Once again, there is a new update related to the status of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). New Update and Deadline On Monday, February 17, 2025, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas lifted the nationwide injunction in Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury that prevented the beneficial ownership requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act from going into effect. This was the final nationwide injunction in place pausing the reporting requirements.  In light of this ruling, the United States Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforceme ..read more

Happy March!  We are here with another rundown of some of the biggest agricultural law stories in the news from the past couple of weeks. * Treasury department announces suspension of Corporate Transparency Act reporting for US citizens and domestic companies.  It would not be a weekly round up if we did not include news about the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).  The US Department of Treasury announced that it will not be enforcing or assessing penalties for those failing to comply with the reporting requirements of the CTA at ..read more

Understanding the concepts surrounding lowering carbon emissions can be confusing.  However, as many companies undertake efforts to reduce their carbon emissions, two main strategies have emerged:  carbon offsets and carbon insets.   While both strategies can be used by a company to reduce their company’s carbon footprint, they can have very different implications for agriculture. My colleague, Dr. Jordan Shockley, along with Casey Matzke and I, recently wrote a fact sheet discussing the difference between carbon offsets and insets and what these approaches mean for those o ..read more

It has been a frigid week here in Texas.  We hope everyone has stayed safe and warm.  Here are some of the agricultural law stories from around the country. * Final Corporate Transparency Act injunction lifted; reporting requirement back in place with March 21 deadline.  The rollercoaster ride continues.  On Monday, a federal judge in Texas lifted the final nationwide injunction pausing the Corporate Transparency Act reporting requirements for entities around the country.  This means that entities are required to report their beneficial ownership information to FinCEN ..read more

Farmers in Johnson County, Texas are in the epicenter of litigation surrounding alleged PFAS contamination of agricultural land, water, and livestock.  There are now two pending lawsuits, and the County has declared a state of emergency. Background Plaintiffs James Farmer, Robin Alessi, Patsy Schultz, and Tony and Karen Coleman are farmers in Johnson County, Texas. Defendant, Synagro Tech, produces a biosolid fertilizer, Granulite.  Plaintiffs allege Synagro has contracts with more than 1,000 municipal wastewater facilities across the country, including with the City of Ft. Worth. Th ..read more

Recently, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced the 2025 estate and gift tax exemption amounts.  Generally speaking, these amounts change slightly each year, and are an important consideration in a person’s estate planning process. Background As we have discussed numerous times on this blog and our Ag Law in the Field Podcast, Congress sets an amount of assets that a person is allowed to give during their lifetime or at death without incurring estate or gift tax liability. This is known as the lifetime exemption.  The IRS adjusts ..read more

Hello from a very chilly 7 degree day in the Texas Panhandle!  Today, we are going to share a couple of articles I have written and interviews I have done lately. Basically Famous Podcast Many of you know Tyler Schuster, the host of the Basically Famous podcast.  She asked me to be a guest on her show to chat about my life and career, some lessons I have learned along the way, mentorship, and more.  You can listen to our conversation here. Ag industry sees legal changes in ..read more

An important issue for direct beef sales businesses to consider is the payment of the Beef Checkoff assessment. The national Beef Checkoff program was established through the Beef Promotion and Research Act as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The Beef Checkoff aims to build demand for beef and beef products, both domestically and internationally, through initiatives such as consumer advertising, marketing partnerships, public relations, education, research, and new product development. In 2014, Texas cattle producers voted to pass a state Beef Checkoff that works specifically for in-state ..read more

We are back with another weekly round up of agricultural law news from around the country. * Texas law requires confirming homestead exemption status every 5 years. A new law, passed in 2023, requires appraisal districts in Texas to determine eligibility for a homestead exemption every 5 years. Appraisal districts will do this by sending out a letter seeking confirmation of homestead status.  It is critical that homeowners do not ignore this letter! [Read article here.] *Senate agriculture committee advances nomination of Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture.  A ..read more

The United States Department of Agriculture announced the enrollment periods for key farm safety-net programs.  The enrollment period for ARC (Agriculture Risk Coverage) and PLC (Price Loss Coverage) will run from January 21 – April 15.  For the DMC (Dairy Margin Coverage) program, dairy producers will have from January 29 – March 31 to enroll. ARC/PLC Producers who have land with base acres of covered commodities likely qualify to enroll in either ARC or PLC.  These programs offer financial assistance to producers.  ARC provides payments when a farm’s ..read more