National Agricultural Law Center
Encyclopedia
The National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas
is a federally funded, nonpartisan research and information center that serves as the nation's leading source of agricultural and food law research and information. The Center is the only institution of its kind in the United States and serves the nation's vast agricultural community, which includes attorneys, farmers, federal and state policymakers, extension personnel, academics, students, consumers, and others.
The Center operates in conjunction with the United States National Agricultural Library
, an entity within the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
In addition, the Center enjoys an institutional cooperative partnership with the Drake Agricultural Law Center directed by Neil D. Hamilton
.
The Center's website is the primary means by which it disseminates its agricultural and food law research and information products. The website is a clearinghouse for legal information that spans nearly four dozen agricultural and food law topics both in the United States and around the world. As such, the website incorporates unique components that cannot be found elsewhere and provides an invaluable resource to those needing information on legal issues surrounding food and agriculture.
The Center is a nonpartisan entity and takes no position on the views expressed in any articles or writings published on the website. All such articles and writings are included for their legal or practical discussions of agricultural or food law topics rather than any particular viewpoint. Furthermore, while every effort is made to supply accurate and up-to-date information, the website is not meant as a source of legal advice, nor is it a substitute for a competent legal professional.
To make the vast store of information provided by this website more user-friendly, the site is divided into sections to help focus the researcher on a particular task at hand.
At the beginning of each Reading Room is an Overview article designed to familiarize the reader with the particular subject area, followed by a listing of major federal statutes affecting the area, links to applicable federal regulations, and a case law index of citations to recent common-law authority.
Secondary sources relevant to the Reading Room, including Center research publications, Congressional Research Service reports addressing agricultural and food law issues, governmental and non-governmental reference resources, and other publications are included in each Reading Room.
For example, the Agritourism Reading Room defines the term "agritourism" and briefly outlines some potential legal issues inherent in the topic, lists the relevant state and federal statutes that affect this area of the law, provides a case law index of precedential cases, and supplies links to various publications from the federal government, state governments, interested organizations, and experts in the field.
As a nonpartisan entity, the Center does not advocate for or against any particular viewpoint. While many articles may espouse an author's position on any given issue, the Center publishes the articles for the background and legal analysis on the subject. As such, the publications are provided to assist researchers in understanding the complex web of agricultural and food law issues that confront all components of the agricultural sector.
Also included in the area updates to the Federal Register Digest since January, 2002 that provide a brief summary of agricultural and food law regulatory changes published in the Federal Register.
Judicial Officer Decisions on cases heard by those delegated authority by the Secretary of Agriculture to act as the final deciding officer in USDA adjudicatory proceedings are also contained on this page. Case Law Indexes and Case Summaries compiled and written by Center staff and the ever-expanding are also included in the AgLaw Reporter. The case law indexes and the summaries of these cases provide an extensive annotation of the common law surrounding agricultural and food law issues throughout the country and around the world.
The State Law Clearinghouse provides readers with access to state statutes and administrative codes that regulate agricultural and food law issues such as states' biofuels statutes, recreational use statutes, animal cruelty laws, alternative dispute statutes, and climate change legislation. Many issues pertaining to agriculture are administered on the state or local level, and this resource is geared towards providing the statutory language of state laws and regulations that affect agriculture and food.
. Legislative history of each U.S. Farm Bill
, research articles, and links to outside sources concerning the farm bills are included also included in this section of the Center's website.
The depth and breadth of material provided in this area of the website surpasses anything else currently available, making it one of the most complete reference collections anywhere for United States Farm Bills.
, created the Agricultural Law Bibliography, which is a bibliography of agricultural law that spans over 50 years of law journals, law reviews, and legal periodicals that publish articles, comments, notes, and developments that comprise the body of published research in agricultural and food law. The Agricultural Law Bibliography is updated quarterly and published on the Center web site.
Center staff are currently contacting authors and publications listed in the bibliography in an effort to provide digitized copies of as many of the listed articles as possible. More than 1000 articles have been digitized to date.
reports are a non-partisan objective analysis of a question posed by a congressman or woman and commonly range in length from 5 to around 30 pages. The reports are grouped according to topic and subtopic, including areas such as animal agriculture, international trade, climate change, and environmental law. The Center continuously publishes new Congressional Research Service reports as they become available.
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
is a federally funded, nonpartisan research and information center that serves as the nation's leading source of agricultural and food law research and information. The Center is the only institution of its kind in the United States and serves the nation's vast agricultural community, which includes attorneys, farmers, federal and state policymakers, extension personnel, academics, students, consumers, and others.
The Center operates in conjunction with the United States National Agricultural Library
United States National Agricultural Library
The United States National Agricultural Library is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a National Library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture...
, an entity within the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
In addition, the Center enjoys an institutional cooperative partnership with the Drake Agricultural Law Center directed by Neil D. Hamilton
Neil Hamilton (lawyer)
Neil D. Hamilton is an American lawyer and agricultural economics writer. Hamilton currently holds the Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law at Drake Law School , where he is also the Director of the Agricultural Law Center. He is also chairman of the Agriculture Law Section of the Association of...
.
The Center's website is the primary means by which it disseminates its agricultural and food law research and information products. The website is a clearinghouse for legal information that spans nearly four dozen agricultural and food law topics both in the United States and around the world. As such, the website incorporates unique components that cannot be found elsewhere and provides an invaluable resource to those needing information on legal issues surrounding food and agriculture.
The Center is a nonpartisan entity and takes no position on the views expressed in any articles or writings published on the website. All such articles and writings are included for their legal or practical discussions of agricultural or food law topics rather than any particular viewpoint. Furthermore, while every effort is made to supply accurate and up-to-date information, the website is not meant as a source of legal advice, nor is it a substitute for a competent legal professional.
To make the vast store of information provided by this website more user-friendly, the site is divided into sections to help focus the researcher on a particular task at hand.
About the center
This section provides a description of the National Agricultural Law Center, its mission, its history, and its affiliations. Also included are contact information for the Center, biographical and contact information for Center staff, a list of contributors to the website's publications, multi-lingual translations of the Center's brochure, and links to the Center's bi-monthly e-Newsletter and The United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog.Reading rooms
One of the most important services provided by the National Agricultural Law Center is the construction and maintenance of its Reading Rooms. A Reading Room is a compilation of electronic resources that provides readers with a way to access extensive agricultural and food law research and information.At the beginning of each Reading Room is an Overview article designed to familiarize the reader with the particular subject area, followed by a listing of major federal statutes affecting the area, links to applicable federal regulations, and a case law index of citations to recent common-law authority.
Secondary sources relevant to the Reading Room, including Center research publications, Congressional Research Service reports addressing agricultural and food law issues, governmental and non-governmental reference resources, and other publications are included in each Reading Room.
For example, the Agritourism Reading Room defines the term "agritourism" and briefly outlines some potential legal issues inherent in the topic, lists the relevant state and federal statutes that affect this area of the law, provides a case law index of precedential cases, and supplies links to various publications from the federal government, state governments, interested organizations, and experts in the field.
Publications
This section contains articles researched and written by the Center's staff, leading agricultural and food law scholars, and legal practitioners throughout the country and the world. The publications are grouped by topic and listed in alphabetical order.As a nonpartisan entity, the Center does not advocate for or against any particular viewpoint. While many articles may espouse an author's position on any given issue, the Center publishes the articles for the background and legal analysis on the subject. As such, the publications are provided to assist researchers in understanding the complex web of agricultural and food law issues that confront all components of the agricultural sector.
The AgLaw Reporter
This section includes all issues of the Agricultural Law Update, the professional monthly newsletter of the American Agricultural Law Association (AALA). The Agricultural Law Update Newsletters contain useful and timely articles on a variety of agricultural topics ranging from conservation programs to taxation issues. In addition, the newsletters cover recent cases and laws that affect the nation's agricultural community and the attorneys and policymakers who represent them.Also included in the area updates to the Federal Register Digest since January, 2002 that provide a brief summary of agricultural and food law regulatory changes published in the Federal Register.
Judicial Officer Decisions on cases heard by those delegated authority by the Secretary of Agriculture to act as the final deciding officer in USDA adjudicatory proceedings are also contained on this page. Case Law Indexes and Case Summaries compiled and written by Center staff and the ever-expanding are also included in the AgLaw Reporter. The case law indexes and the summaries of these cases provide an extensive annotation of the common law surrounding agricultural and food law issues throughout the country and around the world.
The State Law Clearinghouse provides readers with access to state statutes and administrative codes that regulate agricultural and food law issues such as states' biofuels statutes, recreational use statutes, animal cruelty laws, alternative dispute statutes, and climate change legislation. Many issues pertaining to agriculture are administered on the state or local level, and this resource is geared towards providing the statutory language of state laws and regulations that affect agriculture and food.
Farm bills
Another important service provided by the National Agricultural Law Center, and one of the most popular, is the complete collection of digitized farm bills from the original legislation in 1933 to the most recently enacted 2008 Farm Bill, technically known as the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 was a $288 billion, five-year agricultural policy bill that was passed into law by the United States Congress on June 18, 2008. The bill was a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill. It continues the United States' long history of agricultural subsidy as...
. Legislative history of each U.S. Farm Bill
U.S. farm bill
In the United States, the farm bill is the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government. The comprehensive omnibus bill is passed every 5 years or so by the United States Congress and deals with both agriculture and all other affairs under the purview of the United States...
, research articles, and links to outside sources concerning the farm bills are included also included in this section of the Center's website.
The depth and breadth of material provided in this area of the website surpasses anything else currently available, making it one of the most complete reference collections anywhere for United States Farm Bills.
Glossary
Agriculture and food law contains thousands of words, definitions, and acronyms not commonly understood by laypersons or many attorneys. To remedy that problem Chuck Culver, Director for Development for the Division of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas, has created and published the Glossary of Agricultural Production, Programs, and Policy—Fourth Edition, an extensive list of legal and non-legal definitions of terms and acronyms used in the food and agricultural fields.Agricultural law bibliography
Professor Drew Kershen, Earl Sneed Centennial Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of LawUniversity of Oklahoma College of Law
The University of Oklahoma College of Law is an ABA-certified law school located on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Currently, the College of Law has an enrollment of 527 law students....
, created the Agricultural Law Bibliography, which is a bibliography of agricultural law that spans over 50 years of law journals, law reviews, and legal periodicals that publish articles, comments, notes, and developments that comprise the body of published research in agricultural and food law. The Agricultural Law Bibliography is updated quarterly and published on the Center web site.
Center staff are currently contacting authors and publications listed in the bibliography in an effort to provide digitized copies of as many of the listed articles as possible. More than 1000 articles have been digitized to date.
Congressional Research Service Reports
The Center provides an extensive database of Congressional Research Service Reports pertinent to agricultural and food law and policy issues. The Congressional Research ServiceCongressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...
reports are a non-partisan objective analysis of a question posed by a congressman or woman and commonly range in length from 5 to around 30 pages. The reports are grouped according to topic and subtopic, including areas such as animal agriculture, international trade, climate change, and environmental law. The Center continuously publishes new Congressional Research Service reports as they become available.
Reference desk
This section contains the links to many different organizations that have some focus on agriculture or agricultural law. Links on this page include government websites, universities, law reviews and journals, associations, practice groups, libraries, and publications.State compilations
The State Law Clearinghouse provides readers with access to state statutes and administrative codes that regulate agricultural issues. Many issues pertaining to agriculture and food are administered on the state or local level, and this resource is geared towards providing the statutory language of state laws and regulations that affect agriculture.See also
- Agricultural Act of 1949Agricultural Act of 1949The Agricultural Act of 1949 is a United States federal law that is known as the "permanent legislation" of U.S. agricultural policy and is, in its amended form, still in effect. The Act was enacted on October 31, 1949...
- Agricultural Act of 1954Agricultural Act of 1954The Agricultural Act of 1954 is a United States federal law that, among other provisions, authorized a Commodity Credit Corporation reserve for foreign and domestic relief....
- Agricultural lawAgricultural lawAgricultural law, sometimes referred to as Ag Law, deals with law on Agricultural infrastructure, seed, water, fertilizer, pesticide, etc.; Law on agricultural finance, Law on agricultural labour; agricultural marketing; Agricultural insurance, Farming rights, Land tenure and tenancy system and law...
- American agricultural law associationAmerican Agricultural Law AssociationThe American Agricultural Law Association is a professional organization concerned with the legal needs of the agricultural community in the United States. The association was founded in 1985....
- Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 was a $288 billion, five-year agricultural policy bill that was passed into law by the United States Congress on June 18, 2008. The bill was a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill. It continues the United States' long history of agricultural subsidy as...
- The United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog