June 2018 Update
ALEI Partners with University of Delaware Cooperative Extension
By: Kimberly Johnson
Extension Legal Specialist and Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI) member Kelly Nuckolls Winslow has traveled to Delaware several times since joining the University of Maryland last summer, providing legal education resources to Delaware farmers — work supported by a partnership between the University of Maryland and the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension (UDE).
As part of this partnership, Winslow gave three presentations at Delaware Agriculture Week in Harrington, DE in January this year. During one presentation on estate planning, Winslow discussed strategies to pay for long-term care which limit the state’s ability to recover one’s assets after their death. As it stands, after the passing of a Medicaid recipient, the state can attempt to recover funds spent on that recipient’s long-term care from their estate.
Show More Winslow says the ALEI-UDE partnership allows her to compare how the laws differ in both states and generate ideas on topics she can explore for both Maryland and Delaware farmers. “I’ve seen that there is a need for estate planning resources for farmers in both states. By participating in Delaware Ag week, I saw a need for more information on how health care programs impact the estate planning process.” “This program helps to fill a critical need for Delaware farmers while providing an opportunity for ALEI to grow,” said Paul Goeringer, a senior member of ALEI, extension legal specialist and faculty member at the University of Maryland, College Park. Goeringer has previously worked with the UDE to provide legal education resources to Delaware farmers. Winslow published an extension publication entitled an Estate Planning for Farmers in Delaware last month, and plans to develop resources on equine law, estate planning, and lease agreements in the near future. Close
Three Year SARE Grant Awarded For Agricultural Conservation Leasing Project
By: Sarah Everhart
The Northeast Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education (SARE) program has awarded the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law a three-year, $159,380 grant. The grant will be administered by the University of Maryland Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI) and Sarah Everhart, Senior Legal Specialist and Research Associate. The Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology Inc. is a collaborator and subrecipient on the grant project.
SARE is a program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The grant is from SARE’s Professional Development Program, providing training and grants for agricultural service providers to build their own knowledge of sustainable agriculture concepts.
Show More The grant will engage agricultural service providers from the University of Maryland Extension, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, Maryland Department of Agriculture, and nonprofits in a comprehensive education program about agricultural conservation leasing. Through an informational webinar and a series of five regional workshops (the dates and locations of which are below), the project will equip agricultural service providers to educate and advise farmers and landowners on overcoming the challenges of using conservation practices on leased land. Agricultural service providers and interested landowners and farmers are encouraged to attend the webinar and a workshop in their region. According to Everhart, “Agricultural service providers know that conservation practices are less prevalent on leased land but they currently don’t have any way, aside from traditional cost-share funding, to address the issue. This education series will give them strategies and resources to assist landowners and farmers in implementing conservation practices on leased farms.” Details of the webinar and regional workshops are below. For additional information and to register for the webinar or a workshop, visit https://agresearch.umd.edu/agroecol. For questions, contact Nancy Nunn at (410) 827-8056 or nnunn@umd.edu. Informational Webinar: November 15, 2018, 12:00 pm-1:00 pm Lower Shore Workshop When: December 10, 2018, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm Where: Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore 31901 Tri-County Way Salisbury, Maryland 21804 Mid-Shore Workshop When: January 8, 2019, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm Where: Chesapeake College HPAC 127, 1000 College Circle Wye Mills, MD 21679 Southern MD Workshop When: January 17, 2019 Where: Charles County Soil Conservation District 4200 Gardiner Road Waldorf, MD 20601 Western MD Workshop When: January 23, 2019, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm Where: Frederick County Extension Office 330 Montevue Lane Frederick, MD 21702 Central MD Workshop When: January 28, 2019, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm Where: Baltimore County Agricultural Center 1114 Shawan Road Cockeysville, MD 21030 Close
Grant Awarded to Support Maryland Farmers with Farm Transition Planning
By: Kimberly Johnson
ALEI member and Extension Legal Specialist Kelly Nuckolls Winslow is the project director of a $42,000 grant recently awarded to the University of Maryland College Park’s Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Northeast Risk Management Education Center.
These funds will result in a variety of resources to help Maryland farmers better understand business planning and the basics of the farm succession planning process. According to Winslow, “This grant will fund webinars, in-person presentations, and publications for farmers to read on their own time. Sometimes individuals can’t make a workshop or a webinar, so we’re providing multiple ways for farmers to get this important information.”
Show More The grant will fund two farm succession workshops at two locations along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, which will include speakers from the University of Maryland Extension, the Maryland Department of Agriculture, Nationwide Insurance, and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to the workshops, Winslow and Extension Legal Specialist Paul Goeringer will partner with Mid Atlantic Women in Agriculture to provide interactive educational resources for the pre-conference portion of the popular Women in Agriculture Conference. The grant will also support four classes on farm succession planning for Annie’s Project participants. Annie’s Project is a national program designed to empower women in agriculture. In Maryland, Mid Atlantic Women in Agriculture has sponsored Annie’s Project since 2008. Classes will be provided in each of the state’s four regions. Other projects the grant supports include a series of webinars within the Women in Agriculture Wednesday Webinar Series, which will be available on the University of Maryland Extension Farm Succession Planning page, and three new publications to help farm families understand the law and strategies to begin the farm transition planning process. Goeringer, a co-project director, has provided many workshops on the topic of farm succession planning. “This is not a topic many families want to discuss: what happens to the farm when dad and mom pass away? Although a difficult topic, having that discussion before it is too late can help the family carry the farm on to the next generation. These workshops and webinars will help current owners and successors understand how to start the process and begin developing a succession plan to continue the farm on to future generations.” This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2015-49200-24225. The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, or gender identity and expression. Close
ALEI Presents at the Maryland Land Conservation Conference (MLCC)
By: Sarah Everhart
ALEI Legal Specialists Kelly Nuckolls Winslow and Sarah Everhart presented “Recent Legal Decisions Affecting Agricultural Land Conservation” at the Maryland Land Conservation Conference (MLCC) in Linthicum Heights, Maryland on May 17. The MLCC, the largest gathering of its kind in the state, brings together land trusts, conservancies, local and state government agencies, heritage organizations, members of the agricultural community and other partners for a comprehensive discussion about the future of land conservation in Maryland.
Show More Everhart discussed recent court cases from Pennsylvania and Maine where courts analyzed whether neighboring property owners had legal standing to sue to enforce a conservation easement. Everhart explained the holdings in recent cases to the attendees and drew parallels to the Maryland Court of Appeals decision in Long Green Valley Association v. Bellevale Farms, Inc., 432 Md. 292 (2013). The court in this case held that private landowners who were not parties to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) easement lacked standing to enforce the easement. Winslow covered an Ohio case involving a brother and sister who wanted to partition their farm burdened by a conservation easement that prohibited the division of the property. Winslow also explained cases in which courts found the agricultural landowners could not take the full charitable deductions for farm conservation easements. Everhart and Winslow also talked about numerous recent legislative updates impacting agricultural land conservation such as changes to the MALPF program and to Maryland income and inheritance taxes. Everhart wrapped up the presentation describing the Agricultural Conservation Leasing Project which ALEI has recently undertaken in collaboration with the Harry Hughes Center for Agroecology, Inc. Read more about the project and its work with agricultural landowners in another story in this newsletter. “It will be incredibly important for the success of the project for farm landowners to know about the project and the associated resources. Conservation professionals work with farm landowners and are the perfect partners to help us connect landowners with the resources they need to implement conservation practices on their farms using communication and leasing strategies,” Everhart said. The project is supported by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. SARE is a program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture Close
Quarterly Update Archive
Agriculture Law Education Initiative March 2018 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative December 2017 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative September 2017 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative June 2017 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative March 2017 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative December 2016 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative September 2016 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative June 2016 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative March 2016 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative November 2015 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative July 2015 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative June 2014 Quarterly Update
Agriculture Law Education Initiative March 2014 Quarterly Update
