of Gifting Rules and Strategies                                                                 

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/overview-of-gifting-rules-and-strategies.html

Disinheriting a Spouse – Can It Be Done?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/disinheriting-a-spouse-can-it-be-done.html

Specific Property Devised in Will (or Trust) That Doesn’t Exist At Death – What Happens?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/specific-property-devised-in-will-that-doesnt-exist-at-death-what-happens.html

Discounting IRAs for Income Tax Liability?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/discounting-iras-for-income-tax-liability.html

Special Use Valuation and Cash Leasing

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/special-use-valuation-and-cash-leasing.html

Self-Employment Tax On Farming Activity Of Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/self-employment-tax-on-farming-activity-of-trusts.html

Would an Interest Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation Benefit a Farming Business?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/would-an-interest-charge-domestic-international-sales-corporation-benefit-a-farming-business.html

An Installment Sale as Part of An Estate Plan

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/an-installment-sale-as-part-of-an-estate-plan.html

Using An IDGT For Wealth Transfer and Business Succession

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/using-an-idgt-for-wealth-transfer-and-business-succession.html

Federal Tax Claims in Decedent’s Estates – What’s the Liability and Priority?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/federal-tax-claims-in-decedents-estates-whats-the-liability-and-priority.html

Estate Tax Portability – The Authority of the IRS To Audit

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/estate-tax-portability-the-authority-of-the-irs-to-audit.html

Digital Assets and Estate Planning       

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/digital-assets-and-estate-planning.html

INCOME TAX

The Burden of Proof in Tax Cases – What are the Rules?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/the-burden-of-proof-in-tax-cases-what-are-the-rules.html

The Home Office Deduction

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/the-home-office-deduction.html

IRS To Continue Attacking Cash Method For Farmers Via the “Farming Syndicate Rule”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/irs-to-continue-attacking-cash-method-for-farmers-via-the-farming-syndicate-rule.html

Using Schedule J As A Planning Tool For Clients With Farm Income

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/using-schedule-j-as-a-planning-tool-for-clients-with-farm-income.html

Deductibility of Soil and Water Conservation Expenses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/deductibility-of-soil-and-water-conservation-expenses.html

Should Purchased Livestock Be Depreciated or Inventoried?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/should-purchased-livestock-be-depreciated-or-inventoried.html

The Changing Structure of Agricultural Production and…the IRS

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/the-changing-structure-of-agricultural-production-andthe-irs.html

Farm-Related Casualty Losses and Involuntary Conversions – Helpful Tax Rules in Times of Distress

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/farm-related-casualty-losses-and-involuntary-conversions-helpful-tax-rules-in-times-of-distress.html

Charitable Contributions Via Trust

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/charitable-contributions-via-trust.html

Ag Tax Policy The Focus in D.C.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/ag-tax-policy-the-focus-in-dc-.html

For Depreciation Purposes, What Does Placed in Service Mean?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/for-depreciation-purposes-what-does-placed-in-service-mean.html

Tax Treatment of Commodity Futures and Options

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/tax-treatment-of-commodity-futures-and-options.html

Discounting IRAs for Income Tax Liability?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/discounting-iras-for-income-tax-liability.html

Like-Kind Exchanges, Reverse Exchanges, and the Safe Harbor

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/like-kind-exchanges-reverse-exchanges-and-the-safe-harbor.html

Insights Into Handling IRS Disputes

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/insights-into-handling-irs-disputes.html

Employer-Provided Meals and Lodging

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/employer-provided-meals-and-lodging.html

Self-Employment Tax On Farming Activity Of Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/self-employment-tax-on-farming-activity-of-trusts.html

Minority Shareholder Oppression Case Raises Several Tax Questions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/minority-shareholder-oppression-case-raises-several-tax-questions.html

Input Costs – When Can a Deduction Be Claimed?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/input-costs-when-can-a-deduction-be-claimed.html

Like-Kind Exchange Issues

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/like-kind-exchange-issues.html

Tax Issues With Bad Debt Deductions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/tax-issues-with-bad-debt-deductions.html

Like-Kind Exchanges – The Related Party Rule and a Planning Opportunity

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/like-kind-exchanges-the-related-party-rule-and-a-planning-opportunity.html

Tax Treatment of Cooperative Value-Added Payments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/tax-treatment-of-cooperative-value-added-payments.html

Would an Interest Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation Benefit a Farming Business?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/would-an-interest-charge-domestic-international-sales-corporation-benefit-a-farming-business.html

Timber Tax Issues – Part One

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/timber-tax-issues-part-one.html

Timber Tax Issues – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/timber-tax-issues-part-two.html

An Installment Sale as Part of An Estate Plan

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/an-installment-sale-as-part-of-an-estate-plan.html

Using An IDGT For Wealth Transfer and Business Succession

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/using-an-idgt-for-wealth-transfer-and-business-succession.html

Prospects for Tax Legislation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/prospects-for-tax-legislation.html

Deferred Payment Contracts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/deferred-payment-contracts.html

When Is A Farmer Not A “Qualified Farmer” For Conservation Easement Donation Purposes?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/when-is-a-farmer-not-a-qualified-farmer-for-conservation-easement-donation-purposes.html

Substantiating Charitable Contributions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/substantiating-charitable-contributions.html

Forming a Farming/Ranching Corporation Tax-Free

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/forming-a-farmingranching-corporation-tax-free.html

Farmers Renting Equipment – Does It Trigger A Self-Employment Tax Liability?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/farmers-renting-equipment-does-it-trigger-a-self-employment-tax-liability.html

Commodity Credit Corporation Loans and Elections

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/commodity-credit-corporation-loans-and-elections.html

New Partnership Audit Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/new-partnership-audit-rules.html

Alternatives to Like-Kind Exchanges of Farmland

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/alternatives-to-like-kind-exchanges-of-farmland.html

South Dakota Attempts To Change Internet Sales Taxation – What Might Be The Impact On Small Businesses?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/south-dakota-attempts-to-change-internet-sales-taxation-what-might-be-the-impact-on-small-businesses.html

Fall Tax Schools

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/fall-tax-schools.html

Self-Employment Tax on Farm Rental Income – Is the Mizell Veneer Cracking?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/self-employment-tax-on-farm-rental-income-is-the-mizell-veneer-cracking.html

Tax Treatment of Settlements and Court Judgments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/tax-treatment-of-settlements-and-court-judgments.html

The “Perpetuity” Requirement For Donated Easements

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/the-perpetuity-requirement-for-donated-easements.html

The Tax Rules Involving Prepaid Farm Expenses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/the-tax-rules-involving-prepaid-farm-expenses.html

It’s Just About Tax School Time

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/its-just-about-tax-school-time.html

IRS To Finalize Regulations On Tax Status of LLC and LLP Members?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/irs-to-finalize-regulations-on-tax-status-of-llc-and-llp-members.html

The Deductibility (Or Non-Deductibility) of Interest

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/10/the-deductibility-or-non-deductibility-of-interest.html

H.R. 1 - Farmers, Self-Employment Tax and Business Arrangement Structures

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/hr-1-farmers-self-employment-tax-and-business-arrangement-structures.html

The Broad Reach of the Wash-Sale Rule

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/the-broad-reach-of-the-wash-sale-rule.html

Comparison of the House and Senate Tax Bills – Implications for Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/comparison-of-the-house-and-senate-tax-bills-implications-for-agriculture.html

Partnerships and Tax Law – Details Matter

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/partnership-and-tax-law-details-matter.html

Senate Clears Tax Bill - On To Conference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/senate-clears-tax-bill-on-to-conference-committee.html

Are Taxes Dischargeable in Bankruptcy?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/are-taxes-dischargeable-in-bankruptcy.html

Bitcoin Fever and the Tax Man

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/bitcoin-fever-and-the-tax-man.html

House and Senate to Vote on Conference Tax Bill This Week

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/house-and-senate-to-vote-on-conference-tax-bill-this-week.html

Another Tax Bill Introduced, Year-End Planning, and Jan. 10 Seminar/Webinar

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/another-tax-bill-introduced-year-end-planning-and-jan-10-seminarwebinar.html

PUBLICATIONS

Agricultural Law in a Nutshell

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/agricultural-law-in-a-nutshell.html

REAL PROPERTY

Another Issue When the Definition of “Agriculture” Matters – Property Tax

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/another-issue-when-the-definition-of-agriculture-matters-property-tax.html

The Ability of Tenants-in-Common To Bind Co-Tenants to a Farm Lease – and Related Issues

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/the-ability-of-tenants-in-common-to-bind-co-tenants-to-a-farm-lease-and-related-issues.html

Like-Kind Exchanges, Reverse Exchanges, and the Safe Harbor

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/05/like-kind-exchanges-reverse-exchanges-and-the-safe-harbor.html

Like-Kind Exchange Issues

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/like-kind-exchange-issues.html

Easements on Agricultural Land – Classification and Legal Issues

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/easements-on-agricultural-land-classification-and-legal-issues.html

Should I Enter Into An Oil and Gas Lease?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/should-i-enter-into-an-oil-and-gas-lease.html

REGULATORY LAW

Checkoffs, The Courts and Free Speech

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/checkoffs-the-courts-and-free-speech.html

Joint Employment Situations In Agriculture – What’s the FLSA Test?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/joint-employment-situations-in-agriculture-whats-the-flsa-test.html

Farmers, Ranchers and Government Administrative Agencies

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/farmers-ranchers-and-government-administrative-agencies.html

IRS To Target “Hobby” Farmers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/irs-to-target-hobby-farmers.html

Drainage Activities on Farmland and the USDA

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/drainage-activities-on-farmland-and-the-usda.html

What is a “Separate Person” For Payment Limitation Purposes?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/what-is-a-separate-person-for-payment-limitation-purposes.html

Livestock Indemnity Payments – What They Are and Tax Reporting Options

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/03/livestock-indemnity-payments-what-they-are-and-tax-reporting-options.html

Can One State Regulate Agricultural Production Activities in Other States?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/can-one-state-regulate-agricultural-production-activities-in-other-states.html

Farm Program Payment Limitations and Entity Planning – Part One

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/farm-program-payment-limitations-and-entity-planning-part-one.html

Farm Program Payment Limitations and Entity Planning – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/farm-program-payment-limitations-and-entity-planning-part-two.html

Eminent Domain – The Government’s Power to “Take” Private Property

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/eminent-domain-the-governments-power-to-take-private-property.html

Department of Labor Overtime Rules Struck Down – What’s the Impact on Ag?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/department-of-labor-overtime-rules-struck-down-whats-the-impact-on-ag.html

The Prior Converted Cropland Exception From Clean Water Act Jurisdiction

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/the-prior-converted-cropland-exception-from-clean-water-act-jurisdiction.html

Air Emission Reporting Requirement For Livestock Operations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/air-emission-reporting-requirement-for-livestock-operations.html

Federal Labor Law and Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/federal-labor-law-and-agriculture.html

 Electronic Logs For Truckers and Implications for Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/electronic-logs-for-truckers-and-implications-for-agriculture.html

SECURED TRANSACTIONS

Ag Supply Dealer Liens – Important Tool in Tough Financial Times

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/01/ag-supply-dealer-liens-important-tool-in-tough-financial-times.html

“Commercial Reasonableness” of Collateral Sales

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/commercial-reasonableness-of-collateral-sales.html

What Are A Farmer’s Rights When a Grain Elevator Fails?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/07/what-are-a-farmers-rights-when-a-grain-elevator-fails.html

Selling Collateralized Ag Products – The “Farm Products” Rule

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/selling-collateralized-ag-products-the-farm-products-rule.html

SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES

Fall Tax Schools

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/09/fall-tax-schools.html

Another Tax Bill Introduced, Year-End Planning, and Jan. 10 Seminar/Webinar

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/another-tax-bill-introduced-year-end-planning-and-jan-10-seminarwebinar.html

Summer 2018 - Farm Tax and Farm Business Education

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/11/summer-2018-farm-tax-and-farm-business-education.html

The Business of Agriculture – Upcoming CLE Symposium

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/08/the-business-of-agriculture-upcoming-cle-symposium.html

Summer Ag Tax/Estate and Business Planning Conference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/06/summer-ag-taxestate-and-business-planning-conference.html

WATER LAW

Prior Appropriation – First in Time, First in Right

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/prior-appropriation-first-in-time-first-in-right.html

Kansas Water Law - Reactions to and Potential Consequences of the Garetson decision

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/02/kansas-water-law-reactions-to-and-potential-consequences-of-the-garetson-decision.html

Public Access To Private Land Via Water

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/04/public-access-to-private-land-via-water.html

Big Development for Water in the West - Federal Implied Reserved Water Rights Doctrine Applies to Groundwater

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2017/12/big-development-for-water-in-the-west-federal-implied-reserved-water-rights-doctrine-applies-to-grou.html

Court and IRS Happenings in Ag Law and Tax

Overview

It’s been a while since I have written a summary of what’s been happening in the courts concerning developments relevant to agricultural producers, ag businesses and rural landowners.  It’s always helpful to stay informed of the ag legal issues that the courts are addressing. 

Current court developments in the courts involving ag law and tax – it’s the topic of today’s post.

Nuisance Case Against Hog CAFO Continues 

Barden v. Murphy-Brown, LLC, No. 7:20-CV-85-BR, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47809 (E.D. N.C. Mar. 15, 2021)  

The plaintiff sued the defendant for trespass, negligence, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment arising from odor, dust, feces, urine and flies from a neighboring hog facility that housed 20,000-head of the defendant’s hogs.  The plaintiff sought compensatory and punitive damages.  The defendant sought to dismiss the complaint for failure to join to the lawsuit the farmer that operated the hog facility via a contact with the defendant as an indispensable party.  The court disagreed as the farmer’s conduct was likely irrelevant to the outcome of the litigation and any impact that an adverse judgment against the defendant might have on the farmer’s interests at the farm was speculative.

The defendant also sought dismissal on the basis that the plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a claim for relief that was other than speculative.  The defendant cited the state (NC) right-to-farm (RTF) law as barring all of the plaintiff’s claims.  However, the court disagreed noting that conditions that constitute a nuisance can also constitute a trespass (and other causes of action).  Thus, the plaintiff’s complaint was not restricted to allegations of a nuisance cause of action which the RTF law would bar.  The court noted that the NC RTF law was different from other state RTF laws that covered non-nuisance tort claims related to farming operations along with nuisance claims.  The NC RTF law only covered nuisance-related claims and had no application to non-nuisance claims. 

As to whether the plaintiff adequately alleged the non-nuisance claims, the court concluded that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged, at a minimum, a claim for unintentional trespass by not consenting to dust, urine and fecal matter from entering its property.  On the plaintiff’s negligence claim, the court determined that it was reasonably foreseeable that if the defendant did not act reasonably in managing the facility that dust and animal waste would be present on the plaintiff’s property.  As such, the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty and there was a causal link with any potential breach of that duty.  Thus, the plaintiff properly stated a claim for negligence.  The plaintiff also alleged that the defendant conspired with its corporate parent to mislead the public about the science of hog manure removal and various constitutional violations.  The court rejected this claim because any conspiracy was between the defendant and its corporate parent and not with any independent party.  The plaintiff also claimed that the defendant unjustly enriched itself by using the plaintiff’s property for a de facto easement without paying for it.  The court rejected the claim because the plaintiff had conferred no benefit on the plaintiff which gave rise to any legal or equitable obligation on the defendant’s part to account for the benefit received.  However, the court refused to strike the plaintiff’s allegations relating to the defendant’s Chinese ownership, influence and exploitation as well as the defendant’s financial resources.  The court determined that such allegations had a bearing on the defendant’s motivation, extent of harm and ability to implement alternative technology. 

1914 Fence Agreement Fixes Boundary 

Eggemeyer v. Hughes, No. 08-19-0002-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 691 (Tex. Ct. App. Jan. 28, 2021)  

 The parties owned adjacent tracts of land north and south of each other separated by section lines.  The defendant claimed that the section lines delineated the boundary and that a barbed wire fence constructed from a survey was built in its location due to practicalities.  The plaintiff claimed that the fence, which existed 150 yards to the north of the section lines, was the boundary.  The disputed acreage between the section lines and the fence was 90 acres. 

In 1914, prior owners of the tracts had executed a fence agreement that was filed in the county register of deeds office.  In the agreement they fixed the boundary in accordance with a metes and bounds description that referred to natural landmarks.  The plaintiff’s deed referred to the 1914 agreement.  In 2013, the plaintiffs sought to place a water well close to the boundary and negotiations with the defendant revealed that the parties had different views of the actual boundary.  The defendants sought a declaratory judgment seeking to enforce the 1914 agreement and the plaintiffs filed an adverse possession claim.  The trial court upheld the 1914 fence agreement and dismissed the plaintiff’s claims. 

On further review the appellate court affirmed.  While the non-permanent markers referred to in the 1914 fence agreement could not be found, the appellate court determined that there was sufficient evidence to support the defendant’s claim of ownership of the disputed acres via the 1914 fence agreement.  The appellate court also remanded the case on the issue of attorney fees. 

Boundary by Acquiescence Established by Landowners’ Conduct

Waggoner v. Alford, No. CV-19-931, 2021 Ark. App. 120 (Ark. Ct. App. Mar. 10, 2021)

The defendants purchased land adjacent to the plaintiff’s property on which they built a house. The defendants had a survey completed which indicated that their house was twenty-seven feet from the property line. This initial survey treated the plaintiff’s wire fence as the boundary. The plaintiff commissioned a survey nine years later that revealed that the fence was not the true boundary, and the defendants’ house encroached thirty-three feet onto the plaintiff’s property. A subsequent survey by the defendants made the same finding. The plaintiff sued to eject the defendants from the disputed .828-acre tract. The defendants claimed that the plaintiff’s fence constituted a boundary by acquiescence. The plaintiff argued that the fence was never intended to act as a boundary line, but rather as a means for keeping his horses on his property for a period of two to three years.

The trial court determined that the defendants had proved title to the disputed .828-acre tract. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that a boundary by acquiescence had not been established. Specifically, the plaintiff argued that the parties had not mutually consented to the fence as the property line. The appellate court noted that an express agreement between the parties is not necessary, and silent acquiescence can be established when a boundary line can be inferred from the conduct of the parties over a period of time. The appellate court noted that the defendants had maintained the disputed property for eight years before the plaintiff objected. As a result, the appellate court held that the evidence supported the finding of a boundary by acquiescence.

Trump-Era WOTUS Rule Applies in All States

Colorado v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, No. 20-1238, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 6070 (10th Cir. Mar. 2, 2021)

The “Navigable Waters Protection Rule” (NWPR) issued in April 2020, defines the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) term “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”). The definition is a key aspect of administering the CWA.  Only waters that constitute a WOTUS are subject to the CWA requirements and regulations.  However, the Congress left the definition of a WOTUS up to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to write rules defining the term. The NWPR is the most recent attempt at a regulatory definition.  

In 2020, the Colorado federal district court entered a preliminary injunction that barred the NWPR from taking effect in Colorado as applied to the discharge permit requirement of Section 404 of the CWA.  On appeal, the appellate court reversed.  The appellate court noted that Colorado had failed to show irreparable harm without the issuance of the preliminary injunction.  The result of the appellate court’s decision is that the NWPR is presently in effect in every state in the U.S. 

CWA Contains “Knowing” Requirement, But WOTUS is Not Vague 

United States v. Lucero, No. 10074, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 6307 and 6327 (9th Cir. Mar. 4, 2021)

The defendant, in 2014, operated a business that charged construction companies for the dumping of soil and debris on dry lands near San Francisco bay.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) later claimed that the dry land was a “wetland” subject to the dredge and fill permit requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA).  As a result, the defendant was charged with (and later convicted of) violating the CWA without any evidence in the record that the defendant knew or had reason to know that the dry land was a wetland subject to the CWA. 

On further review, the appellate court noted that the CWA prohibits the “knowing” discharge of a pollutant into covered waters without a permit.  At trial, the jury instructions did not state that the defendant had to make a “knowing” violation of the CWA to be found guilty of a discharge violation.  Accordingly, the appellate court reversed on this point.  However, the appellate court ruled against the defendant on his claim that the regulation defining “waters of the United States” was unconstitutionally vague, and that the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule should apply retroactively to his case. 

Conservation Easement Deduction Allowed for Donated Façade Easement 

C.C.M. AM 2021-001 (Mar. 8, 2021)

The taxpayer donated an easement on a building in a registered historic district on which the taxpayer had installed an accessibility ramp to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).  The IRS determined that the installation of the ramp would not disqualify the taxpayer’s deduction.  The IRS viewer the ramp as “upkeep” essential to the preservation of the structure.  Such upkeep, if required to comply with the ADA, does not jeopardize the donor’s eligibility for a charitable deduction under I.R.C. §170(h)(4)(B) with respect to a building in a registered historic district. 

No Exception From Early Withdrawal Penalty for Payment of Living Expenses 

Catania v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2021-33

The petitioner retired at age 55 and transferred his 401(k) funds to a traditional IRA.  Two years later, the petitioner withdrew $37,000 from the IRA to pay for maintenance on his home and other living expenses.  The IRS applied a 10 percent penalty to the amount withdrawn because the petitioner had not reached age 59.5 at the time of the withdrawal.  The Tax Court agreed with the IRS, determining that the Code contains no exception to early retirement account withdrawals for payment of living expenses and/or home maintenance. 

Conclusion

These are just some of the recent developments in the ag law and tax world.  There’s never a dull moment.

Ag Law and Taxation - 2018 Bibliography

Overview

Today's post is a bibliography of my ag law and tax blog articles of 2018.  Many of you have requested that I provide something like this to make it easier to find the articles, and last month I posted the bibliography of the 2020 and 2019 articles.  Soon I will post the bibliography of the 2017 articles and then 2016.  After those are posted.  I will post one long bibliography containing all of the articles up to that point in time.  Then, to close out 2021, I will post the articles of 2021. 

The library of content is piling up.

Cataloging the 2018 ag law and tax blog articles - it's the topic of today's post.

BANKRUPTCY

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017 (Ten through Six)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017-ten-through-six.html

Chapter 12 Bankruptcy – Feasibility of the Reorganization Plan

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/chapter-12-bankruptcy-feasibility-of-the-reorganization-plan.html

Farm Bankruptcy and the Preferential Payment Rule

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/farm-bankruptcy-and-the-preferential-payment-rule.html

Can a Bankrupt Farm Debtor Make Plan Payments Directly to Creditors?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/can-a-bankrupt-farm-debtor-make-plan-payments-directly-to-creditors.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

Chapter 12 Bankruptcy and the Tools-of-the-Trade Exemption

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/chapter-12-bankruptcy-and-the-tools-of-the-trade-exemption.html

Developments in Ag Law and Tax

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/developments-in-ag-law-and-tax.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

BUSINESS PLANNING

The “Almost Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-almost-top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017.html

The Spousal Qualified Joint Venture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/the-spousal-qualified-joint-venture.html

The Spousal Qualified Joint Venture – Implications for Self-Employment Tax and Federal Farm Program Payment Limitations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/the-spousal-qualified-joint-venture-implications-for-self-employment-tax-and-federal-farm-program-payment-limitations.html

Form a C Corporation – The New Vogue in Business Structure?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/form-a-c-corporation-the-new-vogue-in-business-structure.html

Tax Issues When Forming a C Corporation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/tax-issues-when-forming-a-c-corporation.html

End of Tax Preparation Season Means Tax Seminar Season is About to Begin

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/end-of-tax-preparation-season-means-tax-seminar-season-is-about-to-begin.html

Converting a C Corporation to an S Corporation – The Problem of Passive Income

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/converting-a-c-corporation-to-an-s-corporation-the-problem-of-passive-income.html

Valuation Discounting

              https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/valuation-discounting.html

Valuation Discounting – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/valuation-discounting-part-two.html

The Impact of the TCJA on Estates and Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/the-impact-of-the-tcja-on-estates-and-trusts.html

Buy-Sell Agreements for Family Businesses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/buy-sell-agreements-for-family-businesses.html

When is an Informal Business Arrangement a Partnership?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/when-is-an-informal-business-arrangement-a-partnership.html

Management Activities and the Passive Loss Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/management-activities-and-the-passive-loss-rules.html

Expense Method Depreciation and Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/expense-method-depreciation-and-trusts.html

Qualified Business Income Deduction – Proposed Regulations

  https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/qualified-business-income-deduction-proposed-regulations.html

Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust – What is it and How Does it Work?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/intentionally-defective-grantor-trust-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work.html

When Can a Corporate Shareholder be Held Liable for Corporate Debts and Liabilities?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/when-can-a-corporate-shareholder-be-held-liable-for-corporate-debts-and-liabilities.html

Farm Wealth Transfer and Business Succession – The GRAT

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/farm-wealth-transfer-and-business-succession-the-grat.html

Social Security Planning for Farmers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/social-security-planning-for-farmers.html

Corporations Post-TCJA and Anti-Corporate Farming Laws

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/corporations-post-tcja-and-anti-corporate-farming-laws.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

What Happens When a Partner Dies?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/what-happens-when-a-partner-dies.html

What are the Tax Consequences on Sale or Exchange of a Partnership Interest?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/what-are-the-tax-consequences-on-sale-or-exchange-of-a-partnership-interest.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

CIVIL LIABILITIES

The “Almost Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-almost-top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017.html

Landlord Liability for Injuries Occurring on Leased Premises

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/landlord-liability-for-injuries-occurring-on-leased-premises.html

When Does a Rule of Strict Liability Apply on the Farm?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/when-does-a-rule-of-strict-liability-apply-on-the-farm.html

When Can I Shoot My Neighbor’s Dog?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/when-can-i-shoot-my-neighbors-dog.html

Reasonable Foreseeability

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/reasonable-foreseeability.html

What is “Agriculture” for Purposes of Agritourism?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/what-is-agriculture-for-purposes-of-agritourism.html

Negligence – Can You Prove Liability?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/negligence-can-you-prove-liability.html

Wind Farm Nuisance Matter Resolved – Buy the Homeowners Out!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/wind-farm-nuisance-matter-resolved-buy-the-homeowners-out.html

Torts Down on the Farm

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/torts-down-on-the-farm.html

Roadkill – It’s What’s for Dinner

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/roadkill-its-whats-for-dinner.html

What Difference Does it Make if I Post My Property “No Trespassing”?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/what-difference-does-it-make-if-i-post-my-property-no-trespassing.html

Liability for Injuries Associated with Horses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/liability-for-injuries-associated-with-horses.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

Developments in Ag Law and Tax

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/developments-in-ag-law-and-tax.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

CONTRACTS

Is a Farmer a Merchant?  Why it Might Matter

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/is-a-farmer-a-merchant-why-it-might-matter.html

Some Thoughts on the Importance of Leasing Farmland

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/some-thoughts-on-the-importance-of-leasing-farmland.html

Contract Rescission – When Can You Back Out of a Deal?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/contract-rescission-when-can-you-back-out-of-a-deal.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

Disclaiming Implied Warranties

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/disclaiming-implied-warranties.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

COOPERATIVES

The Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction – What a Mess!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-qualified-business-income-qbi-deduction-what-a-mess.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

CRIMINAL LIABILITIES

Curtilage – How Much Ag Property is Protected from a Warrantless Search?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/curtilage-how-much-ag-property-is-protected-from-a-warrantless-search.html

Establishing the Elements of a Cruelty to Animals Charge

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/establishing-the-elements-of-a-cruelty-to-animals-charge.html

What Difference Does it Make if I Post My Property “No Trespassing”?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/what-difference-does-it-make-if-i-post-my-property-no-trespassing.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

The “Almost Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-almost-top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017 (Five through One)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017-five-through-one.html

Is a CWA Permit Needed for Pollution Discharges via Groundwater?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/is-a-cwa-permit-needed-for-pollution-discharges-via-groundwater.html

Non-Tax Ag Provisions and the Omnibus Bill

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/non-tax-ag-provisions-in-the-omnibus-bill.html

Wetlands and Farm Programs – Does NRCS Understand the Rules?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/wetlands-and-farm-programs-does-nrcs-understand-the-rules.html

Regulation of Wetlands and “Ipse Dixit” Determinations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/regulation-of-wetlands-and-ipse-dixit-determinations.html

WOTUS Developments

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/wotus-developments.html

Does the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Apply to Farmers?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/does-the-migratory-bird-treaty-act-apply-to-farmers.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

Is Groundwater a “Point Source” Pollutant?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/is-groundwater-a-point-source-pollutant.html

“Waters of the United States” Means “Frozen Soil”?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/waters-of-the-united-states-means-frozen-soil.html

Developments in Ag Law and Tax

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/developments-in-ag-law-and-tax.html

Can an Endangered Species be Protected in Areas Where it Can’t Survive?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/can-an-endangered-species-be-protected-in-areas-where-it-cant-survive.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

ESTATE PLANNING

The “Almost Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-almost-top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017.html

The Tax Cuts and Job Acts – How Does it Impact Estate Planning?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-how-does-it-impact-estate-planning.html

What’s the Charitable Deduction for Donations From a Trust?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/whats-the-charitable-deduction-for-donations-from-a-trust.html

The Spousal Qualified Joint Venture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/the-spousal-qualified-joint-venture.html

Why Clarity in Will/Trust Language Matters

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/why-clarity-in-willtrust-language-matters.html

Some Thoughts on the Importance of Leasing Farmland

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/some-thoughts-on-the-importance-of-leasing-farmland.html

End of Tax Preparation Season Means Tax Seminar Season is About to Begin

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/end-of-tax-preparation-season-means-tax-seminar-season-is-about-to-begin.html

Modifying an Irrevocable Trust – Decanting

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/modifying-an-irrevocable-trust-decanting.html

Valuation Discounting – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/valuation-discounting-part-two.html

The Impact of the TCJA on Estates and Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/the-impact-of-the-tcja-on-estates-and-trusts.html

Impact of Post-Death Events on Valuation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/impact-of-post-death-events-on-valuation.html

Beneficiary Designations, Changed Circumstances and the Contracts Clause

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/beneficiary-designations-changed-circumstances-and-the-contracts-clause.html

Qualified Business Income Deduction – Proposed Regulations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/qualified-business-income-deduction-proposed-regulations.html

Spousal Joint Tendencies and Income Tax Basis

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/spousal-joint-tenancies-and-income-tax-basis.html

Farm and Ranch Estate Planning in 2018 and Forward

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/farm-and-ranch-estate-planning-in-2018-and-forward.html

The TCJA, Charitable Giving and a Donor-Advised Fund

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/the-tcja-charitable-giving-and-a-donor-advised-fund.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

Unpaid Tax at Death – How Long Does IRS Have to Collect?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/unpaid-tax-at-death-how-long-does-irs-have-to-collect.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

INCOME TAX

The “Almost Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-almost-top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017 (Five through One)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017-five-through-one.html

The Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction – What a Mess!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-qualified-business-income-qbi-deduction-what-a-mess.html

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – How Does it Impact Estate Planning?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-how-does-it-impact-estate-planning.html

What’s the Charitable Deduction for Donations from a Trust?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/whats-the-charitable-deduction-for-donations-from-a-trust.html

Can Farmers Currently Deduct Research Expenditures?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/can-farmers-currently-deduct-research-expenditures.html

Innovation on the Farm – Will the Research and Development Credit Apply?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/innovation-on-the-farm-will-the-research-and-development-credit-apply.html

What Happens When the IRS Deems an Ag Activity to Be a Hobby?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/what-happens-when-the-irs-deems-an-ag-activity-to-be-a-hobby.html

The Spousal Qualified Joint Venture – Implications for Self-Employment Tax and Federal Farm Program Payment Limitations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/the-spousal-qualified-joint-venture-implications-for-self-employment-tax-and-federal-farm-program-payment-limitations.html

Livestock Sold or Destroyed Because of Disease

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/livestock-sold-or-destroyed-because-of-disease.html

Form a C Corporation – The New Vogue in Business Structure?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/form-a-c-corporation-the-new-vogue-in-business-structure.html

Deductible Repairs Versus Capitalization

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/deductible-repairs-versus-capitalization.html

The Tax Treatment of Farming Net Operating Losses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/the-tax-treatment-of-farming-net-operating-losses.html

Congress Modifies the Qualified Business Income Deduction

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/congress-modifies-the-qualified-business-income-deduction.html

IRS Collections – The Basics

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/irs-collections-the-basics-.html

Tax Issues Associated with Oil and Gas Production

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/tax-issues-associated-with-oil-and-gas-production.html

Refundable Fuel Credits – Following the Rules Matters

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/refundable-fuel-credits-following-the-rules-matters.html

Distinguishing Between a Capital Lease and an Operating Lease

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/distinguishing-between-a-capital-lease-and-an-operating-lease.html

End of Tax Preparation Season Means Tax Seminar Season is About to Begin

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/end-of-tax-preparation-season-means-tax-seminar-season-is-about-to-begin.html

Passive Activities and Grouping

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/passive-activities-and-grouping.html

Divorce and the New Tax Law – IRS Grants Some Relief

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/divorce-and-the-new-tax-law-irs-grants-some-relief.html

Gifts of Ag Commodities to Children and the New Tax Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/gifts-of-ag-commodities-to-children-and-the-new-tax-law.html

Post-Death Sale of Crops and Livestock

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/post-death-sale-of-crops-and-livestock.html

Is There a Downside Risk to E-Filing Your Taxes?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/is-there-a-downside-risk-to-e-filing-your-taxes.html

Purchase and Sale Allocations to CRP Contracts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/purchase-and-sale-allocations-to-crp-contracts.html

Converting a C Corporation to an S Corporation – The Problem of Passive Income

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/converting-a-c-corporation-to-an-s-corporation-the-problem-of-passive-income.html

The Impact of the TCJA on Estates and Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/the-impact-of-the-tcja-on-estates-and-trusts.html

The TCJA and I.R.C. 529 Plans

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/the-tcja-and-irc-529-plans.html

Farmers, Self-Employment Tax, and Personal Property Leases

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/farmers-self-employment-tax-and-personal-property-leases.html

State Taxation of Online Sales

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/state-taxation-of-online-sales.html

The Depletion Deduction for Oil and Gas Operations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/the-depletion-deduction-for-oil-and-gas-operations.html

Charitable Giving Post-2017

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/charitable-giving-post-2017.html

When is an Informal Business Arrangement a Partnership?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/when-is-an-informal-business-arrangement-a-partnership.html

Management Activities and the Passive Loss Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/management-activities-and-the-passive-loss-rules.html

Tax Issues on Repossession of Farmland

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/tax-issues-on-repossession-of-farmland.html

Outline of Tax Proposals Released

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/outline-of-tax-proposals-released.html

Life Estate/Remainder Arrangements and Income Tax Basis

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/life-estateremainder-arrangements-and-income-tax-basis-.html

Expense Method Depreciation and Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/expense-method-depreciation-and-trusts.html

Qualified Business Income Deduction – Proposed Regulations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/qualified-business-income-deduction-proposed-regulations.html

The Qualified Business Income Deduction and “W-2 Wages”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/the-qualified-business-income-deduction-and-w-2-wages.html

Tax Consequences on Partition and Sale of Land

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/tax-consequences-on-partition-and-sale-of-land.html

Deducting Residual Soil Fertility

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/deducting-residual-soil-fertility.html

Social Security Planning for Farmers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/social-security-planning-for-farmers.html

Eliminating Capital Gain Tax – Qualified Opportunity Zones

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/eliminating-capital-gain-tax-qualified-opportunity-zones.html

The TCJA, Charitable Giving and a Donor-Advised Fund

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/the-tcja-charitable-giving-and-a-donor-advised-fund.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

What is Depreciable Farm Real Property?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/what-is-depreciable-farm-real-property.html

What is “Like-Kind” Real Estate?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/what-is-like-kind-real-estate.html

Developments in Ag Law and Tax

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/developments-in-ag-law-and-tax.html

Trusts and Like-Kind Exchanges

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/trusts-and-like-kind-exchanges.html

Unpaid Tax at Death – How Long Does IRS Have to Collect?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/unpaid-tax-at-death-how-long-does-irs-have-to-collect.html

Non-Depreciable Items on the Farm or Ranch

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/non-depreciable-items-on-the-farm-or-ranch.html

What are the Tax Consequences on Sale or Exchange of a Partnership Interest?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/what-are-the-tax-consequences-on-sale-or-exchange-of-a-partnership-interest.html

Expense Method Depreciation and Structures on the Farm

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/expense-method-depreciation-and-structures-on-the-farm.html

Deduction Costs Associated with Items Purchased for Resale

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/sale-of-items-purchased-for-resale.html

Claiming Business Deductions? – Maintain Good Records, and… Hire a Tax Preparer

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/income-tax/page/7/

Depletion – What is it and When is it Available?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/depletion-what-is-it-and-when-is-it-available.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

INSURANCE

Beneficiary Designations, Changed Circumstances and the Contracts Clause

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/beneficiary-designations-changed-circumstances-and-the-contracts-clause.html

Recent Developments Involving Crop Insurance

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/recent-developments-involving-crop-insurance.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

Farm Liability Policies – Are All Activities on the Farm Covered?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/farm-liability-policies-are-all-activities-on-the-farm-covered.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

REAL PROPERTY

In-Kind Partition and Adverse Possession – Two Important Concepts in Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/in-kind-partition-and-adverse-possession-two-important-concepts-in-agriculture.html

Some Thoughts on the Importance of Leasing Farmland

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/some-thoughts-on-the-importance-of-leasing-farmland.html

Prescriptive Easements and Adverse Possession – Obtaining Title to Land Without Paying for It

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/prescriptive-easements-and-adverse-possession-obtaining-title-to-land-without-paying-for-it.html

Purchase and Sale Allocations to CRP Contracts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/05/purchase-and-sale-allocations-to-crp-contracts.html

Tax Issues on Repossession of Farmland

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/tax-issues-on-repossession-of-farmland.html

The Accommodation Doctrine – Working Out Uses Between Surfaces and Subsurface Owners

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/the-accommodation-doctrine-working-out-uses-between-surface-and-subsurface-owners.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

What is “Like-Kind” Real Estate?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/what-is-like-kind-real-estate.html

Negative Easements – Is There a Right to Unobstructed Light, Air, or View?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/negative-easements-is-their-a-right-to-unobstructed-light-air-or-view.html

 The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

REGULATORY LAW

The “Almost Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/the-almost-top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017 (Ten through Six)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017-ten-through-six.html

Is There a Constitutional Way to Protect Animal Ag Facilities?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/is-there-a-constitutional-way-to-protect-animal-ag-facilities.html

Trade Issues and Tariffs – Are Agriculture’s Concerns Legitimate?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/03/trade-issues-and-tariffs-are-agricultures-concerns-legitimate.html

Federal Crop Insurance – Some Recent Case Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/federal-crop-insurance-some-recent-case-developments.html

Non-Tax Ag Provisions in the Omnibus Bill

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/04/non-tax-ag-provisions-in-the-omnibus-bill.html

Are Mandatory Assessments for Generic Advertising of Ag Commodities Constitutional?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/are-mandatory-assessments-for-generic-advertising-of-ag-commodities-constitutional.html

Wind Farm Nuisance Matter Resolved – Buy the Homeowners Out!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/06/wind-farm-nuisance-matter-resolved-buy-the-homeowners-out.html

Regulation of Wetlands and “Ipse Dixit” Determinations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/regulation-of-wetlands-and-ipse-dixit-determinations.html

Ag Employment – Verifying the Legal Status of Employees

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/ag-employment-verifying-the-legal-status-of-employees.html

Roadkill – It’s What’s for Dinner

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/roadkill-its-whats-for-dinner.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

“Waters of the United States” Means “Frozen Soil”?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/waters-of-the-united-states-means-frozen-soil.html

How Long Can a Train Block a Crossing?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/11/how-long-can-a-train-block-a-crossing.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html  

SECURED TRANSACTIONS

Ag Finance – Getting the Debtor’s Name Correct on the Financing Statements

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/ag-finance-getting-the-debtors-name-correct-on-the-financing-statement.html

What Are “Proceeds” of Crops and Livestock?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/what-are-proceeds-of-crops-and-livestock.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html

SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES

Agricultural Law and Economics Conference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/07/agricultural-law-and-economics-conference.html

Summer Farm Income Tax/Estate and Business Planning Conference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/02/summer-farm-income-taxestate-and-business-planning-conference.html

Upcoming Seminars

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/08/upcoming-seminars.html

Fall Tax Seminars

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/fall-tax-seminars.html

Year-End Ag Tax Seminar/Webinar

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/year-end-ag-tax-seminarwebinar.html

WATER LAW

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017 (Ten through Six)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017-ten-through-six.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2017 (Five through One)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2017-five-through-one.html

The Accommodation Doctrine – Working on Uses Between Surface and Subsurface Owners

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/09/the-accommodation-doctrine-working-out-uses-between-surface-and-subsurface-owners.html

Agricultural Law Online!

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/10/agricultural-law-online.html

Drainage Issues – Rules for Handling Excess Surface Water

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/drainage-issues-rules-for-handling-excess-surface-water.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Tax Developments of 2018

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2018/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018.html  

Ag Law and Taxation - 2019 Bibliography

Overview

Today's post is a bibliography of my ag law and tax blog articles of 2019.  Many of you have requested that I provide something like this to make it easier to find the articles, and last month I posted the bibliography of the 2020 articles.  Soon I will post the bibliography of the 2018 articles and then 2017 and 2016. 

The library of content is piling up.

Cataloging the 2019 ag law and tax blog articles - it's the topic of today's post.

BANKRUPTCY

Non-Dischargeable Debts in Bankruptcy

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/non-dischargeable-debts-in-bankruptcy.html

Developments in Agricultural Law and Taxation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/developments-in-agricultural-law-and-taxation.html

More Recent Developments in Agricultural Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/more-recent-developments-in-agricultural-law.html

More Ag Law and Tax Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/more-ag-law-and-tax-developments.html

Farmers, Bankruptcy and the “Absolute Priority” Rule

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/farmers-bankruptcy-and-the-absolute-priority-rule.html

Ag in the Courtroom

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/ag-in-the-courtroom.html

Key Farm Bankruptcy Modification on the Horizon?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/key-farm-bankruptcy-modification-on-the-horizon.html

Ag Legal Issues in the Courts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/ag-legal-issues-in-the-courts.html

Are Taxes Dischargeable in Bankruptcy?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/are-taxes-dischargeable-in-bankruptcy.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Ag Tax Developments of 2019

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-ag-tax-developments-of-2019.html 

BUSINESS PLANNING

Can a State Tax a Trust with No Contact with the State?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/can-a-state-tax-a-trust-with-no-contact-with-the-state.html

Real Estate Professionals and Aggregation – The Passive Loss Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/real-estate-professionals-and-aggregation-the-passive-loss-rules.html  

More Recent Developments in Agricultural Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/more-recent-developments-in-agricultural-law.html

Self-Rentals and the Passive Loss Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/self-rentals-and-the-passive-loss-rules.html    

What’s the Best Entity Structure for the Farm or Ranch Business?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/whats-the-best-entity-structure-for-the-farm-or-ranch-business.html

Where Does Life Insurance Fit in an Estate Plan for a Farmer or Rancher?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/where-does-life-insurance-fit-in-an-estate-plan-for-a-farmer-or-rancher.html

Recent Developments in Farm and Ranch Business Planning

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/recent-developments-in-farm-and-ranch-business-planning.html

ESOPs and Ag Businesses – Part One

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/esops-and-ag-businesses-part-one.html

ESOPs and Ag Businesses – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/esops-and-ag-businesses-part-two.html

Is a Discount for The BIG Tax Available?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/is-a-discount-for-the-big-tax-available.html

Tax Consequences of Forgiving Installment Payment Debt

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/tax-consequences-of-forgiving-installment-payment-debt.html

Ag Law and Tax in the Courts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/ag-law-and-tax-in-the-courts.html

Shareholder Loans and S Corporation Stock Basis

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/shareholder-loans-and-s-corporation-stock-basis.html

The Family Limited Partnership – Part One

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/the-family-limited-partnership-part-one.html

The Family Limited Partnership – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/the-family-limited-partnership-part-two.html

Does the Sale of Farmland Trigger Net Investment Income Tax?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/does-the-sale-of-farmland-trigger-net-investment-income-tax.html

Some Thoughts on Ag Estate/Business/Succession Planning

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/some-thoughts-on-ag-estatebusinesssuccession-planning.html

S Corporation Considerations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/s-corporation-considerations.html

CIVIL LIABILITIES

When is an Employer Liable for the Conduct of Workers?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/when-is-an-employer-liable-for-the-conduct-of-workers.html

Selected Recent Cases Involving Agricultural Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/selected-recent-cases-involving-agricultural-law.html

Ag Nuisances – Basic Principles

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/ag-nuisances-basic-principles.html

Do the Roundup Jury Verdicts Have Meaning For My Farming Operation?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/do-the-roundup-jury-verdicts-have-meaning-for-my-farming-operation.html

What Does a “Reasonable Farmer” Know?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/what-does-a-reasonable-farmer-know.html

Product Liability Down on the Farm - Modifications

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/product-liability-down-on-the-farm-modifications.html

Coming-To-The-Nuisance By Staying Put – Or, When 200 Equals 8,000

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/coming-to-the-nuisance-by-staying-put-or-when-200-equals-8000.html

More Ag Law and Tax Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/more-ag-law-and-tax-developments.html

Public Trust vs. Private Rights – Where’s the Line?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/public-trust-vs-private-rights-wheres-the-line.html

Ag Law in the Courts

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/ag-law-in-the-courts.html

Fence Law Basics

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/fence-law-basics.html

CONTRACTS

Negotiating Cell/Wireless Tower Agreements

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/negotiating-cellwireless-tower-agreements.html

Developments in Agricultural Law and Taxation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/developments-in-agricultural-law-and-taxation.html

Ag Contracts – What if Goods Don’t Conform to the Contract?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/ag-contracts-what-if-goods-dont-conform-to-the-contract.html

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax for 2018 – Numbers 10 and 9

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-10-developments-in-ag-law-and-tax-for-2018-numbers-10-and-9.html

Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax for 2018 – Numbers 8 and 7

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-10-developments-in-ag-law-and-tax-for-2018-numbers-8-and-7.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2018 – Numbers 6, 5, and 4

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018-numbers-6-5-and-4.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2018 – Numbers 3, 2, and 1

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018-numbers-3-2-and-1.html

Big EPA Developments – WOTUS and Advisory Committees

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/big-epa-developments-wotus-and-advisory-committees.html

Does Soil Erosion Pose a Constitutional Issue?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/does-soil-erosion-pose-a-constitutional-issue.html

Public Trust vs. Private Rights – Where’s the Line?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/public-trust-vs-private-rights-wheres-the-line.html

More Ag Law and Tax Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/more-ag-law-and-tax-developments.html

Eminent Domain and Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/eminent-domain-and-agriculture.html

Court Decisions Illustrates USDA’s Swampbuster “Incompetence”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/court-decision-illustrates-usdas-swampbuster-incompetence.html

Regulatory Changes to the Endangered Species Act

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/regulatory-changes-to-the-endangered-species-act.html

Irrigation Return Flows and the Clean Water Act

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/irrigation-return-flows-and-the-clean-water-act.html

Ag Law in the Courts

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/ag-law-in-the-courts.html

Regulatory Takings – Pursuing a Remedy

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/regulatory-takings-pursuing-a-remedy.html

Does a Pollutant Discharge From Groundwater into a WOTUS Require a Federal Permit?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/does-a-pollutant-discharge-from-groundwater-into-a-wotus-require-a-federal-permit.html

Groundwater Discharges of Pollutants and the Supreme Court

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/groundwater-discharges-of-pollutants-and-the-supreme-court.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Ag Tax Developments of 2019

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-ag-tax-developments-of-2019.html

ESTATE PLANNING

Tax Filing Season Update and Summer Seminar!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/tax-filing-season-update-and-summer-seminar.html

Time to Review Estate Planning Documents?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/time-to-review-of-estate-planning-documents.html

Can a State Tax a Trust with No Contact with the State?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/can-a-state-tax-a-trust-with-no-contact-with-the-state.html

Estate Planning in Second Marriage Situations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/estate-planning-in-second-marriage-situations.html

Valuing Non-Cash Charitable Gifts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/valuing-non-cash-charitable-gifts.html

Real Estate Professionals and Aggregation – The Passive Loss Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/real-estate-professionals-and-aggregation-the-passive-loss-rules.html

Can the IRS Collect Unpaid Estate Tax From the Beneficiaries?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/can-the-irs-collect-unpaid-estate-tax-from-the-beneficiaries.html

Sale of the Personal Residence After Death

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/sale-of-the-personal-residence-after-death.html

More Recent Developments in Agricultural Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/more-recent-developments-in-agricultural-law.html

Thrills with Wills – When is a Will “Unduly Influenced”?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/thrills-with-wills-when-is-a-will-unduly-influenced.html

Heirs Liable for Unpaid Federal Estate Tax 28 Years After Death

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/heirs-liable-for-unpaid-federal-estate-tax-28-years-after-death.html

What’s the Best Entity Structure for the Farm or Ranch Business?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/whats-the-best-entity-structure-for-the-farm-or-ranch-business.html

Where Does Life Insurance Fit in an Estate Plan for a Farmer or Rancher?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/where-does-life-insurance-fit-in-an-estate-plan-for-a-farmer-or-rancher.html

Recent Developments in Farm and Ranch Business Planning

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/recent-developments-in-farm-and-ranch-business-planning.html

Wayfair Does Not Mean That a State Can Always Tax a Trust Beneficiary

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/wayfair-does-not-mean-that-a-state-can-always-tax-a-trust-beneficiary.html

ESOPs and Ag Businesses – Part One

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/esops-and-ag-businesses-part-one.html

Issues in Estate Planning – Agents, Promises, and Trustees

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/issues-in-estate-planning-agents-promises-and-trustees.html

The Importance of Income Tax Basis “Step-Up” at Death

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/the-importance-of-income-tax-basis-step-up-at-death.html

Ag Law in the Courts

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/ag-law-in-the-courts.html

Co-Tenancy or Joint Tenancy – Does it Really Matter?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/co-tenancy-or-joint-tenancy-does-it-really-matter.html

Year-End Legislation Contains Tax Extenders, Repealers, and Modifications to Retirement Provisions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/year-end-legislation-contains-tax-extenders-repealers-and-modification-to-retirement-provisions.html

INCOME TAX

Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax for 2018 – Numbers 10 and 9

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-10-developments-in-ag-law-and-tax-for-2018-numbers-10-and-9.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2018 – Numbers 6, 5, and 4

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018-numbers-6-5-and-4.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2018 – Numbers 3, 2, and 1

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018-numbers-3-2-and-1.html

Tax Filing Season Update and Summer Seminar!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/tax-filing-season-update-and-summer-seminar.html

QBID Final Regulations on Aggregation and Rents – The Meaning for Farm and Ranch Businesses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/qbid-final-regulations-on-aggregation-and-rents-the-meaning-for-farm-and-ranch-businesses.html

The QBID Final Regulations – The “Rest of the Story”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/the-qbid-final-regulations-the-rest-of-the-story.html

Can a State Tax a Trust with No Contact with the State?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/can-a-state-tax-a-trust-with-no-contact-with-the-state.html

Tax Matters – Where Are We Now?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/tax-matters-where-are-we-now.html

New Developments on Exclusion of Employer-Provided Meals

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/new-development-on-exclusion-of-employer-provided-meals.html

Valuing Non-Cash Charitable Gifts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/valuing-non-cash-charitable-gifts.html

Passive Losses and Material Participation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/passive-losses-and-material-participation.html

Passive Losses and Real Estate Professionals

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/passive-losses-and-real-estate-professionals.html

Developments in Agricultural Law and Taxation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/developments-in-agricultural-law-and-taxation.html

Real Estate Professionals and Aggregation – The Passive Loss Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/real-estate-professionals-and-aggregation-the-passive-loss-rules.html

Sale of the Personal Residence After Death

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/sale-of-the-personal-residence-after-death.html

Cost Segregation Study – Do You Need One for Your Farm?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/cost-segregation-study-do-you-need-one-for-your-farm.html

Cost Segregation – Risk and Benefits

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/cost-segregation-risks-and-benefits.html

Permanent Conservation Easement Donation Transactions Find Their Way to the IRS “Dirty Dozen” List

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/permanent-conservation-easement-donation-transactions-find-their-way-to-the-irs-dirty-dozen-list.html

Self-Rentals and the Passive Loss Rules

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/self-rentals-and-the-passive-loss-rules.html

More on Self-Rentals

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/more-on-self-rentals.html

Of Black-Holes, Tax Refunds, and Statutory Construction

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/of-black-holes-tax-refunds-and-statutory-construction.html

What Happened in Tax During Tax Season?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/what-happened-in-tax-during-tax-season.html

Cost Segregation and the Recapture Issue

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/cost-segregation-and-the-recapture-issue.html

S.E. Tax and Contract Production Income

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/se-tax-and-contract-production-income.html

Recent Developments in Farm and Ranch Business Planning

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/recent-developments-in-farm-and-ranch-business-planning.html

Ag Cooperatives and the QBID – Initial Guidance

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/ag-cooperatives-and-the-qbid-initial-guidance.html

Wayfair Does Not Mean That a State Can Always Tax a Trust Beneficiary

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/wayfair-does-not-mean-that-a-state-can-always-tax-a-trust-beneficiary.html

Start Me Up! – Tax Treatment of Start-Up Expenses

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/start-me-up-tax-treatment-of-start-up-expenses.html

More on Real Estate Exchanges

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/more-on-real-estate-exchanges.html

2019 Tax Planning for Midwest/Great Plains Farmers and Ranchers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/2019-tax-planning-for-midwestgreat-plains-farmers-and-ranchers.html

Tax Treatment of Settlements and Court Judgments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/tax-treatment-of-settlements-and-court-judgments.html

ESOPs and Ag Businesses – Part One

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/esops-and-ag-businesses-part-one.html 

Tax “Math” on Jury Verdicts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/tax-math-on-jury-verdicts.html

Kansas Revenue Department Takes Aggressive Position Against Remote Sellers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/kansas-revenue-department-take-aggressive-position-against-remote-sellers.html

Tax-Deferred Exchanges and Conservation Easements

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/tax-deferred-exchanges-and-conservation-easements.html

Proper Handling of Breeding Fees

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/proper-handling-of-breeding-fees.html

Proper Tax Reporting of Commodity Wages

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/proper-tax-reporting-of-commodity-wages.html

Tax Consequences of Forgiving Installment Payment Debt

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/tax-consequences-of-forgiving-installment-payment-debt.html

Are Taxes Dischargeable in Bankruptcy?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/are-taxes-dischargeable-in-bankruptcy.html

Ag Law and Tax in the Courts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/ag-law-and-tax-in-the-courts.html

Refund Claim Relief Due to Financial Disability

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/refund-claim-relief-due-to-financial-disability.html

Shareholder Loans and S Corporation Stock Basis

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/shareholder-loans-and-s-corporation-stock-basis.html

The Family Limited Partnership – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/the-family-limited-partnership-part-two.html

Hobby Losses Post-2017 and Pre-2026 – The Importance of Establishing a Profit Motive

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/hobby-losses-post-2017-and-pre-2026-the-importance-of-establishing-a-profit-motive.html

The Importance of Income Tax Basis “Step-Up” at Death

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/the-importance-of-income-tax-basis-step-up-at-death.html

Bad Debt Deduction

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/bad-debt-deduction.html

More on Cost Depletion – Bonus Payments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/more-on-cost-depletion-bonus-payments.html

Recapture – A Dirty Word in the Tax Code Lingo

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/recapture-a-dirty-word-in-tax-code-lingo.html

Does the Sale of Farmland Trigger Net Investment Income Tax?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/does-the-sale-of-farmland-trigger-net-investment-income-tax.html

Are Director Fees Subject to Self-Employment Tax?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/are-director-fees-subject-to-self-employment-tax.html

Are Windbreaks Depreciable?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/are-windbreaks-depreciable.html

Tax Issues Associated with Restructuring Credit Lines

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/tax-issues-associated-with-restructuring-credit-lines.html

Is a Tenancy-in-Common Interest Eligible for Like-Kind Exchange Treatment?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/is-a-tenancy-in-common-interest-eligible-for-like-kind-exchange-treatment.html

Year-End Legislation Contains Tax Extenders, Repealers, and Modifications to Retirement Provisions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/year-end-legislation-contains-tax-extenders-repealers-and-modification-to-retirement-provisions.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Ag Tax Developments of 2019

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-ag-tax-developments-of-2019.html

INSURANCE

Prevented Planting Payments – Potential Legal Issues?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/prevented-planting-payments-potential-legal-issues.html

Ag Law in the Courts

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/ag-law-in-the-courts.html

REAL PROPERTY

 Negotiating Cell/Wireless Tower Agreements

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/negotiating-cellwireless-tower-agreements.html

Selected Recent Cases Involving Agricultural Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/selected-recent-cases-involving-agricultural-law.html

The Accommodation Doctrine – More Court Action

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/the-accommodation-doctrine-more-court-action.html

Defects in Real Estate Deeds – Will Time Cure All?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/defects-in-real-estate-deeds-will-time-cure-all.html

Is there a Common-Law Right to Hunt (and Fish) Your Own Land?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/is-there-a-common-law-right-to-hunt-and-fish-your-own-land.html

Legal Issues Associated with Abandoned Railways

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/legal-issues-associated-with-abandoned-railways.html

Public Trust vs. Private Rights – Where’s the Line?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/public-trust-vs-private-rights-wheres-the-line.html

Ag in the Courtroom

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/ag-in-the-courtroom.html

More on Real Estate Exchanges

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/more-on-real-estate-exchanges.html

How Does the Rule Against Perpetuities Apply in the Oil and Gas Context?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/how-does-the-rule-against-perpetuities-apply-in-the-oil-and-gas-context.html

Ag Law in the Courts

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/ag-law-in-the-courts.html

Cost Depletion of Minerals

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/cost-depletion-of-minerals.html

Co-Tenancy or Joint Tenancy – Does it Really Matter?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/11/co-tenancy-or-joint-tenancy-does-it-really-matter.html

“Slip Slidin’ Away” – The Right of Lateral and Subjacent Support

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/slip-slidin-away-the-right-of-lateral-and-subjacent-support.html

Is a Tenancy-in-Common Interest Eligible for Like-Kind Exchange Treatment?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/is-a-tenancy-in-common-interest-eligible-for-like-kind-exchange-treatment.html

REGULATORY LAW

Top 10 Developments in Ag Law and Tax for 2018 – Numbers 10 and 9

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-10-developments-in-ag-law-and-tax-for-2018-numbers-10-and-9.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2018 – Numbers 6, 5, and 4

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018-numbers-6-5-and-4.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2018 – Numbers 3, 2, and 1

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2018-numbers-3-2-and-1.html

Is There a Common-Law Right to Hunt (and Fish) Your Own Land?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/02/is-there-a-common-law-right-to-hunt-and-fish-your-own-land.html

Packers and Stockyards Act – Basic Provisions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/packers-and-stockyards-act-basic-provisions.html

Packers and Stockyards Act Provisions for Unpaid Cash Sellers of Livestock

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/packers-and-stockyards-act-provisions-for-unpaid-cash-sellers-of-livestock.html

More Recent Developments in Agricultural Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/03/more-recent-developments-in-agricultural-law.html

Ag Antitrust – Is There a Crack in the Wall of the “Mighty-Mighty” (Illinois) Brick House?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/ag-antitrust-is-there-a-crack-in-the-wall-of-the-mighty-mighty-illinois-brick-house.html

Can Foreign Persons/Entities Own U.S. Agricultural Land?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/can-foreign-personsentities-own-us-agricultural-land.html

Prevented Planting Payments – Potential Legal Issues?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/prevented-planting-payments-potential-legal-issues.html

Eminent Domain and Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/eminent-domain-and-agriculture.html

Classification of Seasonal Ag Workers – Why It Matters

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/classification-of-seasonal-ag-workers-why-it-matters.html

Administrative Agency Deference – Little Help for Ag From the Supreme Court

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/06/administrative-agency-deference-little-help-for-ag-from-the-supreme-court.html

Regulation of Food Products

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/regulation-of-food-products.html

Ag Legal Issues in the Courts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/ag-legal-issues-in-the-courts.html

Kansas Revenue Department Takes Aggressive Position Against Remote Sellers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/kansas-revenue-department-take-aggressive-position-against-remote-sellers.html

Court Decision Illustrates USDA’s Swampbuster “Incompetence”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/court-decision-illustrates-usdas-swampbuster-incompetence.html

Ag Law and Tax in the Courts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/09/ag-law-and-tax-in-the-courts.html

Regulatory Takings – Pursuing a Remedy

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/regulatory-takings-pursuing-a-remedy.html

The “Almost Top Ten” Ag Law and Ag Tax Developments of 2019

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/the-almost-top-ten-ag-law-and-ag-tax-developments-of-2019.html

SECURED TRANSACTIONS

Market Facilitation Program Pledged as Collateral – What are the Rights of a Lender?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/market-facilitation-program-payments-pledged-as-collateral-what-are-the-rights-of-a-lender.html

SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES

Summer 2019 Farm and Ranch Tax and Estate/Business Planning Seminar

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/04/summer-2019-farm-and-ranch-tax-and-estatebusiness-planning-seminar.html

2019 National Ag Tax/Estate and Business Planning Conference in Steamboat Springs!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/05/2019-national-ag-taxestate-and-business-planning-conference-in-steamboat-springs.html

Summer Tax and Estate Planning Seminar!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/07/summer-tax-and-estate-planning-seminar.html

2020 National Summer Ag Income Tax/Estate and Business Planning Seminar

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/2020-national-summer-ag-income-taxestate-and-business-planning-seminar.html

Fall Seminars

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/fall-seminars.html

WATER LAW

The Accommodation Doctrine – More Court Action

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/01/the-accommodation-doctrine-more-court-action.html

Ag Legal Issues in the Courts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/08/ag-legal-issues-in-the-courts.html

Ag Law in the Courts

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/ag-law-in-the-courts.html

Regulating Existing Water Rights – How Far Can State Government Go?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/10/regulating-existing-water-rights-how-far-can-state-government-go.html

The Politics of Prior Appropriation – Is a Senior Right Really Senior?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/the-politics-of-prior-appropriation-is-a-senior-right-really-senior.html

Changing Water Right Usage

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2019/12/changing-water-right-usage.html

Recent Happenings in Ag Law and Ag Tax

Overview

The world of agricultural law and taxation is certainly pertinent in the daily lives of farmers and ranchers.  In recent days and weeks, the courts have addressed more issues that can make a difference for ag producers.  In today’s post, I examine a few of those.  Those discussed today involve individual and entity taxation as well as environmental and regulatory issues.

More recent developments in ag law and tax - it’s the topic of today’s post.

Flow-Through Entities Can Deduct State and Local Taxes

IRS Notice 2020-75, applicable to specified income tax payments made on or after November 9, 2020

In a Notice, the IRS has said that taxes that are imposed on and paid by a partnership (or an S corporation) on its income are allowed as a deduction by the partnership (or S corporation) in computing its non-separately stated taxable income or loss for the tax year of payment. They are not passed through to the partners or shareholders, where they would be subject to the $10,000 limitation on state and local tax deductions imposed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act effective for tax years beginning after 2017.

The IRS did not set a timetable for the issuance of proposed regulations. The IRS issued the Notice in response to some states enacting laws to allow this type of treatment for partnerships and S corporations. Thus, for a flow-through entity to be able to do this for a partnership or S corporation, state law must provide for pass-through entity level taxation. The Notice won't apply unless state law allows this. Merely allowing a pass-through entity to make withholding tax payments on behalf of the owners will not qualify because those withholding tax payments are treated as payments made by the owners and not as payments in satisfaction of the pass -through entity's tax liability. In addition, entities taking advantage of the Notice will reduce allocable taxable income which will, in turn reduce allocable qualified business income for purposes of I.R.C. §199A and, therefore, the qualified business income deduction. 

IRA Distributions Included in Income and Subject to Early Withdrawal Penalty 

Ball v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2020-152

During 2012 and 2013 the petitioner participated in a SEP-IRA. Chase Bank (Chase) was the custodian. In 2012, he took two distributions from the account totaling over $200,000.  He had the bank deposit the distributions into a Chase business checking account that he had opened in the name of The Ball Investment Account LLC (Ball LLC), of which he was the sole owner and only member. Importantly, Ball LLC was not a retirement account. The petitioner informed Chase that the distributions were early distributions that were not exempt from tax.  The petitioner made real estate loans with the distributed funds. The first loan was repaid in April 2013 with a check payable to "the Ball SEP Account."  The funds were deposited into the SEP-IRA account. He paid off the second loan in installments in 2012 and 2013.  The payments were made with checks made payable to "the Ball SEP Account.”  Chase, as custodian, had no knowledge of or control over the use that Ball LLC made of the distributions that were deposited in the Ball LLC business checking account.  Chase also didn’t hold or control any documents related to the loans Ball LLC made. Chase issued the petitioner a Form 1099-R for the 2012 tax year reporting that the petitioner had received taxable distributions from the SEP-IRA of $209,600. While the petitioner reported the distributions on his Form 1040, he did not include them in gross income and reported no tax and no tax liability.  The IRS issued a CP2000 Notice stating that the petitioner had failed to report the distributions from Chase Bank and that he therefore owed $67,031 in tax and a substantial-understatement penalty of $13,406. The petitioner did not respond to the Notice, and the IRS then sent him a notice of deficiency that determined the deficiency, additional tax, and penalty due. The Tax Court determined that the petitioner had unfettered control over the distributions, rejecting the petitioner’s “conduit agency arrangement” argument. The Tax Court determined that Ball LLC was not acting as an agent or conduit on behalf of Chase when Ball LLC received and made use of the distributions. The Tax Court noted that Chase had no knowledge of how the distributed funds were used after they were deposited in the Ball LLC account at the petitioner’s direction and that nothing in the record showed that petitioner, who controlled Ball LLC, did not have unfettered control over the distributions. The Tax Court determined that the facts of his case were analogous to those in Vandenbosch v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2016-29 and, as a result, Ball LLC was not a conduit for Chase. As a result, the IRS position that the distributions should be included in the petitioner’s income was upheld. In addition, the petitioner had not yet reached age 59.5 which meant that he was liable for the 10 percent early distribution penalty. The Tax Court also upheld the accuracy-related penalty. 

New ESA Definition of “Habitat” 

85 Fed. Reg. 81411 (Dec. 16, 2020), effective, Jan. 15, 2021

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Weyerhaeuser Co. v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 139 S. Ct. 361 (2018), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has modified the definition of “habitat” for listed species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The modification is the first change in the definition since the Endangered Species Act’s (ESA) enactment in 1973. Under Weyerhaeuser, the U.S. Supreme Court held that an area being designated as habitat is a prerequisite for a designation as “critical habitat.”  The regulation defines “habitat” as “the abiotic and biotic setting that currently or periodically contains the resources and conditions necessary to support one or more life processes of a species.” Thus, to be “habitat” an area must already contain the conditions necessary to support the species it is intended to be habitat for. Thus, only those areas which include the environmental conditions that can provide benefits to the species at issue (one seeking either a listed or endangered species) will be eligible for critical habitat designation. 

Federal Government Must Pay Farmers Millions For Army Corps of Engineers' Mismanagement of Missouri River. 

Ideker Farms, Inc. v. United States, No. 14-183L, 2020 U.S. Claims LEXIS 2548 (Fed. Cl. Dec. 14, 2020)

In 2014, 400 farmers along the Missouri River from Kansas to North Dakota sued the federal government claiming that the actions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) led to and caused repeated flooding of their farmland along the Missouri River. The farmers alleged that flooding in 2007-2008, 2010-2011, and 2013-2014 constituted a taking requiring that “just compensation” be paid to them under the Fifth Amendment. The litigation was divided into two phases – liability and just compensation. The liability phase was decided in early 2018 when the court determined that some of the 44 landowners selected as bellwether plaintiffs had established the COE’s liability. In that decision, the court held that the COE, in its attempt to balance flood control and its responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act, had released water from reservoirs “during periods of high river flows with the knowledge that flooding was taking place or likely to soon occur.” The court, in that case, noted that the COE had made other changes after 2004 to reengineer the Missouri River and reestablish more natural environments to facilitate species recovery that caused riverbank destabilization which led to flooding. Ultimately, the court, in the earlier litigation, determined that 28 of the 44 landowners had proven the elements of a takings claim – causation, foreseeability and severity. The claims of the other 16 landowners were dismissed for failure to prove causation. The court also determined that flooding in 2011 could not be tied to the COE’s actions and dismissed the claims for that year.

The present case involved a determination of the plaintiffs’ losses and whether the federal government had a viable defense against the plaintiffs’ claims. The court found that the “increased frequency, severity, and duration of flooding post MRRP [Missouri River Recovery Program] changed the character of the representative tracts of land.” The court also stated that, “ [i]t cannot be the case that land that experiences a new and ongoing pattern of increased flooding does not undergo a change in character.” The court determined that three representative plaintiffs, farming operations in northwest Missouri, southwest Iowa and northeast Kansas, were collectively owed more than $7 million for the devaluation of their land due to the establishment of a “permanent flowage easement” that the COE created which constituted a compensable taking under the Fifth Amendment.

The impact of the court’s ruling means that hundreds of landowners affected by flooding in six states are likely entitled to just compensation for the loss of property value due to the new flood patterns that the COE created as part of its MRRP. 

Conclusion

As 2021 unwinds, more issues will occur, many of which will likely involve estate and business entity planning along with income tax planning.

Ag Law and Taxation 2020 Bibliography

Overview

Today's post is a bibliography of my ag law and tax blog articles of 2020.  Many of you have requested that I provide something like this to make it easier to find the articles.  If possible, I will do the same for articles from prior years.  The library of content is piling up - I have written more than 500 detailed articles for the blog over the last four and one-half years.

Cataloging the 2020 ag law and tax blog articles - it's the topic of today's post.

BANKRUPTCY

Ag Law and Tax in the Courts – Bankruptcy Debt Discharge; Aerial Application of Chemicals; Start-Up Expenses and Lying as Protected Speech

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/ag-law-and-tax-in-the-courts-bankruptcy-debt-discharge-aerial-application-of-chemicals-start-up-expe.html

Unique, But Important Tax Issues – “Claim of Right;” Passive Loss Grouping; and Bankruptcy Taxation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/unique-but-important-tax-issues-claim-of-right-passive-loss-grouping-and-bankruptcy-taxation.html

Disaster/Emergency Legislation – Summary of Provisions Related to Loan Relief; Small Business and Bankruptcy

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/disasteremergency-legislation-summary-of-provisions-related-to-loan-relief-small-business-and-bankruptcy.html

Retirement-Related Provisions of the CARES Act

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/retirement-related-provisions-of-the-cares-act.html

Farm Bankruptcy – “Stripping, “Claw-Black,” and the Tax Collecting Authorities

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/farm-bankruptcy-stripping-claw-back-and-the-tax-collecting-authorities.html

SBA Says Farmers in Chapter 12 Ineligible for PPP Loans

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/sba-says-farmers-in-chapter-12-ineligible-for-ppp-loans.html

The “Cramdown” Interest Rate in Chapter 12 Bankruptcy

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/the-cramdown-interest-rate-in-chapter-12-bankruptcy.html

Bankruptcy and the Preferential Payment Rule

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/12/bankruptcy-and-the-preferential-payment-rule.html

BUSINESS PLANNING

Partnership Tax Ponderings – Flow-Through and Basis

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/partnership-tax-ponderings-flow-through-and-basis.html

Farm and Ranch Estate and Business Planning in 2020 (Through 2025)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/farm-and-ranch-estate-and-business-planning-in-2020-through-2025.html

Transitioning the Farm or Ranch – Stock Redemption

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/transitioning-the-farm-or-ranch-stock-redemption.html

Estate and Business Planning for the Farm and Ranch Family – Use of the LLC (Part 1)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/estate-and-business-planning-for-the-farm-and-ranch-family-use-of-the-llc-part-1.html

Estate and Business Planning for the Farm and Ranch Family – Use of the LLC (Part 2)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/estate-and-business-planning-for-the-farm-and-ranch-family-use-of-the-llc-part-two.html

The Use of the LLC for the Farm or Ranch Business – Practical Application

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/08/the-use-of-the-llc-for-the-farm-or-ranch-business-practical-application.html

CIVIL LIABILITIES

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments from 2019 (Numbers 10 and 9)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-from-2019-numbers-10-and-9.html

Ag Law in the Courts – Feedlots; Dicamba Drift; and Inadvertent Disinheritance

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/ag-law-in-the-courts-feedlots-dicamba-drift-and-inadvertent-disinheritance.html

Ag Law and Tax in the Courts – Bankruptcy Debt Discharge; Aerial Application of Chemicals; Start-Up Expenses and Lying as Protected Speech

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/ag-law-and-tax-in-the-courts-bankruptcy-debt-discharge-aerial-application-of-chemicals-start-up-expe.html

Dicamba, Peaches and a Defective Ferrari; What’s the Connection?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/dicamba-peaches-and-a-defective-ferrari-whats-the-connection.html

Liability for Injuries Associated with Horses (and Other Farm Animals)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/liability-for-injuries-associated-with-horses-and-other-farm-animals.html

Issues with Noxious (and Other) Weeds and Seeds

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/issues-with-noxious-and-other-weeds-and-seeds.html

Of Nuisance, Overtime and Firearms – Potpourri of Ag Law Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/of-nuisance-overtime-and-firearms-potpourri-of-ag-law-developments.html

CONTRACTS

The Statute of Frauds and Sales of Goods

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/the-statute-of-frauds-and-sales-of-goods.html

Disrupted Economic Activity and Force Majeure – Avoiding Contractual Obligations in Time of Pandemic

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/disrupted-economic-activity-and-force-majeure-avoiding-contractual-obligations-in-time-of-pandemic.html

Is it a Farm Lease or Not? – And Why it Might Matter

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/is-it-a-farm-lease-or-not-and-why-it-might-matter.html

COOPERATIVES

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2019 (Numbers 2 and 1)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2019-numbers-2-and-1.html

Concentrated Ag Markets – Possible Producer Response?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/concentrated-ag-markets-possible-producer-response.html

CRIMINAL LIABILITIES

Is an Abandoned Farmhouse a “Dwelling”?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/is-an-abandoned-farmhouse-a-dwelling.html

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2019 (Numbers 8 and 7)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2019-numbers-8-and-7.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2019 (Numbers 6 and 5)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2019-numbers-six-and-five.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2019 (Numbers 4 and 3)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2019-numbers-4-and-3.html

Clean Water Act – Compliance Orders and “Normal Farming Activities”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/clean-water-act-compliance-orders-and-normal-farming-activities.html

Groundwater Discharges of “Pollutants” and “Functional Equivalency”

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/groundwater-discharges-of-pollutants-and-functional-equivalency.html

NRCS Highly Erodible Land and Wetlands Conservation Final Rule – Clearer Guidance for Farmers or Erosion of Property Rights? – Part One

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/nrcs-highly-erodible-land-and-wetlands-conservation-final-rule-clearer-guidance-for-farmers-or-erosi.html

NRCS Highly Erodible Land and Wetlands Conservation Final Rule – Clearer Guidance for Farmers or Erosion of Property Rights? – Part Two

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/nrcs-highly-erodible-land-and-wetlands-conservation-final-rule-clearer-guidance-for-farmers-or-loss-of-property-rights.html

NRCS Highly Erodible Land and Wetlands Conservation Final Rule – Clearer Guidance for Farmers or Erosion of Property Rights? – Part Three

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/nrcs-highly-erodible-land-and-wetlands-conservation-final-rule-clearer-guidance-for-farmers-or-loss-of-property-rights-1.html

The Prior Converted Cropland Exception – More Troubles Ahead?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/the-prior-converted-cropland-exception-more-troubles-ahead.html

TMDL Requirements – The EPA’s Federalization of Agriculture

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/tmdl-requirements-.html

Eminent Domain and “Seriously Misleading” Financing Statements

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/eminent-domain-and-seriously-misleading-financing-statements.html

 

ESTATE PLANNING

Ag Law in the Courts – Feedlots; Dicamba Drift; and Inadvertent Disinheritance

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/ag-law-in-the-courts-feedlots-dicamba-drift-and-inadvertent-disinheritance.html

Recent Developments Involving Estates and Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/recent-developments-involving-decedents-estates-and-trusts.html

What is a “Trade or Business” For Purposes of Installment Payment of Federal Estate Tax?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/what-is-a-trade-or-business-for-purposes-of-installment-payment-of-federal-estate-tax.html

Alternate Valuation – Useful Estate Tax Valuation Provision

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/alternate-valuation-useful-estate-tax-valuation-provision.html

Farm and Ranch Estate and Business Planning in 2020 (Through 2025)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/farm-and-ranch-estate-and-business-planning-in-2020-through-2025.html

Retirement-Related Provisions of the CARES Act

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/retirement-related-provisions-of-the-cares-act.html

Are Advances to Children Loans or Gifts?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/are-advances-to-children-loans-or-gifts.html

Tax Issues Associated with Options in Wills and Trusts

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/tax-issues-associated-with-options-in-wills-and-trusts.html

Valuing Farm Chattels and Marketing Rights of Farmers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/valuing-farm-chattels-and-marketing-rights-of-farmers.html

Is it a Gift or Not a Gift? That is the Question

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/is-it-a-gift-or-not-a-gift-that-is-the-question.html

Does a Discretionary Trust Remove Fiduciary Duties a Trustee Owes Beneficiaries?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/does-a-discretionary-trust-remove-fiduciary-duties-a-trustee-owes-beneficiaries.html

Can I Write my Own Will? Should I?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/can-i-write-my-own-will-should-i.html

Income Taxation of Trusts – New Regulations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/income-taxation-of-trusts.html

Merging a Revocable Trust at Death with an Estate – Tax Consequences

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/merging-a-revocable-trust-at-death-with-an-estate-tax-consequences.html

When is Transferred Property Pulled Back into the Estate at Death?  Be on Your Bongard!

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/when-is-transferred-property-pulled-back-into-the-estate-at-death-be-on-your-bongard.html

‘Tis the Season for Giving, But When is a Transfer a Gift?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/12/tis-the-season-for-giving-but-when-is-a-transfer-a-gift.html

 

INCOME TAX

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2019 (Numbers 2 and 1)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2019-numbers-2-and-1.html

Does the Penalty Relief for a “Small Partnership” Still Apply?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/does-the-penalty-relief-for-a-small-partnership-still-apply.html

Substantiation – The Key to Tax Deductions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/substantiation-the-key-to-tax-deductions.html

Ag Law and Tax in the Courts – Bankruptcy Debt Discharge; Aerial Application of Chemicals; Start-Up Expenses and Lying as Protected Speech

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/ag-law-and-tax-in-the-courts-bankruptcy-debt-discharge-aerial-application-of-chemicals-start-up-expe.html

Unique, But Important Tax Issues – “Claim of Right;” Passive Loss Grouping; and Bankruptcy Taxation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/unique-but-important-tax-issues-claim-of-right-passive-loss-grouping-and-bankruptcy-taxation.html

Conservation Easements and the Perpetuity Requirement

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/conservation-easements-and-the-perpetuity-requirement.html

Tax Treatment Upon Death of Livestock

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/tax-treatment-upon-death-of-livestock.html

What is a “Trade or Business” For Purposes of I.R.C. §199A?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/what-is-a-trade-or-business-for-purposes-of-irc-199a.html

Tax Treatment of Meals and Entertainment

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/tax-treatment-of-meals-and-entertainment.html

Farm NOLs Post-2017

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/farm-nols-post-2017.html

Disaster/Emergency Legislation – Summary of Provisions Related to Loan Relief; Small Business and Bankruptcy

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/disasteremergency-legislation-summary-of-provisions-related-to-loan-relief-small-business-and-bankruptcy.html

Retirement-Related Provisions of the CARES Act

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/retirement-related-provisions-of-the-cares-act.html

Income Tax-Related Provisions of Emergency Relief Legislation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/income-tax-related-provisions-of-emergency-relief-legislation.html

The Paycheck Protection Program – Still in Need of Clarity

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/the-paycheck-protection-program-still-in-need-of-clarity.html

Solar “Farms” and The Associated Tax Credit

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/solar-farms-and-the-associated-tax-credit.html

Obtaining Deferral for Non-Deferred Aspects of an I.R.C. §1031 Exchange

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/obtaining-deferral-for-non-deferred-aspects-of-an-irc-1031-exchange-.html

Conservation Easements – The Perpetuity Requirement and Extinguishment

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/conservation-easements-the-perpetuity-requirement-and-extinguishment.html

PPP and PATC Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/ppp-and-patc-developments.html

How Many Audit “Bites” of the Same Apple Does IRS Get?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/how-many-audit-bites-of-the-same-apple-does-irs-get.html

More Developments Concerning Conservation Easements

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/more-developments-concerning-conservation-easements.html

Imputation – When Can an Agent’s Activity Count?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/imputation-when-can-an-agents-activity-count.html

Exotic Game Activities and the Tax Code

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/08/exotic-game-activities-and-the-tax-code.html

Demolishing Farm Buildings and Structures – Any Tax Benefit?

         https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/08/demolishing-farm-buildings-and-structures-any-tax-benefit.html

Tax Incentives for Exported Ag Products

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/08/tax-incentives-for-exported-ag-products.html

Deducting Business Interest

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/deducting-business-interest.html

Recent Tax Court Opinions Make Key Point on S Corporations and Meals/Entertainment Deductions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/recent-tax-court-opinions-make-key-points-on-s-corporations-and-mealsentertainment-deductions.html

Income Taxation of Trusts – New Regulations

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/income-taxation-of-trusts.html

Accrual Accounting – When Can a Deduction Be Claimed?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/accrual-accounting-when-can-a-deduction-be-claimed.html

Farmland Lease Income – Proper Tax Reporting

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/farmland-lease-income-proper-tax-reporting.html

Merging a Revocable Trust at Death with an Estate – Tax Consequences

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/merging-a-revocable-trust-at-death-with-an-estate-tax-consequences.html

The Use of Deferred Payment Contracts – Specifics Matter

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/the-use-of-deferred-payment-contracts-specific-matters.html

Is Real Estate Held in Trust Eligible for I.R.C. §1031 Exchange Treatment?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/is-real-estate-held-in-trust-eligible-for-irc-1031-exchange-treatment.html

 

INSURANCE

Recent Court Developments of Interest

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/recent-court-developments-of-interest.html

PUBLICATIONS

Principles of Agricultural Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/principles-of-agricultural-law.html

 

REAL PROPERTY

Signing and Delivery

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/deed-effectiveness-signing-and-delivery.html

Abandoned Railways and Issues for Adjacent Landowners

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/abandoned-railways-and-issues-for-adjacent-landowners.html

Obtaining Deferral for Non-Deferred Aspects of an I.R.C. §1031 Exchange

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/obtaining-deferral-for-non-deferred-aspects-of-an-irc-1031-exchange-.html

Are Dinosaur Fossils Minerals?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/are-dinosaur-fossils-minerals.html

Real Estate Concepts Involved in Recent Cases

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/real-estate-concepts-involved-in-recent-cases.html

Is it a Farm Lease or Not? – And Why it Might Matter

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/is-it-a-farm-lease-or-not-and-why-it-might-matter.html

 

REGULATORY LAW

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments from 2019 (Numbers 10 and 9)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-from-2019-numbers-10-and-9.html

Top Ten Agricultural Law and Tax Developments from 2019 (Number 8 and 7)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/top-ten-agricultural-law-and-tax-developments-of-2019-numbers-8-and-7.html

Ag Law and Tax in the Courts – Bankruptcy Debt Discharge; Aerial Application of Chemicals; Start-Up Expenses and Lying as Protected Speech

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/ag-law-and-tax-in-the-courts-bankruptcy-debt-discharge-aerial-application-of-chemicals-start-up-expe.html

Hemp Production – Regulation and Economics

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/hemp-production-regulation-and-economics.html

DOJ to Investigate Meatpackers – What’s it All About?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/doj-to-investigate-meatpackers-whats-it-all-about.html

Dicamba Registrations Cancelled – Or Are They?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/dicamba-registrations-cancelled-or-are-they.html

What Does a County Commissioner (Supervisor) Need to Know?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/06/what-does-a-county-commissioner-supervisor-need-to-know.html

The Supreme Court’s DACA Opinion and the Impact on Agriculture

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/the-supreme-courts-daca-opinion-and-the-impact-on-agriculture.html

Right-to-Farm Law Headed to the SCOTUS?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/08/right-to-farm-law-headed-to-the-scotus.html

The Public Trust Doctrine – A Camel’s Nose Under Agriculture’s Tent?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/the-public-trust-doctrine-a-camels-nose-under-agricultures-tent.html

Roadkill – It’s What’s for Dinner (Reprise)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/roadkill-its-whats-for-dinner-reprise.html

Beef May be for Dinner, but Where’s It From?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/beef-may-be-for-dinner-but-wheres-it-from.html

Of Nuisance, Overtime and Firearms – Potpourri of Ag Law Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/of-nuisance-overtime-and-firearms-potpourri-of-ag-law-developments.html

What Farm Records and Information Are Protected from a FOIA Request?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/12/what-farm-records-and-information-are-protected-from-a-foia-request.html

Can One State Dictate Agricultural Practices in Other States?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/12/can-one-state-dictate-agricultural-practices-in-other-states.html

SECURED TRANSACTIONS

Family Farming Arrangements and Liens; And, What’s a Name Worth?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/family-farming-arrangements-and-liens-and-whats-a-name-worth.html

Conflicting Interests in Stored Grain

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/conflicting-interests-in-stored-grain.html

Eminent Domain and “Seriously Misleading” Financing Statement

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/10/eminent-domain-and-seriously-misleading-financing-statements.html

 

SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES

Summer 2020 Farm Income Tax/Estate and Business Planning Conference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/summer-2020-farm-income-taxestate-and-business-planning-conference.html

Registration Open for Summer Ag Income Tax/Estate and Business Planning Seminar

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/registration-open-for-summer-ag-income-taxestate-and-business-planning-seminar.html

 

Summer 2020 – National Farm Income Tax/Estate and Business Planning Conference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/summer-2020-national-farm-income-taxestate-and-business-planning-conference.html

Year-End CPE/CLE – Six More to Go

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/12/year-end-cpecle-six-more-to-go.html

2021 Summer National Farm and Ranch Income Tax/Estate and Business Planning Conference

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/12/2021-summer-national-farm-income-taxestate-business-planning-conference.html

WATER LAW

Principles of Agricultural Law

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/01/principles-of-agricultural-law.html

MISCELLANEOUS

More “Happenings” in Ag Law and Tax

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/02/more-happenings-in-ag-law-and-tax.html

Recent Cases of Interest

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/recent-cases-of-interest.html

More Selected Caselaw Developments of Relevance to Ag Producers

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/03/more-selected-caselaw-developments-of-relevance-to-ag-producers.html

Court Developments of Interest

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/04/court-developments-of-interest.html

Ag Law and Tax Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/05/ag-law-and-tax-developments.html

Recent Court Developments of Interest

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/07/recent-court-developments-of-interest.html

Court Developments in Agricultural Law and Taxation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/08/court-developments-in-agricultural-law-and-taxation.html

Ag Law and Tax in the Courtroom

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/ag-law-and-tax-in-the-courtroom.html

Recent Tax Cases of Interest

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/09/recent-tax-cases-of-interest.html

Ag and Tax in the Courts

 https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/ag-and-tax-in-the-courts.html

Of Nuisance, Overtime and Firearms – Potpourri of Ag Law Developments

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/11/of-nuisance-overtime-and-firearms-potpourri-of-ag-law-developments.html

Bankruptcy Happenings

            https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2020/12/bankruptcy-happenings.html

Agricultural Law Online!

Overview

For the Spring 2021 academic semester, Kansas State University will be offering my Agricultural Law and Economics course online. No matter where you are located, you can enroll in the course and participate in it as if you were present with the students in the on-campus classroom.

Details of this spring semester’s online Ag Law course – that’s the topic of today’s post.

Course Coverage

The course provides a broad overview of many of the issues that a farmer, rancher, rural landowner, ag lender or other agribusiness will encounter on a daily basis. As a result, the course looks at contract issues for the purchase and sale of agricultural goods; the peril of oral contracts; the distinction between a lease and a contract (and why the distinction matters); and the key components of a farm lease, hunting lease, wind energy lease, oil and gas lease, and other types of common agricultural contractual matters. What are the rules surrounding ag goods purchased at auction?

Ag financing situations are also covered – what it takes to provide security to a lender when financing the purchase of personal property to be used in the farming business. In addition, the unique rules surrounding farm bankruptcy is covered, including the unique tax treatment provided to a farmer in Chapter 12 bankruptcy.

Of course, farm income tax is an important part of the course. Tax planning is perhaps the most important aspect of the farming business that every-day decisions have an impact on and are influenced by. As readers of this blog know well, farm tax issues are numerous and special rules apply in many instances. The new tax law impacts many areas of farm income tax.

Real property legal issues are also prevalent and are addressed in the course. The key elements of an installment land contract are covered, as well as legal issues associated with farm leases. Various types of interests in real estate are explained – easements; licenses; profits, fee simples, remainders, etc. Like-kind exchange rules are also covered as are the special tax rules (at the state level) that apply to farm real estate.

A big issue for some farmers and ranchers concerns abandoned railways, and those issues are covered in the course. What if an existing fence is not on the property line?

Farm estate and business planning is also a significant emphasis of the course. What’s the appropriate estate plan for a farm and ranch family? How should the farming business be structured? Should multiple entities be used? Why does it matter? These questions, and more, are addressed.

Agricultural cooperatives are important for the marketing of agricultural commodities. How a cooperative is structured and works and the special rules that apply are also discussed.

Because much agricultural property is out in the open, that means that personal liability rules come into play with respect to people that come onto the property or use farm property in the scope of their employment. What are the rules that apply in those situations? What about liability rules associated with genetically modified products? Ag chemicals also pose potential liability issues, as do improperly maintained fences? What about defective ag seed or purchased livestock that turns out to not live up to representations? These issues, and more, are covered in the scope of discussing civil liabilities.

Sometimes farmers and ranchers find themselves in violation of criminal laws. What are those common situations? What are the rules that apply? We will get into those issue too.

Water law is a very big issue, especially in the western two-thirds of the United States. We will survey the rules surrounding the allocation of surface water and ground water to agricultural operations.

Ag seems to always be in the midst of many environmental laws – the “Clean Water Rule” is just one of those that has been high-profile in recent years. We will talk about the environmental rules governing air, land, and water quality as they apply to farmers, ranchers and rural landowners.

Finally, we will address the federal (and state) administrative state and its rules that apply to farming operations. Not only will federal farm programs be addressed, but we will also look at other major federal regulations that apply to farmers and ranchers.

Further Information and How to Register

Information about the course and how to register is available here:  https://www.enrole.com/ksu/jsp/session.jsp?sessionId=442107&courseId=AGLAW&categoryId=ROOT

You can also find information about the text for the course at the following link:  https://washburnlaw.edu/practicalexperience/agriculturallaw/waltr/principlesofagriculturallaw/index.html

If you are an undergraduate student at an institution other than Kansas State, you should be able to enroll in this course and have it count as credit towards your degree at your institution.  Consult with your academic advisor to see how Ag Law and Economics will transfer and align with your degree completion goals.

If you have questions, you can contact me directly, or submit your questions to the KSU Global Campus staff at the link provided above.

I hope to see you in class beginning on January 26!

The “Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2020 – Part Four

Overview

The biggest three developments of 2020 in ag law and tax are up for discussion today.  2020 was a year of many important developments of relevance to the agricultural industry, but the top three stand out in particular. 

The three most important developments of 2020 – it’s the topic of today’s post.

No. 3 – SCOTUS DACA Opinion

Background.  In mid-2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Department of Homeland Security, et al. v. Regents of the University of California, et al., 140 S. Ct. 1891 (2020) where the Court denied the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) revocation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).  The Court’s decision is of prime importance to agriculture because the case involved the ability of a federal government agency to create rules that are applied with the force of law without following the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.  Agricultural activities are often subjected to the rules developed by federal government agencies, making it critical that agency rules are subjected to public input before being finalized.

The DHS started the DACA program by issuing an internal agency memorandum in 2012.  The DHS took this action after numerous bills in the Congress addressing the issue failed to pass over a number of years.  The DACA program illegal aliens that were minors at the time they illegally entered the United States to apply for a renewable, two-year reprieve from deportation.  The DACA program also gave these illegal immigrants work authorizations and access to taxpayer-funded benefits such as Social Security and Medicare.  Current estimates are that between one million and two million DACA-protected illegal immigrants are eligible for benefits  In 2014, the DHS attempted to expand DACA to provide amnesty and taxpayer benefits for over four million illegal aliens, but the expansion was foreclosed by a federal courts in 2015 for providing benefits to illegal aliens without following the procedural requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act as a substantive rule and for violating the Immigration and Naturalization Act.  Texas v. United States, 809 F.3d 134 (5th Cir. 2015), aff’g., 86 F. Supp. 3d 591 (S.D. Tex. 2015).  In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower court decisions.  United States v. Texas, 136 S. Ct. 2271 (2016).  Based on these court holdings and because DACA was structured similarly, the U.S. Attorney General issued an opinion that the DACA was also legally defective.  Accordingly, in June of 2017, the DHS announced via an internal agency memorandum that it would end the illegal program by no longer accepting new applications or approving renewals other than for those whose benefits would expire in the next six months.  Activist groups sued and the Supreme Court ultimately determined that the action of the DHS was improper for failing to provide sufficient policy reasons for ending DACA.  In other words, what was created with the stroke of a pen couldn’t be eliminated with a stroke of a pen. 

Administrative Procedure Act (APA).  The APA was enacted in 1946.  Pub. L. No. 79-404, 60 Stat. 237 (Jun. 11, 1946).  The APA sets forth the rules governing how federal administrative agencies are to go about developing regulations.  It also gives the federal courts oversight authority over all agency actions.  The APA has been referred to as the “Constitution” for administrative law in the United States.  A key aspect of the APA is that any substantive agency rule that will be applied against an individual or business with the force of law (e.g., affecting rights of the regulated) must be submitted for public notice and comment.  5 U.S.C. §553.  The lack of DACA being subjected to public notice and comment when it was created and the Court’s requirement that it couldn’t be removed in like fashion struck a chord with the most senior member of the Court.  Justice Thomas authored a biting dissent that directly addressed this issue.  He wrote, “Without grounding its position in either the APA or precedent, the majority declares that DHS was required to overlook DACA’s obvious legal deficiencies and provide additional policy reasons and justifications before restoring the rule of law. This holding is incorrect, and it will hamstring all future agency attempts to undo actions that exceed statutory authority.”

Farmers and ranchers often deal with the rules developed by federal (and state) administrative agencies.  Those agency rules often involve substantive rights and, as such, are subject to the notice and comment requirements of the APA.  Failure to follow the APA often results in the restriction (or outright elimination) of property rights without the necessary procedural protections the APA affords. It’s also important that when administrative agencies overstep their bounds, a change in agency leadership has the ability to swiftly rescind prior illegal actions – a point Justice Thomas made clear in his dissent.

No. 2 - Public Trust Doctrine

Background.  Centuries ago, the seas were viewed as the common property of everyone - they weren’t subject to private use and ownership.  Instead, they were held in what was known as the “public trust.”  This concept was later adopted in English law, the Magna Carta, and became part of the common (non-statutory) law of individual states in the United States after the Revolution.  Over the years, this “public trust doctrine” has been primarily applied to access to the seashore and intertidal waters, although recently some courts have expanded its reach beyond its historical application.

But, any judicial expansion of the public trust doctrine results in curtailing vested property rights.  That’s a very important concern for agriculture because of agriculture’s necessary use of natural resources such as land, air, water, minerals and the like.  Restricting or eliminating property rights materially impacts agricultural operations in a negative manner.  It also creates an economic disincentive to use property in an economically (and socially) efficient manner.

How could an expanded public trust doctrine apply?  For farmers and ranchers, it could make a material detrimental impact on the farming operation.  For instance, many endangered species have habitat on privately owned land.  If wildlife and their habitat are deemed to be covered by the doctrine, farming and ranching practices could be effectively curtailed.  What about vested water rights?  A farming or ranching operation that has a vested water right to use water from a watercourse for crop irrigation or livestock watering purposes could find itself having those rights limited or eliminated if, under the public trust doctrine, a certain amount of water needed to be retained in the stream for a species of fish. 

One might argue that the government already has the ability to place those restrictions on farming operations, and that argument would be correct.  But, such restrictions exist via the legislative and regulatory process and are subject to constitutional due process, equal protection and just compensation protections.  Conversely, land-use restrictions via the public trust doctrine bypass those constitutional protections.  No compensation would need to be paid, because there was no governmental taking – a water right, for example, could be deemed to be subject to the “public trust” and enforced without the government paying for taking the right.  

Nevada Case.  Mineral County v. Lyon County, No. 75917, 2020 Nev. LEXIS 56 (Nev. Sup. Ct. Sept. 17, 2020), involved the state of Nevada’s water law system for allocating water rights and an attempt to take those rights without compensation via an expansion of the public use doctrine.  The state of Nevada appropriates water to users via the prior appropriation system – a “first-in-time, first-in-right” system.  Over 100 years ago, litigation over the Walker River Basin began between competing water users in the Walker River Basin.  The Basin covers approximately 4,000 square miles, beginning in the Sierra Nevada mountain range and ending in a lake in Nevada.  In 1936, a federal court issued a decree adjudicating water rights of various claimants to water in the basin via the prior appropriation doctrine. 

In 1987, an Indian Tribe intervened in the ongoing litigation to establish procedures to change the allocations of water rights subject to the decree.  Since that time, the state reviews all changes to applications under the decree.  In 1994, the plaintiff sought to modify the decree to ensure minimum stream flows into the lake under the “doctrine of maintenance of the public trust.”  The federal district (trial) court granted the plaintiff’s motion to intervene in 2013.  In 2015, the trial court dismissed the plaintiff’s amended complaint in intervention on the basis that the plaintiff lacked standing; that the public trust doctrine could only apply prospectively to bar granting appropriative rights; any retroactive application of the doctrine could constitute a taking requiring compensation; that the court lacked the authority to effectuate a taking; and that the lake was not part of the basin. 

On appeal, the federal appellate court determined that the plaintiff had standing, and that the lake was part of the basin.  The appellate court also held that whether the plaintiff could seek minimum flows depended on whether the public trust doctrine allowed the reallocation of rights that had been previously settled under the prior appropriation doctrine.  Thus, the appellate court certified two questions to the Nevada Supreme Court:  1) whether the public trust doctrine allowed such reallocation of rights; and 2) if so, whether doing so amounted to a “taking” of private property requiring “just compensation” under the Constitution. 

The state Supreme Court held that that public trust doctrine had already been implemented via the state’s prior appropriation system for allocating water rights and that the state’s statutory water laws is consistent with the public trust doctrine by requiring the state to consider the public interest when making allocating and administering water rights.  The state Supreme Court also determined that the legislature had expressly prohibited the reallocation of water rights that have not otherwise been abandoned or forfeited in accordance with state water law. 

The state Supreme Court limited the scope of its ruling to private water use of surface streams, lakes and groundwater such as uses for crops and livestock. The plaintiff has indicated that it will ask the federal appellate court for a determination of whether the public trust doctrine could be used to mandate water management methods.  If the court would rule that it does, the result would be an unfortunate disincentive to use water resources in an economically efficient manner (an application of the “tragedy of the commons”).  It would also provide a current example (in a negative way) of the application of the Coase Theorem (well-defined property rights overcome the problem of externalities).  See Coase, “The Problem of Social Cost,” Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 3, October 1960. 

Oregon Case.  In Chernaik v. Brown, 367 Or. 143 (2020), the plaintiffs claimed that the public trust doctrine required the State of Oregon to protect various natural resources in the state from harm due to greenhouse gas emissions, “climate change,” and ocean acidification. The public trust doctrine has historically only applied to submerged and submersible lands underlying navigable waters as well as the navigable waters. The trial court rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments. On appeal the state Supreme Court affirmed, rejecting the test for expanding the doctrine the plaintiffs proposed. Under that test, the doctrine would extend to any resource that is not easily held or improved and is of great value to the public. The state Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs’ test was too broad to be adopted and remanded the case to the lower court. 

No. 1 – CARES Act, CFAP Programs and Disaster Legislations and CAA, 2021

Quite clearly, the biggest development of 2020 involved the numerous tax and loan provisions enacted in an attempt to offset the loss of income and closure of business resulting from the actions of various state governors as a result of the virus.  Also, the various pieces of legislation made some of the most significant changes to the retirement planning rules in about 15 years.  In addition, tax provisions were contained in disaster legislation that took effect in 2020.  In late December of 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA, 2021) was signed into law.  This law made significant changes to the existing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and provided another round of payments to farmers and ranchers under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).  The CAA, 2021 also extended numerous tax provisions that were set to expire at the end of 2020.

Conclusion

2020 was another big year in the ag law and tax world.  There’s never a dull moment. 

The “Top Ten” Agricultural Law and Tax Developments of 2020 – Part Three

No. 5 – Dicamba Drift Damages

The Issue

Numerous cases have been filed in recent years alleging damage to soybean crops as a result of dicamba drift.  However, one significant case has involved alleged dicamba drift damage to a peach crop.  In 2019, the federal trial court judge hearing the case allowed much of the case to go to the jury.  In early 2020, the jury returned a $265 million judgment against Monsanto/Bayer and BASF.  $15 million of that amount was to compensate the peach farmer.  $250 million was punitive damages.  Throughout 2020, the litigation continued with the courts addressing the whether the allocation of damages was proper and reasonable. 

Dicamba Drift, Peaches and Calculation of Damages

The plaintiff claimed that his peach orchard was destroyed after the defendants (Monsanto and BASF) conspired to develop and market dicamba-tolerant seeds and dicamba-based herbicides. The plaintiff claimed that the damage to the peaches occurred when dicamba drifted from application to neighboring fields. The plaintiff claimed that the defendants released its dicamba-tolerant seed with no corresponding dicamba herbicide that could be safely applied. As a result, farmers illegally sprayed an old formulation of dicamba herbicide that was unapproved for in-crop, over-the-top, use and was "volatile," or prone to drift.

While many cases had previously been filed on the dicamba drift issue, the plaintiff did not join the other litigation because it focused on damages to soybean crops. Monsanto moved to dismiss the claims for failure to warn; negligent training; violation of the Missouri Crop Protection Act; civil conspiracy; and joint liability for punitive damages. BASF moved to dismiss those same counts except the claims for failure to warn. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss in part. Monsanto argued that the failure to warn claims were preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act ("FIFRA"), but the plaintiff claimed that no warning would have prevented the damage to the peaches. The trial court determined that the plaintiff had adequately plead the claim and denied the motion to dismiss this claim. Both Monsanto and BASF moved to dismiss the negligent training claim, but the trial court refused to do so. However, the trial court did dismiss the claims based on the Missouri Crop Protection Act, noting that civil actions under this act are limited to “field crops” which did not include peaches. The trial court did not dismiss the civil conspiracy claim based on concerted action by agreement, but did dismiss the aiding and abetting portion of the claim because that cause of action is no recognized under Missouri tort law.

The parties agreed to a separate jury determination of punitive damages for each defendant. Bader Farms, Inc. v. Monsanto Co., et al., No. MDL No. 1:18md2820-SNLJ, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114302 (E.D. Mo. July 10, 2019). At the jury trial, the jury found that Monsanto had negligently designed or failed to warn for 2015 and 2016 and that both defendants had done so for 2017 to the present. The jury awarded the plaintiff $15 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages against Monsanto for 2015 and 2016. The jury also found that the defendants were acting in a joint venture and in a conspiracy. The plaintiff submitted a proposed judgment that both defendants are responsible for the $250 million punitive damages award. BASF objected, but the trial court found the defendants jointly liable for the full verdict in light of the jury’s finding that the defendants were in a joint venture. Bader Farms, Inc. v. Monsanto Co., et al., MDL No. 1:18-md-02820-SNJL, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34340 (E.D. Mo. Feb. 28, 2020). BASF then moved for a judgment as a matter of law on punitive damages or motion for a new trial or remittitur (e.g., asking the court to reduce the damage award), and Monsanto moved for a judgment as a matter of law or a new trial. The trial court, however, found both defendants jointly liable, although the court lowered the punitive damages to $60 million after determining a lack of actual malice.

The trial court did uphold the $15 million compensatory damage award upon finding that the correct standard under Missouri law was applied to the farm’s damages. Bader Farms, Inc. v. Monsanto Co, et al., MDL No. 1:18md2820-SNLJ, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 221420 (E.D. Mo. Nov. 25, 2020). The defendants filed a notice of appeal on December 22, 2020.

No. 4 – Groundwater Discharges and Functional Equivalency

The Issue

Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit is required for an “addition” of any “pollutant” from a “point source” into the “navigable waters of the United States” (WOTUS).  33 U.S.C. §1362(12).  Excluded are agricultural stormwater discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture.  33 U.S.C. §1362(14).  Clearly, a discharge directly into a WOTUS is covered. A point source of pollution is that which comes from a discernible, confined and discrete conveyance such as a pipe, ditch or well. 

But, is an NPDES permit necessary if the discharge is directly into groundwater which then seeps its way to a WOTUS in a diffused manner?  Are indirect discharges from groundwater into a WOTUS covered?   If so, does that mean that farmland drainage tile is subject to the CWA and an NPDES discharge permit is required?  1n the 48 years of the CWA, the federal government has never formally taken that position, instead leaving the matter up to the states.  The issue is a big one for agriculture.  In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the issue.

Ninth Circuit Decision

In 2018, three different U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal decided cases on the discharge from groundwater issue.  One of those cases was heard by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  In Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, 881 F.3d 754 (9th Cir. 2018), the defendant owned and operated four wells at the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility (LWRF). Although constructed initially to serve as a backup disposal method for water reclamation, the wells became the defendant’s primary means of effluent disposal into groundwater and, ultimately, the Pacific Ocean.  The defendant injected approximately 3 to 5 million gallons of treated wastewater per day into the groundwater via its wells.  The wastewater seeped through the groundwater for about one-half of a mile until it reached the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the seepage into the Pacific from the point-source wells one-half mile away was “functionally one into navigable water,” and that a permit was required because the “pollutants are fairly traceable from the point source to a navigable water.”

EPA Reaction

After the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion, the EPA, on February 20, 2018, requested comment on whether pollutant discharges from point sources that reach jurisdictional surface waters via groundwater may be subject to Clean Water Act (“CWA”) regulation. Specifically, the EPA sought comment on whether the EPA should consider clarification or revision of previous EPA statements regarding the Agency’s mandate to regulate discharges to surface waters via groundwater under the CWA.  In particular, the EPA sought comment on whether it is consistent with the CWA to require a CWA permit for indirect discharges into jurisdictional surface waters via groundwater. The EPA also sought comment on whether some or all of such discharges are addressed adequately through other federal authorities, existing state statutory or regulatory programs or through other existing federal regulations and permit programs.

After receiving over 50,000 comments, on April 15, 2019, the EPA issued an interpretive statement concluding that the releases of pollutants to groundwater are categorically excluded from the NPDES regardless of whether the groundwater is hydrologically connected to surface water.  The EPA reasoned that the Congress explicitly left regulation of groundwater discharges to the states and that the EPA had other statutory authorities through which to regulate groundwater other than the NPDES.  The EPA, in its statement, noted that its interpretation would apply in areas not within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal for the Ninth and Fourth Circuits. 

The Supreme Court and the Hawaii Case

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the Ninth Circuit opinion.  Hawaii Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, 881 F.3d 754 (9th Cir. 2018), pet. for cert. granted, County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 139 S. Ct. 1164 (2019).  Boiled down to its essence, the case turns on the meaning of “from.”  As noted above, an NPDES permit is required for point source pollutants that originate “from” a point source that are discharged into a navigable water.  The NPDES system only applies to discharges of “any addition” of any pollutant from “any point source” to “navigable waters.”  Thus, by the statutory text, there must be an “addition” of a pollutant to a navigable water of the U.S. “from” a point source.  Discharges of pollutants into groundwater are not subject to the NPDES permit requirement even if the groundwater is hydrologically connected to surface water.  The legislative history of the CWA indicates that the Congress intentionally chose not to regulate hydrologically-connected groundwater, instead leaving such regulation up to the states.  See, e.g., Umatilla Water Quality Protective Association v. Smith Frozen Foods, 962 F. Supp. 1312 (D. Or. 1997). 

As noted, the case involved pollutants that originated from a point source, traveled through groundwater, and then a half-mile later reached a WOTUS.  Does the permit requirement turn on a direct discharge into a WOTUS (an addition of a pollutant from a point source), or simply a discharge that originated at a point source that ultimately ends up in a WOTUS?  Clearly, the wells at issue in the case are point sources – on that point all parties agreed.  But, are indirect discharges into a WOTUS via groundwater (which is otherwise exempt from the NPDES) subject to the permit requirement?

On April 23, 2020, in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. Ct. 1462 (2020), issued a 6-3 opinion written by Justice Breyer holding that an NPDES permit is required not only when there is a direct discharge of a pollutant from a point source into a WOTUS, but also when there is the “functional equivalent” of a direct discharge.    This conclusion, the Court noted, was somewhat of a middle ground between the Ninth Circuit’s “fairly traceable” test and the position that a permit is required only if a point source ultimately delivered the pollutant to a WOTUS.  The Court determined that because the Congress coupled the words “from” and “to” in the statutory language that the Congress was referring to the destination of a WOTUS rather than the origin of a point source.  Thus, the Court determined that a permit is required when there is a direct discharge of a point source pollutant to a WOTUS or when, in effect, that is what occurred.    The Court believed that the EPA’s recent Interpretive Statement excluding all releases of pollutants to groundwater from the permit requirement was too broad and would create a loophole that would defeat the purpose of the CWA. The Court noted that many factors could be relevant in determining whether a particular discharge is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge into a WOTUS, but that time and distance would be the most important factors in most cases.  The Court also indicated that other factors could include the nature of the material through which a pollutant traveled and the extent of its dilution or chemical change while doing so, and noted that the lower courts would provide additional guidance as they decided subsequent cases. 

Justice Thomas dissented (joined by Justice Gorsuch), pointing out that the use of the word “addition” in the statute requires an augmentation or increase of a WOTUS by a pollutant and that, as a result, anything other than a direct discharge is statutorily excluded.  Indeed, in 2010, the Court declined to hear a case where the lower court held that an NPDES permit is not required unless there is an “addition” of a pollutant to a WOTUS.  See e.g., Friends of the Everglades, et al. v. South Florida Water Management District, et al., 570 F.3d 1210 (11th Cir. 2009) reh’g., den., 605 F.3d 962 (11th Cir. 2010), cert. den., 131 S. Ct. 643 (2010).  Justice Thomas also noted that the Court’s opinion provided practically zero guidance on the question of when a permit is necessary when a direct discharge is not involved, except for the Court’s provision of a list of non-exhaustive factors.  Justice Thomas stated, “[The] Court does not commit to whether those factors are the only relevant ones, whether [they] are always relevant, or which [ones] are the most important.”

Justice Alito also dissented, similarly disenchanted with the nebulous standard and “buck-passing” of the Court to lower courts on the issue.  Justice Alito wrote that, “If the Court is going to devise its own legal rules, instead of interpreting those enacted by Congress, it might at least adopt rules that can be applied with a modicum of consistency.” 

Ultimately, the Court’s “functional equivalency” test was narrower than the “fairly traceable” test that the Ninth Circuit utilized, and the Court vacated the Ninth Circuit’s opinion and remanded the case for a decision based on the Court’s standard. 

Implications for agriculture.  The Court’s opinion is significant for agriculture.  From a hydrological standpoint, surface water and groundwater systems are often connected.  Groundwater is what often maintains a presence of surface water in a stream.  From agriculture’s perspective, the case is important because of the ways that a pollutant can be discharged from an initial point and ultimately reach a WOTUS.  For example, the application of manure or commercial fertilizer to a farm field either via surface application or via injection could result in eventual runoff of excess via the surface or groundwater into a WOTUS.  Certainly, when manure collects and channelizes through a ditch or depression and enters a WOTUS a direct discharge requiring an NPDES permit is required.  See, e.g., Concerned Area Residents for the Environment v. Southview Farm, 34 F.3d 114 (2d Cir. 1994).  But, that’s a different situation from seepage of manure (or other “pollutants”) through groundwater.  No farmer can guarantee that 100 percent of a manure or fertilizer application is used by the crop to which it is applied and that there are no traces of the unused application remaining in the soil.  Likewise, while organic matter decays and returns to the soil, it contains nutrients that can be conveyed via stormwater into surface water.  The CWA recognizes this and contains an NPDES exemption for agricultural stormwater discharges. But, if the Supreme Court decides in favor of the environmental group, the exemption would be removed, subjecting farmers (and others) to onerous CWA penalties unless a discharge permit were obtained - at a cost estimated to exceed $250,000 (not to mention time delays).

What about farm field tile drainage systems?  Seemingly, such systems would make it easier for “pollutants” to enter a WOTUS.  Such drainage systems are prevalent in the Midwest and other places, including California’s Central Valley.  Groundwater, by some standards, is polluted or includes pollutants.  Farm field drainage tile is deliberately installed to deliver that polluted groundwater to a WOTUS.  That is a significant reason that groundwater discharges have always been exempt from the NPDES permit requirement along with agricultural stormwater discharges and agricultural irrigation return flows.  Should the law now discourage agricultural drainage activities? 

Conclusion

Pesticide drift and groundwater discharges of “pollutants” - two big issues for agricultural producers.  Next time I look at the three biggest developments of 2020.

Continuing Education Events and Summer Conferences

Overview

There are a couple of online continuing education events that I will be conducting soon, and the dates are set for two summer national conferences in 2021. 

Upcoming continuing education events – it’s the topic of today’s post.

Top Developments in Agricultural Law and Tax

On Monday, January 11, beginning at 11:00 a.m. (cst), I will be hosting a two-hour CLE/CPE webinar on the top developments in agricultural law and agricultural taxation of 2020.  I will not only discuss the developments, but project how the developments will impact producers and others in the agricultural sector and what steps need to be taken as a result of the developments in the law and tax realm.  This is an event that is not only for practitioners, but producers also.  It’s an opportunity to hear the developments and provide input and discussion.  A special lower rate is provided for those not claiming continuing education credit.

You may learn more about the January 11 event and register here:  https://washburnlaw.edu/employers/cle/taxseasonupdate.html

Tax Update Webinar – CAA of 2021

On January 21, I will be hosting a two-hour webinar on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.  This event will begin at 10:00 a.m. (cst) and run until noon.  The new law makes significant changes to the existing PPP and other SBA loan programs, CFAP, and contains many other provisions that apply to businesses and individuals.  Also, included in the new law are provisions that extend numerous provisions that were set to expire at the end of 2020.  The PPP discussion is of critical importance to many taxpayers at the present moment, especially the impact of PPP loans not being included in income and simultaneously being deductible if used to pay for qualified business expenses.  Associated income tax basis issues loom large and vary by entity type.

You may learn more about the January 21 event and register here:  https://agmanager.info/events/kansas-income-tax-institute

Summer National Conferences

Mark your calendars now for the law school’s two summer 2021 events that I conduct on farm income tax and farm estate and business planning.  Yes, there are two locations for 2021 – one east and one west.  Each event will be simulcast live over the web if you aren’t able to attend in-person.  The eastern conference is first and is set for June 7-8 at Shawnee Lodge and Conference Center near West Portsmouth, Ohio.  The location is about two hours east of Cincinnati, 90 minutes south of Columbus, Ohio, and just over two hours from Lexington, KY.  I am presently in the process of putting the agenda together.  A room block will be established for those interested in staying at the Lodge.  For more information about Shawnee Lodge and Conference Center, you made click here:  https://www.shawneeparklodge.com/

The second summer event will be held on August 2-3 in Missoula, Montana at the Hilton Garden Inn.  Missoula is beautifully situated on three rivers and in the midst of five mountain ranges.  It is also within three driving hours of Glacier National Park, and many other scenic and historic places.  The agenda will soon be available, and a room block will also be established at the hotel.  You may learn more about the location here:  https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/msogigi-hilton-garden-inn-missoula/

Conclusion

Take advantage of the upcoming webinars and mark you calendars for the summer national events.  I look for to seeing you at one or more of the events.

Eminent Domain and “Seriously Misleading” Financing Statements

Overview

Farmers and ranchers encounter numerous legal issues, some more often than others.  Some involve relationships with people that have gone awry, while others are a function of the economic situation surrounding the operation.  Still others involve technical contract issues involving the sale or transfer of agricultural commodities.  Many involve farmland in one fashion or another. 

In today’s article, I examine a couple of recent cases illustrating two legal issues that farmers and ranchers encounter – eminent domain and financing arrangements.  These are the topic of today’s post.

Eminent Domain

The power to “take” private property for public use (or for a public purpose) without the owner's consent is an inherent power of the federal and state government. However, the United States Constitution limits the government's eminent domain power by requiring federal and state governments to pay for what is “taken.” The “takings” clause of the Fifth Amendment has been held to apply to the states since 1897. Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Co., v. Chicago, 166 U.S. 226 (1897). 

The issue of what constitutes “just compensation” is often the thorny issue when a “taking” has occurred.  Often, the government will “low-ball” a landowner upon the exercise of its eminent domain power.  But, just compensation is to be tied to fair market value of the property taken.  The trick is how fair market value is to be determined.  That precise issue came up in a recent Nebraska case.

Recent case. In Russell v. Franklin County, 27 Neb. Ct. App. 684, 934 N.W.2d 517 (2019), the plaintiffs were landowners whose property consisted of 164 acres that was primarily cropland and pastureland. The property has been in the plaintiffs’ family for many years and includes cropland and pastureland. There was no residence on the property, and the plaintiffs used it for birdwatching, camping, hunting for game and mushrooms, and other recreational purposes. The plaintiffs gave the defendant county permission to cut down trees on the plaintiffs’ property in order to improve visibility for drivers on an adjacent county road. However, the defendant’s employees proceeded to cut down trees from an area not authorized for removal. In total, the defendant cut down 67 trees, affecting 1.67 acres of the plaintiffs’ land.

The plaintiffs filed an inverse condemnation action under Neb. Rev. Stat. §76-705, et seq. against the defendant, alleging an unlawful taking of their property for public use without just compensation. The plaintiffs claimed that the damages should be calculated by determining the replacement cost of the trees and soil from uprooted trees.  In other words, the “just compensation” should be what it would cost to put the property back to its status before the trees outside the permitted area were removed.  To that end, the plaintiffs relied upon an arborist, a salesperson from a nursery and garden center, and a representative from an excavating company to quantify their damages. Together, the experts calculated the cost to return the property to its prior condition to be $150,716.  Conversely, the defendant argued that the damages should be calculated by determining the difference in fair market value of the plaintiffs’ property before and after the trees had been cut down, which its expert said was $200.

The trial court agreed with the defendant and held that the appropriate measure of damages was the difference in the fair market value of the land. The trial court noted that the plaintiffs had argued their case under the state’s eminent domain statutes but were seeking damages based on a tort cause of action. On appeal, the plaintiffs’ argued the trial court applied the wrong measure of damages. The plaintiffs maintained their argument that the proper method for determining damages was to calculate the cost of restoring the property to its preexisting condition. The appellate court held that the correct measure for damages was in fact the difference in the fair market value of the land before and after the trees were cut down. The appellate court noted that Nebraska courts have consistently held that damages in eminent domain cases are measured based on market value of the property. Further, the appellate court pointed out that the state Supreme Court had previously held that vegetation is not valued separately and should only be considered in how its presence affects the fair market value of the land. Finally, the appellate court noted that the plaintiffs’ argument for calculating damages rested on cases that stemmed from tort actions. Because the plaintiffs had argued their case as one under the eminent domain statutes, they could not seek damages under an unlawful destruction of trees or negligence action. 

On further review, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed.  Russell v. Franklin County, 306 Neb. 546, 946 N.W.2d 648 (2020). 

Financing Statement and Debtor’s Name

Occasionally, a lender loans money on an unsecured basis with the lender's security based solely on the borrower's reputation and promise to repay.  More likely, however, a lender will require collateral to make sure the borrower repays the loan. Usually, the lender requires the borrower to sign a written agreement (security agreement) giving the lender legal rights to the collateral (such as the borrower's crops, livestock or equipment) if the borrower fails to repay the loan. The situation where personal property or fixtures are used to secure payment of a debt or the performance of an obligation is called a secured transaction.  In this transaction, the lender receives a security interest in the debtor’s collateral.  If the debtor fails to repay the obligation, the creditor can have the collateral sold to repay the loan. 

Normally, a security interest in tangible property is perfected by filing a financing statement or by filing the security agreement as a financing statement. Indeed, filing a financing statement usually is the only practical way to perfect when the debtor is a farmer or rancher.

Under UCC § 9-506, a financing statement is effective even if it has minor errors or omissions unless the errors or omissions make the financing statement seriously misleading. A financing statement containing an incorrect debtor’s name is not seriously misleading if a search of the records of the filing office under the debtor’s correct legal name, using the filing office’s standard search logic, if any, discloses the financing statement filed under the incorrect name. However, some states have statutes or regulations defining the search logic to be used and may require that the debtor’s name be listed precisely in accordance with that logic.  A recent Minnesota bankruptcy case illustrates this point.

Recent case.  In a recent bankruptcy case from Minnesota, In re Rancher’s Legacy Meat Co., 616 B.R. 532 (Bankr. D. Minn. 2020), the debtor was a meat packing and processing company that was created by two people (one of which was a creditor) operating under the name of Unger Meat Company (UMC). The creditor leased a building to the debtor that was to be used as a processing plant. The creditor also provided startup funds through two promissory notes. The parties entered into a security agreement that granted the creditor a security interest in all of the debtor’s equipment, inventory, and accounts receivable.

The creditor perfected the security agreement by filing a financing statement with the state. UMC lost money and the creditor entered into an option agreement with a holding company to purchase UMC. Upon finalization of the sale, the holding company subsequently purchased the creditor’s shares in UMC and changed the name of the company to Rancher’s Legacy Meat Company. Fourteen months after the name change, the creditor filed a continuation statement listing the company’s name as UMC. Three years later, the creditor filed an amended continuation statement changing the debtor’s name to Rancher’s Legacy. The creditor began seeking collection on its notes and a few months later the debtor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The debtor argued that the appropriate procedure to re-perfect the creditor’s security interest was to file a new financing statement upon the debtor’s name change. The creditor claimed that the filings appropriately re-perfected the security interest, entitling the creditor to adequate protection payments. The bankruptcy court looked to local (Minnesota) law, to construe the status of the creditor’s lien. Under Minnesota law, a financing statement becomes seriously misleading and ineffective when it fails to provide the debtor’s correct name. Additionally, when the financing statement is ineffective because of seriously misleading information, an amendment must be made within four months to perfect a security interest.

The bankruptcy court held that the creditor’s security interest lapsed when four months had passed after the creditor’s financing statement became seriously misleading. Further, the bankruptcy court held that the creditor had the ability to re-perfect the security interest by filing a new financing statement. Although the security interest had lapsed, the language of the parties’ security agreement provided the creditor with the opportunity to file a second financing statement. The creditor argued that the multiple filings were sufficient to giver proper notice to any other creditors under the UCC. The bankruptcy court disagreed and held that multiple filings can occasionally give proper notice, but not when the notice had become seriously misleading.

The bankruptcy court held that the validity of the financing statement depended primarily on its ability to give notice of the security interest to other creditors. The purpose of the UCC’s notice system, the bankruptcy court noted, is to provide public notice of a secured interest without requiring parties to piece together several documents. Further, the bankruptcy court noted that the creditor’s argument for multiple filings failed because the original financing statement had lapsed. The creditor’s continuation statements were merely amendments to the original financing statement. However, the original financing statement had lapsed four months after it became seriously misleading. The bankruptcy court held that the continuation statements could not revive the financing statement once it had lapsed. Lastly, the creditor argued that the subsequent filings of the continuation statements should have been enough to re-perfect his security interest.

The bankruptcy court held that even when the creditor’s three filings were read in conjunction, they were ineffective to re-perfect his security interest. The bankruptcy court further pointed out that the UCC specifically provides that continuation statements cannot substitute for financing statements. As a result, the bankruptcy court declared that the creditor became an unsecured creditor at the time the security interests became unperfected. Because the creditor failed to re-perfect the security interest before the debtor filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the debtor was not required to provide the creditor with adequate protection payments. 

Conclusion

Eminent domain and getting a debtor’s name correct on a financing statement – two issues that farmers and ranchers frequently encounter.  Also, two issues that illustrate how farmers and ranchers can become entangled in legal matters so easily.