By Mary Hightower

Handling agricultural bankruptcies, federal wetland regulations and a keynote about ag trade with Cuba are all part of the third annual Mid-South Ag and Environmental Law Conference Friday, April 22, at Memphis, Tennessee. The conference will also include Southeast Arkansas participants.

The agenda includes:

  • “Lenders, Lawyers and their Farmers: Managing Risk in a Faltering Ag Economy”; Greg Cole, president and CEO of AgHeritage Farm Credit Services, and Bill Bridgforth, partner; Ramsay, Bridgforth, Robinson, and Raley, LP, Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
  • “When the clock is ticking: Handling an Ag Bankruptcy,” with James W. Berry, of Berry Law Firm, Rayville, Louisiana.
  • “When the Corps and EPA Come a-Knockin’ on the Farm: Navigating Wetlands Issues,” with Sharon Marie Mattox, Mattox Law Firm, Houston.
  • Legal Issues and Liability in Agricultural Nutrient Management,” Peggy Kirk Hall, director, Agricultural and Resource Law Program, The Ohio State University.

This year’s program includes Agricultural and Environmental Law Update: Recent Trends and Developments panel discussion with Stephanie Showalter Otts, director, National Sea Grant Law Center; Alexandra Chase, law fellow, National Sea Grant Law Center; Peggy Kirk Hall, director, Agricultural and Resource Law Program, The Ohio State University; Ross Pifer, Director, clinical professor of law and director, Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center, Penn State Law; and Rusty Rumley, senior staff attorney, National Agricultural Law Center, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

A reception on Thursday, April 21, is set for the Rendezvous. Registration for the conference opens at 7:30 a.m. April 22 and the session opens with an 8:15 a.m. panel discussion on trends and developments in agricultural and environmental law. To register, visit http://nationalaglawcenter.org/midsouthcle2016/. The conference is approved for six hours of continuing education in Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Registration for attendees seeking continuing education credits is $175. The cost is $125 for professionals not seeking CLEs or CE. Students may register for $25. The conference will be held at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and is hosted by the Agricultural and Food Law Consortium, a national, multi-institution collaboration that is led by the National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The event is sponsored by the University of Mississippi Center for Continuing Legal Education, Mississippi Bar Section on Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law, Banks Law Firm and Delta Farm Press.

“This a great education and networking opportunity for attorneys, students and other agricultural professionals,” said Harrison Pittman, director of the National Agricultural Law Center.

For more information about the Agricultural & Food Law Consortium, click here.

— Mary Hightower is director of communication Services, U of A Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service

 

 

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