Agricultural Law Brief by Ross Pifer, LL.M. Program Alumnus

LL.M. Alumnus, Ross Pifer serves as the Director of the Penn State Dickinson Agricultural Law Center.  The Center publishes a periodic newsletter called the Agricultural Law Brief that provides a good source of information on agricultural law topics.  The most recent issue includes information on The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009; The American Clean Energy and Security Act; Legislation proposing to modify Pennsylvania's Clean and Green program as it relates to natural gas drilling; The European Union's revision of humane slaughter regulations; and The Natural Gas Severance Tax Act.  Check out the newsletter and other information available at the Center's website.

Local Foods Campaign in South Carolina

We have been delighted to hear from Beth Crocker, General Counsel to the Department of Agriculture in South Carolina, and an alumnus of the LL.M. Program. Beth has been keeping us informed about the very successful local food movement that the SC Department of Agriculture is fostering - they offer South Carolina (SC) certified labeling and are sponsoring the Palmettovore campaign. South Carolina is the "Palmetto State" and Palmetovores is a take-off on locavores to apply to those who seek to eat SC produced and processed foods. One of the most entertaining aspects of their campaign are the SC fruit rallies and accompanying videos. I encourage you to check out their website and the wonderful video they produced. It is one of the best done and entertaining campaigns I have seen. I love Tom Tomato. Beth, can you get me an autographed photo? The campaign is fun, and the message is great. And, their efforts were recently showcased in an informative television special on South Carolina Public Television, Farming in South Carolina. Great work, Beth.

Twitter Comes to the Aglawllm Blog

Our adventure with new technology and social media continues. My apologies for not posting more often this summer. The rush of graduation activities (including thesis editing), preparing for the incoming class, and work on summer writing projects has left little time to spare. I have been posting updates to our aglawllm Twitter account, however, and thanks to the suggestion of Dean Jim Chen, Cardinal Lawyer blogger and J.C. Redbird Tweater extraordinaire, learned that I can link our twitter feed to this blog. You should see it immediately to the right of this post. One way or another, we are determined to keep everyone that is interested well informed about our work! Feel free to subscribe to this blog and/or to join us on Twitter.

Biosafety Discussion with Ukraine

In another of our exchange activities with Ukraine, today I was honored to participate in the ninth and final Digital Video Conference (DVC) of the academic year. These DVCs provide for open debate and a discussion of current legal issues between our faculty and the faculty of some of the top universities in Ukraine. Today, the topic was The Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety and genetically modified organisms in food products. We discussed regulatory mechanisms, labeling issues, consumer interests and potential civil liabilities. Others participating on behalf of the University of Arkansas School of Law were Professors Christopher Kelley, Sharon Foster, Rob Leflar, and Steve Shepherd, along with graduating LL.M. Candidate, Jennifer Fiser. Special thanks to the U.S. Embassy for arranging for the DVCs this year.

Appreciation is extended to our IT department, led by Library Director, Professor Randy Thompson. Randy, Bob Wheeler, and others have made these DVCs run smoothly all year. We hope to use more DVCs next year in the LL.M. Program to bring the best experts in the world into our classrooms.

Professor Kelley Teaches at Kyiv University

Professor Kelley will be in Ukraine this week teaching at Kyiv University, officially known as the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv.

Kyiv University is named after Taras Shevchenko, acclaimed Ukrainian poet, prose writer, painter and playwright of the 19th century. The University's origin dates back to the middle of the 17th century, and its reputation today transcends well beyond the boundaries of Ukraine. It is recognized as the number one university in Ukraine, and it consists of more departments (faculties) than any other school in the country. Since the time of its founding, the University has been recognized for promoting progressive ideas, shaping Ukrainian intellect, and fostering freedom and national liberation in Ukraine. At present the student body of Kyiv University numbers about 20,000 students at 14 faculties and in 6 Institutes. This number includes 2000 students at the Institute of International Relations which is attached to Kyiv University as a faculty.

From the University website:

The newly acquired independence of Ukraine and changing situation in it have put forward new requirements to Kyiv University which is contributing to the all-Ukrainian effort to create a radically new political, social and economic system of the country. Kyiv University is obliged to improve its system of training specialists since its graduates are to work in various segments of the political, social and economic system of the independent Ukraine. Kyiv University graduates are expected to be highly qualified, patriotic and aware of the tasks and challenges facing the new Ukraine; they must be open to the national ideals, and feel responsible for what they are required to do; they are expected to be able to demonstrate a creative approach in solving the pressing problems of today and tomorrow, and to think in terms of long-term and wide-ranging reforms. In other words, we are striving to achieve a truly universal character in the training of our specialists. We believe this can be achieved through engaging the most talented minds into the University’s educational system; we should involve the most talented scholars and scientists in the academic process at the same time providing them with adequate means by which to sustain their selfless efforts and endeavour; we must do our best to protect them from unnecessary and at times incompetent control on the part of certain government bodies. To do this successfully, Kyiv University has to acquire the status of an independent educational establishment. We are going to do our best to achieve this goal.

Professor Kelley was invited to teach a 4-day legal writing in English course in the law faculty at the University. In addition, he will be giving four presentations to the faculty and students: Water Quality Issues and the Clean Water Act in the United States; Water Quantity Concerns; The Doha Round of the WTO; and The Rule of Law.

U.S. News Ranks University of Arkansas School of Law in Top Tier

U.S. News and World Report’s 2010 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools ranked the University of Arkansas School of Law in the top tier of U.S. law schools. The School of Law tied for 94th place among all public and private law schools.

“We are thrilled to be included among the top tier of law schools,” said Cynthia Nance, dean of the School of Law. “This ranking is a testament to the outstanding work being done by our faculty and students and the remarkable achievements of our alumni. The School of Law has enjoyed a historic year, from the dedication of our building expansion with Associate Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to the recent visit of President George H.W. Bush. It’s heartening to know that colleagues nationwide are taking note of our great strides.”

The building expansion completed during the past year added approximately 64,000 square feet of classroom, library, office, lounge, and other space to create a quadrangle that encloses a beautiful courtyard. The new space provides for a professional learning environment incorporating state-of-the-art technology.

“I am very pleased that the School of Law is being recognized, rightfully, as one of the best in the nation,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “As an alumnus of the law school, I am doubly pleased. The law school’s success reflects positively on the entire University of Arkansas, and I thank Dean Nance, the faculty, staff, students and alumni for their good work.”

Comment from the LL.M. Program - U.S. News does not rank LL.M. Programs, but we remain very proud of our status as the only LL.M. Program in Agricultural Law - I guess that makes us number 1!

Podcast - What is Ag Law?

I just realized that the American Association of Law Schools Agricultural Law section presentation is available on podcast. I had the opportunity to speak about our definition of agricultural law and what we do in the LL.M. Program. If you are interested - please listen!

http://www.aalsweb.org/fri/AgriculturalLaw.mp3

LL.M. Alumnus Doug O'Brien Appointed to USDA Position

We are very proud to report that today, USDA Secretary Vilsack announced the appointment of LL.M. alumnus Doug O'Brien as Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan.

In the press release, Secretary Vilsack stated

We are very fortunate to have Doug O'Brien join USDA. He has dedicated a distinguished career to agricultural issues. The department-and the people we serve-will benefit from his breadth of experience. Beyond his knowledge of current challenges to agriculture, Doug's administrative background will serve USDA well as we work to achieve the President's goals for food, agriculture and rural America.

The USDA announcement described the duties of the Office of Deputy Secretary as follows –

The Office of the Deputy Secretary oversees the USDA budget, which is $120 billion for fiscal year 2009. The Office manages the day-to-day operations of a department with vast responsibilities that include domestic farm programs, agricultural trade, nutrition assistance, food safety, agricultural marketing, conservation programs, energy, rural development, science and research, and National Forest lands.

Doug received his LL.M. in Agricultural Law with us in 1998 and has maintained a close connection with the University of Arkansas School of Law since that time. He served as senior staff attorney in a joint appointment with the Drake Agricultural Law Center and our National Agricultural Law Center and later served as co-director of the National Ag Law Center. Doug has taught both the Federal Farm Programs and the Regulation of Livestock Sales courses in the LL.M. Program.

Doug has a distinguished career in agricultural law in addition to his work in Arkansas. He most recently served as Assistant Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, where he helped run day-to-day operations. His responsibilities included development of the department's biofuels, bioproducts and renewable energy efforts. Prior to that time, he served as senior advisor to Governor Chet Culver of Iowa on renewable energy issues.

During the 2002 Farm Bill deliberations, Doug served as counsel for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, with work focusing on livestock marketing, concentration, agricultural credit, and cooperatives.

From 1998-2000, Doug was a legal specialist on livestock marketing issues, working for GIPSA. He has also served as associate counsel with the Organization for Competitive Markets; and he clerked with Justice Jerry Larson of the Iowa Supreme Court.

Doug was raised on a diversified family farm in Iowa. He holds a bachelor's degree from Loras College, in Dubuque, Iowa, a law degree from the University of Iowa and an LL.M. degree in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

Congratulations, Doug - we know you will do a great job!

Town Hall Meeting with T. Boone Pickens

Students participating in the Rural Land, Rural Livelihoods course have been asked to attend the “town hall” meeting on Monday, April 6 with T. Boone Pickens on the national energy crisis and energy independence. Denise Bode, president of the American Wind Energy Association and a partner in Pickens’ energy campaign, will be in attendance. The meeting will be in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development Auditorium of the University of Arkansas, from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Monday, April 6.

Class will begin with a discussion of the town meeting. A rebroadcast of the event will also be available on the Web at:

http://ice.waltoncollege.uark.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=46893337f9184f7684834bfdef8cd209.

No login required.

Rural Lands, Rural Livelihoods Course including Wind Energy

Next week, we will be offering a new class in the LL.M. Program - Rural Lands, Rural Livelihoods. This class will present some of the newest issues on the horizon in agricultural law, and we are very pleased to add it to our LL.M. curriculum.

Professor Neil Hamilton, a well recognized leader in the study of agricultural law and its part in our food system and a regular visiting professor in the LL.M. Program, will be teaching the course. Professor Hamilton is the Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law at the Drake University School of Law in Des Moines, Iowa and also serves as the Director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center.

Professor Hamilton is one of only a very few law professors nationwide that have developed a wind energy law school course, and we are delighted to have him offer an overview of this emerging topic as part of the new course.

After the discussion of wind energy, the course will focus on other important aspects of rural development. Given Professor Hamilton's close connection with USDA Secretary Vilsack, we anticipate that a discussion of the new administration and its agricultural, food law, and rural development initiatives will be woven into the course discussion. Professor Hamilton co-taught a similar class with then Governor Vilsack at Drake Law School last summer.

Applications for LL.M Program - Fall 2009

Agricultural law is at the heart of the current debate about food, food safety, and sustainability.

The Graduate Program in Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law offers the nation's only advanced LL.M. degree in agricultural law. With courses in food law, environmental law, and all other aspects of agricultural law, we take pride in offering a curriculum that covers the full spectrum of law and policy. We study the law from the perspective of the farmer, the consumer, and whoever may be involved in between.

We have already admitted a number of candidates for Fall 2009. We still have places available and will be able to offer merit-based graduate assistantships to a limited number of those admitted. These assistantships provide a tuition waiver plus a small stipend.

Our nine month course of study attracts attorneys from throughout the United States and from abroad. While many of our students are recent law school graduates, others enter the program as experienced practitioners. Our alumni are among the leaders in the agricultural law and food law communities.

Interested students are encouraged to apply to the Program as soon as possible. Visit our website for more information and to obtain an application form. You are welcome to send me an e-mail at sas.susan@gmail.com with questions. And, you can call the LL.M. Program Office at 479-575-3706 (although Spring Break is March 16 - 20).

Sustainability at the University of Arkansas

Professor Kelley and Dean Nance in Ukraine

Dean Cynthia Nance, our Dean at the University of Arkansas School of Law and LL.M. and J.D. Professor, Professor Christopher Kelley just returned from a trip to Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine. The trip's highlights included invitations for cooperation with a number of universities, including from the two leading law schools in Ukraine: the Kharkiv National Law Academy named after Yaroslav the Wise and the Law Department at the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. These opportunities come in addition to the cooperation agreement that we already have with Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs.

Not only is the number of relationships between the School of Law and Ukrainian universities unprecedented, the opportunity to work with the two leading law schools is truly extraordinary.

Two students at Shevchenko talked with Profesor Kelley about applying for the LL.M. Program, and Professor Kelley was invited back to lecture on agricultural law in the United States. As Ukraine is "the bread basket of the world," agricultural law and food law are particularly important.

Dean Nance and Professor Kelley also met with Shelly Wieck, Director of the ABA Rule of Law International (ROLI) office in Ukraine. ABA ROLI has a grant from USAID to develop strategies for reforming legal education in Ukraine. Ms. Wieck would like our assistance on aspects of this effort, including developing legal clinics and classroom methodologies for teaching critical thinking.

During Spring break, Professor Kelley will return to Kyiv and Kharkiv with Frank Falkner of the Rose Law Firm and Chesley Whiteside, a J.D. student at the School of Law. Several Shevchenko law students are making arrangements to gather students to meet with them, as they are interested in visiting with Chesley and Frank about legal education in the U.S. from the students' perspective and law practice from the perspective of a practicing attorney.

And, throughout this semester, we will continue our series of live digital video conferences with professors and students from Ukraine and other countries.

Dean Nance and Professor Kelley deserve great credit for advancing the School of Law's international presence during a tightly scheduled, fully packed week in Kyiv and Kharkiv.

Professor Kelley notes that he is "hopeful that soon we will be able to develop ways in which our students and our graduates will join us in expanding our international activities."

New Agricultural Sustainability Course

We are delighted to offer a new course, Agricultural Sustainability this semester as part of our curriculum of specialized agricultural law courses for our LL.M. candidates. And, we are particularly delighted to have our alumnus, Adjunct Professor Alison Peck teaching the course.

Professor Peck has been a practitioner and scholar of international law and sustainability for more than ten years. Her research and writing in the LL.M. Program involved the area of international agricultural sustainability, and she has recently published two articles in this area.

Alison Peck, The new Imperialism: Toward an Advocacy Strategy for GMO Accountability, 21 Geo. Int'l Envtl. L. Rev. 37 (2008);

Alison Peck, Standing for Protection of Collective Rights in the European Communities, 32 Geo. Wash. J. Int'l L. & Econ. 367 (2000).

Before coming to Arkansas, Professor Peck practiced international arbitration with the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Washington, D.C., trying cases before various international arbitration bodies. She served as Notes Editor for the Yale Law Review and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995. Following law school, helped found the Global Constitutionalism Project at Yale, working with supreme court justices around the world to assemble a global exchange of judicial decision-making on global problems. She served as a law clerk for Judge Jon O. Newman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Judge G. Federico Mancini on the Court of Justice for the European Communities.

Professor Peck taught International Environmental Law at the University of Arkansas during the Fall 2008 term, receiving rave reviews from her students. We are delighted to have Professor Peck teaching our Sustainable Agriculture class for the first time this coming semester. Here is her description of the course:

“Sustainability” has been called a “contestable concept” – no reasonable person is really against it, in principle, but what does it mean as a law and policy priority? What policies does sustainability compete with, or appear to? What decisional frameworks do legal advocates and policymakers rely on to analyze and resolve such conflicts? The goal of this seminar is to begin developing such a framework, and use it to evaluate the effects of existing laws on sustainability in agriculture. To do this, we will attempt to identify the goals of sustainable agriculture and consider competing policy interests (actual or apparent). With this understanding, we will consider how existing laws and policies (both directly and incidentally regulating agriculture) affect the sustainability of agricultural development.

The texts for this course will include readings from law, policy, science, economics, and the humanities, as well as educational materials produced by and for farmers seeking to farm more sustainably. The course aims to bring together a variety of perspectives to better understand how particular farming practices may affect the environment for future generations, and how the law does, can and should shape decisions about how to farm (and which agricultural products to consume). The student’s “final exam” will be to submit additional materials relating to the chosen topic, which the student believes would add greater depth or important new perspectives to the course, and to write a brief paper explaining how this research enhanced the student’s thinking on or understanding of the issues raised in the course.

Next fall, Professor Peck will be embarking on a new challenge. She recently accepted a tenure track teaching position at the University of West Virginia School of Law. We wish her the best in her new position and hope to continue working with her.

Adjunct Professor Mark Henry Teaches Agricultural Biotechnology

We are pleased to welcome a new adjunct professor of law to the ranks of experienced agricultural law professors. This semester, Mark Henry is teaching the Agricultural Biotechnology course.

Professor Henry is a registered Patent Attorney with an active agricultural law, commercial litigation, and intellectual property practice here in Fayetteville at the Henry Law Firm. He received his B.A. degree in Biology from Hendrix College, his law degree (with honors) from the University of Arkansas School of Law and his LL.M., in Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas School of Law. Professor Henry previously taught Patent Law at the Bowen School of Law University of Arkansas, Little Rock.

Professor Henry is admitted to practice in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri; he is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eighth and Federal Circuits, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, the U.S. District Court of Nebraska, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Oklahoma. He is a member of the Washington County, Arkansas (past Chair, Intellectual Property Section), and American (Intellectual Property Section) Bar Associations.

In addition to his agricultural intellectual property work, Professor Henry received recognition for his firm's representation of Hmong family farmers who had moved to the region to purchase poultry contracting farms and were facing foreclosure. (Fall/Winter 2006-07 Arkansas Law Record, Local Firm Makes a Difference)

We are delighted to have Professor Henry with us this semester!

Ice Storm Hits Northwest Arkansas

Usually, I brag about our great weather and beautiful scenery here in the Ozarks. This week, however, I report with sadness about the ice storm that hit last week. We are fine, and the beautiful new School of Law facility was literally a shelter from the storm for students, but we have a lot of clean up to do!

The storm was the worst recorded ice storm in history; it closed the University of Arkansas for an unprecedented four days, and many (us included) are still without electricity. Where we live, in a remote area of the Ozarks, but only about 12 miles from school, we may not have our power restored for weeks.

A record number - 9700 - power poles went down and the devastation of our beautiful trees is truly astounding.

However, in true fashion, people are pulling together to help each other and offers of assistance abound. Onward with the clean up - spring is just around the corner. In fact, yesterday when I was picking up brush in our yard, there were the crocuses poking up beneath the ice!

For a slide show of photos of the storm damage on our property, visit my Picasa Album.

African Agricultural Law Initiative

Professor Fred Boadu from Texas A&M visited the School of Law to talk with us about his proposal to introduce an agricultural law curriculum into law school and agricultural economics programs in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. He met with Professors Christopher Kelley, Uche Ewelukwa, and me, and Professor Neil Hamilton from Drake University joined us by phone. Erimar von der Osten and Marne Coit from the National Center for Agricultural Law joined in much of our discussion.

In addition to meeting with us, Professor Boadu delivered a fascinating presentation to the LL.M. candidates, providing an overview of the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa and presenting a compelling case for the importance of a structure of agricultural laws to future development.

A framework of equitable agricultural laws is essential to assist in the production and marketing of agricultural commodities. Consider for example the laws that we have regarding land use and ownership, food safety laws and standards, commercial laws to support the availability of credit and the formation of businesses, environmental laws to regulate the improper or unsustainable use of resources, marketing laws and trade structures, and protective laws such as the Packers & Stockyards Act. This framework of laws supports and regulates our agricultural economy. Many developing countries lack this framework, giving farmers and rural residents have little means to improve their situation, even if agricultural productivity is improved.

Professor Boadu's visit allowed us the opportunity to explore these critical issues and to consider ways that we can work together to further his proposals.

Congratulations, Judge Henry

In a first for the LL.M. Program, we are pleased to congratulate LL.M. candidate, Courtney Henry for her formal investiture onto the Arkansas Court of Appeals. The ceremony was held in Little Rock on Wednesday, January 7, 2009. Courtney will continue her work on her LL.M. degree on a part time basis.

We are all confident that she is going to be a tremendous Judge and a great asset to the Arkansas judiciary.

Congratulations, Courtney!

How OZ Really Works: How Federal Money Rules Drive Federal Policy

Our appreciation is extended to David Grahn, Associate General Counsel for Rural Dev't at USDA who taught a wonderful LL.M. class in federal policy last week. The LL.M. candidates are still raving about how much practical information they learned about the federal budgetary process and its impact on policy. David delivered a fast paced and real world explanation of how things work inside the Beltway, how budgetary rules often drive policy decisions, and how policymakers need to understand the process in order to advance their causes. It was a fascinating week, and we are grateful for David's willingness to come to Arkansas to deliver this important information.
Christopher and I had the special treat of hosting David in our mountain home, and we are sure that he felt about as far away from Washington, D.C. as he could get as we navigated the rugged roads to get here and back every day. David not only tolerated but charmed our extensive collection of dogs and cats, and I think they are still wondering why that nice man left. He is pictured here relaxing with our Golden Retriever, Hunter.

Thanks, David!

What is Agricultural Law?

I recently had the opportunity to deliver a presentation on the topic, What is Agricultural Law. The forum was the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in San Diego. The AALS Agricultural Law Section session hosted the session, and our chair, Professor Anthony Schutz identified two related goals: (1) To consider the pedagogical and scholarly value of agricultural law, and (2) To identify what belongs in the canon of agricultural law. His guidance to session panelists was as follows: "given the various changes that the agricultural sector has undergone over the last twenty-five years, it is time to reconsider the roots of the subject matter to which our section is devoted." My co-panelists were Professor Drew Kershen and Dean Jim Chen. Pictured here are Jim and me preparing to deliver our remarks. Dean Nance attended and took this photo for us, almost immediately uploading it to her Facebook page. Having a Dean with such an active Facebook page is really something to keep up with! But, that is another story . . .

The panel discussion was very interesting, and both preparing for and participating in the session helped me to organize my thoughts on what we do -

I just posted my written remarks from the panel on my SSRN site. These remarks will be published next month in the American Agricultural Law Association's newsletter, The Agricultural Law Update. The article discusses agricultural law in the context of the contemporary law school curriculum, but it also explains our focus in the LL.M. Program.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.

LL.M. Program Offers New Course in Federal Policy & Budget

This coming week we will be hosting David Grahn, the Associate General Counsel for Rural Development at the USDA in Washington, D.C. David will be teaching a new course in federal policy called, Agricultural Policy and the Budget Rules. This new course will explore the impact of the Office of Management and Budget and the cost scoring system on policy making, discussing impacts for the future. Included in this discussion, of course, will be issues related to the stimulus package and its impact on policy making. After covering the substantive law, David will talk with our students about strategies for getting jobs in D.C. In addition to the LL.M. candidates, we will have several alumni returning for the course.

David is a special friend of the Program, and he will be teaching this course on his own time - and not in his official capacity at the USDA. He brings a wealth of policy experience and inside-Washington expertise to the task.

David's bio is listed below:

David P. Grahn is the Associate General Counsel for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. Mr. Grahn is responsible for the legal advice provided by the Office of the General Counsel to the Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, Rural Utilities Service, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation/Risk Management Agency, and the Farm Loan Programs of the Farm Service Agency. From 1996 through 2002, Mr. Grahn was the Assistant General Counsel for Legislation responsible for the drafting and reviewing of legislation and the reviewing of Congressional testimony that affected agencies of the Department of Agriculture. Mr. Grahn was detailed to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Nutrition during Congress' consideration of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. From 1992 through 1995, Mr. Grahn served as a Confidential Assistant to the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency. Mr. Grahn is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and Carleton College.

LL.M. Candidate Sworn in as Court of Appeals Judge

Our very own Courtney Henry, J.D., University of Arkansas School of Law, LL.M. Candidate, Graduate Program in Agricultural Law was just sworn in as a Judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

In addition to Courtney's excellent legal training and experience, she has the wisdom and heart gained from being "mom." She is pictured here before Judge William Storey, with Emma Kate (age 8), Lily (age 6), and Harrison (age 3) as she is sworn in. Lily is apparently good to go with the oath as well. Courtney begins her term this month and will continue her LL.M. Studies on a part time basis.

Happy New Year!

Greetings to all the friends and alumni of the Graduate Program in Agricultural Law -
and a very Happy New Year to all!

Here are just a few of the things coming up on our list for 2009 -

• On January 9, I will present at the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) annual meeting in San Diego on the topic: What is Agricultural Law? I will discuss ways in which agricultural law as a discipline is much broader than most people realize as well as the new interest in the study of food law as a component of our studies.

• During the week of January 12, David Grahn, the Associate General Counsel for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. will be joining us to teach a new condensed course course in federal policy called, How Oz Really Works: How Federal Money Rules Drive Federal Policy and Determine Who Makes the Decisions. David is a wonderful teacher and one of the most knowledgeable agricultural lawyers in D.C. Several of our alumni will be back attend this new course. It promises to be a fascinating week.

• I will be teaching a number of 1-2 credit specialty classes Spring semester: Selected Issues in Food Law, Agricultural Bankruptcy, Agricultural Perspectives, and Agricultural Labor Law. Professor Kelley will be teaching our 3 credit Agriculture and the Environment class plus a new course that he is developing on the Rule of Law.

• We are pleased to add two new adjunct professors to our ranks: Alison Peck will be teaching a new course, Sustainable Agriculture, and Mark Henry will teach Agricultural Biotechnology. Both professors are alumni of our program with wonderful credentials already posted on our website.

• The week of April 6, Neil Hamilton will teach a new course for us this spring: Rural Lands, Rural Livelihoods, a wonderful course that highlights many of the new rural development issues including wind energy.

• The School of Law is supporting the formation of a faculty committee this spring to help us explore the use of distance technology to improve and expand the reach of the LL.M. Program.
  

More news as it happens - but you can already see that 2009 promises to be a great year for us. All of us here in Arkansas wish you the very best.

End of Semester Happenings

The last few weeks have been eventful - with lots of great work accomplished, holiday travel, and the end of a very good semester. There was so much going on, I got behind on my posting. Here's a catch up on the news.

Video Conferencing with Ukraine
Professor Kelley organized another live video conference connecting Ukrainian law professors with our professors, through the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. The topic of discussion was The Recognition of States under International Law, and the conference began with an exchange of ideas between Professor Liliana Tymchenko, an international law specialist in Ukraine and our own Professors Ewelukwa and Foster. Other Ukrainian professors joined in the discussion, and Ukrainian law students asked questions for discussion.

Many of our alumni have had the opportunity to take an international law or human rights course from Professors Ewelukwa or Foster. We were all so proud of their performance during this video conference. Each was extremely knowledgeable, articulate, and thoughtful in their comments as they discussed the complexities of this difficult topic and wove in issues of human rights and political pressure. It was fascinating. At the conclusion of the conference, the idea of the three professors co-writing an article capturing the dialogue was discussed - a great way to continue and to publicize this innovative exchange of ideas!

The conference technology went off without a hitch thanks to our Library and Information Systems Director, Professor Randy Thompson and Information Technology Specialist Chris Abel. At times it was hard to believe that we were talking with people a half a world away.

Final Exams and Projects
December 19 was the last day of the Fall 2008 semester - everyone agrees that the semester went by very, very fast. We have an excellent LL.M. class this year, and they all performed exceptionally well. They had final exams in Food Law & Policy and Finance & Credit, and Regulation of Livestock Sales, a written essay in Issues in International Agriculture, and bibliography assignment in Advanced Research in Agricultural Law.

Traveling
After classes ended, Professor Kelley fit in a trip to Ukraine where he met with State Department officials at the U.S. embassy and professors at law schools in Kyiv and Ukraine. After he returned, I headed north for Minnesota - a road trip with my sister and most of our menagerie of pets. We stopped in Kansas City to pick up my niece and then headed for the farm in Minnesota. I have never missed a Christmas on the farm - and although the icy roads and blizzard conditions almost made this year an exception, we arrived safely just last night. It was ten below zero this morning when I got up. I think I forgot how cold Minnesota winters can be! Fortunately, the forecast is for a little warmer temperatures for Christmas when Christopher flies up to join us for the holiday.

I wish all of you the happiest of holidays! More reports after the new year!

Anne Hazlett - New Director of Agriculture

One of our alumni, Anne Hazlett was recently named Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. For the past two years, Anne served as minority counsel for Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia on the Senate Agriculture Committee. Prior to that appointment, Anne served as a former chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman who oversees the agriculture department.

Anne is a graduate of Kansas State University, has her law degree from Indiana University, and she earned her LL.M. in Agricultural Law with us.

Congratulations, Anne - we know you will do a great job in your new position!

We are beginning to collect information from all our alumni so we can prepare our alumni newsletter soon after the holidays. We already have lots of exciting news to report! Please send your announcements to me at sschneid@uark.edu - we love hearing from you!

Professor Hamilton Suggested as Secretary of Agriculture

This in from a December 5, 2008 Press Release from Drake University about our friend and visiting professor:

Neil Hamilton, the Dwight D. Opperman chair of law and director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University, has been suggested as a "sustainable choice for the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture."

Hamilton is among six top picks for the cabinet position recommended by nearly 90 notable figures in the world of sustainable agriculture and food who signed a letter sent to the Obama transition team earlier this week. The letter is posted on the New York Times Web site.

The letter was mentioned yesterday in the New York Times Blog on Dining Out, which noted that "The hope is that the new secretary will be less aligned with industrial agribusiness and commodity farming than secretaries past. And if he or she embraces the connection between food health and the environment, well, that's all the better."

"I'm honored to be considered, although I'm not looking for a job. In fact, I have one of the best jobs in the world," Hamilton said. "I've had no official inquiries from the transition team, but I certainly would welcome the opportunity to serve the Obama administration in any way that I could."

Chuck Culver Visits LL.M. Class

We were delighted to have alumnus, Chuck Culver visit the Agricultural Finance & Credit class this week. Chuck serves as Director of Development for the Division of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas and has a distinguished record of service to agriculture and agricultural law throughout his career. He worked for Senator Dale Bumpers in Washington, D.C. for a number of years, and Chuck's assistance was key to the creation of the National Center for Agricultural Law. Chuck was a member of the very first LL.M. class, and as an alumnus, he has always provided critical support to the Program.

Chuck delivered an excellent lecture discussing the historical phases of federal support to and regulation of agriculture. He concluded his remarks with commentary on the future of agricultural policy with a fascinating look at the changes in Congressional Committee chairs and the significance of likely agricultural appointees to the USDA. Chuck's long record of political and policy work in Washington, D.C. along with the network of political contacts he has made over the years, provide him with valuable insight into the current political process. The LL.M. candidates, several of whom would like the opportunity to work in Washington, were a captivated audience.

School of Law Hosts Distinguished Panel of Ukrainian Judges

From Saturday, November 15 to Saturday, November 22, thanks to the efforts of Professor Christopher Kelley, the School of Law and the Young Lawyers Section of the Arkansas Bar Association had the opportunity to host five Ukrainian judges. The Judges’ visit included activities in both Little Rock and Fayetteville and was sponsored in cooperation with Freedom House and the Open World Program of the Library of Congress.

In addition to Professor Kelley’s leadership in organizing the visit, several of our LL.M. alumni and candidates were involved in this historic visit, and everyone in the School of Law community had the opportunity to share in this extraordinary opportunity.

The Little Rock activities for the Judges began with a tour of William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library and dinner with the Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court and other distinguished members of the Arkansas and Federal Judiciary. The Judges also had the opportunity to meet Arkansas Governor Beebe and to tour the Arkansas State Capitol Complex, including the State Capitol Building and the Justice Building.

In Fayetteville, the Judges participated in a live digital video conference on The Judiciary’s Role in Resolving the Tension Between Individual Civil Liberties and National Security. Through this live conference, Kyiv Law Professors, Law Students, Attorneys, and Judges were able to speak directly with the visiting Judges and our distinguished panel of experts, including the Honorable Jimm Hendren, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas, Kitty Gay, Clerk to the Honorable Jimm Hendren, and Professor Don Judges, E.J. Ball Professor of Law. This event was hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.

LL.M. candidate, Courtney Henry, Judge-Elect, Arkansas Court of Appeals led a spirited discussion of judicial independence and integrity in the context of the judicial election process, and many University of Arkansas professors prepared special presentations for our guests.

LL.M. Alumnus and adjunct professor Vince Chadick and his wife Terri were among those in the Fayetteville community that welcomed the Judges into their homes as home-stay hosts. And, LL.M. candidate Ulyana Korzhevych from Ukraine deserves a “special service” award for her assistance in making the visit a great success.

Crop Insurance & Disaster Assistance Class

Last week, we were delighted to host visiting professor Karen Krub who taught our Crop Insurance and Federal Disaster Assistance class.

Karen has devoted her professional career to work with family farmers. She is a senior staff attorney for Farmers' Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG), a nonprofit law center formed in 1986 to provide legal services to family farmers and their rural communities. Karen grew up in the Skagit Valley of northwestern Washington where her family fished for salmon in the coastal waters of Washington and Alaska. She received her B.S. in Resource Development from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, in 1991, and her J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 1996.

Karen first came to FLAG in 1995 as a summer intern, primarily exploring production contract issues. She then received a Skadden Fellowship which allowed her to return as a staff attorney. She quickly became a critical part of FLAG's work and was hired into a permanent staff attorney position. Since joining FLAG, she has worked primarily in the areas of administrative law, agricultural credit, disaster assistance, and farmer-owned agricultural business development. She has delivered trainings for farmers, farm advocates, and attorneys through out the United States, has testified before Congress on family farm issues, and is well known and respected for her work. Her many agricultural publications include the Farmers' Guide to Disaster Assistance.

As part of the class, we were also delighted to welcome LL.M. Alumnus, Scott Fancher who visited Wednesday afternoon to discuss his crop insurance and farm program practice. Scott is known nationally for his crop insurance law expertise, and the stories and perspectives from his practice were very helpful to the class.

Who Knows Where Your LL.M. Will Lead You?

When LL.M. Alumnus, Amy Lowenthal took her position as majority counsel on the Senate Agriculture Committee, little did she know that she would be researching Wall Street finances. However, recent problems with credit default swaps came to the attention of the Committee because of its jurisdiction over the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Amy has been researching this difficult issue for Senator Harkin, and here she is, seated behind him during the hearings that are referenced in the 60 Minutes segment "The Bet that Blew Up Wallstreet" aired on Sunday, October 26, 2008. It is a fascinating segment as well as great fun to see Amy on national television!


Watch CBS Videos Online

American Agricultural Law Conference

I was pleased to accompany 8 of our LL.M. candidates on a trip to Minneapolis to attend the American Agricultural Law Association Annual Educational Symposium, October 24-25, 2008. This conference brings together great friends and colleagues and is always a good opportunity to learn and to share perspectives on agricultural law developments.

This year, there were over 210 attendees at the conference, and I was delighted to see over twenty of our LL.M. alumni among those attending. I also had an opportunity to meet with a number of prospective LL.M. program applicants - enthusiastic law students and attorneys anxious to be able to come to Fayetteville to study with us.

I was honored to have two opportunities to participate in the conference. I delivered a Food Law Update to the general session and later moderated a panel that discussed legal issues involving organic production.

It was a great opportunity for this year's LL.M. candidates to meet agricultural law professionals from across the United States and several international countries. Appreciation is extended to the University of Arkansas Graduate School for assisting with travel expenses. Because the candidates participated in a poster display at the conference, they were eligible for travel funding through the graduate school. And, they did an amazing job on their posters.

Here is a link to an album showing the posters designed by the LL.M. candidates who attended the conferece, Aaron Thompson, Andrew Hopper, Angela Boyd, Ashley Schweizer, Jera Houghtaling, Kimberly Clark, Paul Goerenger, and Qiana Wilson.

Blogging from Food Law & Policy Class

One of our LL.M. Candidates, Ashley Schweizer has started blogging! Ashley is reporting on some of the "food law in the news" discussions that take place at the beginning of our Food Law & Policy class. She is doing a great job, and her posts reflect the myriad of interesting issues that are surfacing every day. Check out her blog at foodlawclass. As our recruitment poster says, "Today's headlines. Tomorrow's law practice."


Ashley is from Salem, Kentucky. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science/Social Studies from Murray State University, summa cum laude and her J.D. degree from Ohio Northern University with distinction as a Member of the Willis Society (top 10% of the class). While in law school, Ashley served as the Symposium Editor of the Northern Ohio Law Review and received Book Awards in Legal Writing II, Civil Practice, Environmental Law Seminar, and Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights. She was the 2006 first place winner in the Daniel Guy Appellate Advocacy Competition. She clerked for with the firm of Boehl Stopher & Graves and served as a Congressional intern for Rep. Ed Whitfield , U.S. House of Representatives. Ashley is currently an LL.M. candidate. She received a Graduate Assistantship to work with the LL.M. Program, and she works part time with the Bassett Law Firm here in Fayetteville.

Advanced Agricultural Law Research

Each fall semester, LL.M. candidates have the opportunity to take a course in advanced agricultural law research. This practical course provides a variety of helpful research tips and acquaints the candidates with some of the specialized agricultural law resources available. The course also assists candidates in getting started on their writing project - completion of a research article is one of the requirements for the LL.M. degree.

As part of the Advanced Agricultural Law Research class, guest speakers make presentations to the class, bringing special expertise. Jason Springman, Reference Librarian at the Young Law Library was a guest lecturer on the issue of online resources for research and provided very helpful information. And, this last week, two professors from the School of Law's legal writing program, Kathy Samson and Karen Koch made a special presentation on plagiarism and originality in legal writing. They delivered a PowerPoint presentation and answered student questions on the proper use of sources, proper attribution, and other legal writing issues. Their insight was greatly appreciated.

Sustainable Agriculture Leader Visits Fayetteville

The LL.M. Program was pleased to co-host an informal discussion of sustainable agriculture in honor of Dr. Fred Kirschenmann who was in Fayetteville as a visitor of the Center for Applied Sustainability.

Dr. Kirschenmann is a recognized leader in national and international sustainable agriculture. He serves as a Distinguished Fellow for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University (ISU) and as President of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York. He continues to be actively involved in the management of his family’s 3,500-acre certified organic farm in south central North Dakota. This farm was the subject of the 1995 award winning film, My Father's Garden by Miranda Productions. LL.M. candidates in the Graduate Program in Agricultural Law have fewed this film as part of their Agricultural Perspectives course, a course that delves into agricultural social history and ethics.


Dr. Kirschenmann holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago and has written extensively about ethics and agriculture. He has held numerous appointments, including the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board and most recently, the National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production operated by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and funded by Pew Charitable Trusts.

The event was organized by the National Center for Appropriate Technology, and other co-sponsors were the National Agricultural Law Center, The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Ozark Slow Food.

Dr. Baarda: Agricultural Economics for Lawyers

The week of September 30, Visiting Professor Dr. James Baarda taught a condensed course in the LL.M. Program, Agricultural Economics for Lawyers. This excellent course arose out of the requests of last year's LL.M. Candidates to bring Dr. Baarda back for a second condensed course. His usual course is Agricultural Cooperatives which will be offered Spring semester 2009.

Agricultural economic principles underlie much of our federal farm policies and yet many attorneys do not have a good understanding of these principles or their application. Dr. Baarda's class, developed specifically for our program bridges this gap.

Dr. Baarda is uniquely qualified to provide this excellent course. He grew up on a small farm in Iowa. He attended Iowa State University (B.S., 1963, chemistry, physics, zoology), the University of Denver School of Law, Night Division (J.D., 1969), and the University of Florida (Ph.D., 1974, Food and Resource Economics). He is a member of the Colorado and Florida Bars (inactive), a recipient of the American Agricultural Law Association’s Distinguished Service Award and USDA’s Superior Service Award.

Dr. Baarda worked with USDA’s Farmer Cooperative Service in Washington, D.C., for more than 16 years, then spent four years as Vice President of Education at the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. After domestic and international consulting in Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union republics, he joined a law firm in Washington engaged in complex nationwide class action as well as other litigation.

In 2001, Dr. Baarda returned to USDA where he conducts research, writing, training, and speaking activities for Cooperative Services in the Rural Business-Cooperative Service agency. He has written and spoken extensively on topics related to cooperatives and other farmer and business associations and is widely recognized for his work, both in the U.S. and internationally.

Much of Dr. Baarda's current work focuses on the legal, economic, financial, and business characteristics of cooperatives that distinguish them from other forms of business in a dynamic, global economy. He is pictured here being interviewed on Russian television during a recent trip to work with farmers in rural Russia.

The Fayetteville Farmers' Market

During the first week of the semester, as a class project, each year the new LL.M. candidates visit the Fayetteville Farmers' Market to interview farmers, the market manager, and customers. This project introduces the class to an important component in today's agriculture - direct marketing of local farm products. And, it introduces the LL.M. Candidates to an important aspect of life in Northwest Arkansas.

Here is a podcast created by LL.M. Candidate, Andrew Hopper detailing his visit to the market. Listen and enjoy a visit to Fayetteville, Arkansas! And, special thanks to Andrew for creating this podcast for us.



Andrew Hopper
Anderson, Indiana
B.S., Business Administration, Milligan College
J.D., Ohio Northern University
SBA President; SBA President’s Service Award; SBA Excellence in Leadership Award; Agric, L. Assoc. President; Icelandic Legal Society International Exchange Student
Thomson West representative, BarBri representative; Business owner, Hopper Photography

Class of 2008-09

We are now several weeks into the semester, and it has been fun to see the new class coming together.

We have 13 LL.M. candidates enrolled in the Program this fall, one of the largest classes on record. And, the candidates have some of the highest academic credentials. The class has an average law school G.P.A. of 3.32; several are published authors; four are members of their law school's law review or journal; two are experienced attorneys; and one is a state court of appeals judge-elect. The candidates come from Michigan, Florida, Oklahoma, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, Arkansas, and Ukraine.

View Album

Get your own

Special thanks to Associate Dean (and former LL.M. Director) Lonnie Beard and his wife Amy White Beard (J.D., Michigan State, LL.M. University of Arkansas) for hosting a welcome dinner at their lovely home near campus. As can be seen in the photos (taken by Andrew Hopper, one of the LL.M. candidates who is also a professional photographer - how handy is that?) we all had a wonderful time getting to know each other and enjoying some beautiful Northwest Arkansas weather in the Beard's backyard. Special guests included Professors Neil Hamilton, Christopher Kelley, and Vince Chadick; LL.M. Alumni representative K.C. Tucker and her husband Joe Tucker; and Lisa Schreurs, LL.M. Program Administrative Assistant.

Food & Agriculture: The New Trend in Higher Education

Shared post with Agricultural Law:

As someone who has practiced, taught, and wrote about agricultural law for over twenty years, the current upswing in interest in studying issues of food and agriculture is gratifying. You can imagine my reaction when the Washington Post published Field Studies: In Exploring Culture, Politics and the Environment, Food Programs Hit the Academic Mainstream last week.

The article reports that Yale now offers 19 food and agriculture courses, with that number up almost 50 percent from five years ago. "Psychology, Biology and Politics of Food, taught for the first time in fall 2006, had to be moved to one of the college's largest lecture halls to accommodate the 325 students who registered."

"There's a generation of students that understand that the modern world has been shaped by agriculture, and they are turning to their curriculum to understand those connections," says Melina Shannon-DiPietro, director of the six-year-old Yale Sustainable Food Project, which runs the pre-orientation program [in organic farming].

And, highlighting that the trend is not just at Yale, the article references "pioneering" food studies programs that have existed for some time at Boston University and New York University. "[F]ood is now entering the academic mainstream" with new programs this year at the University of New Hampshire and the University of California at Davis and food courses referenced at George Washington University and Catholic University.

Professors point to several reasons behind the boom in food studies. One is competition for enrollment. As more students profess a broader awareness of food and its cultural and environmental implications, colleges are scrambling to offer courses to attract them.

Trends in academia also are fueling the growth. First, the explosion of food literature has produced books students want to read. "When I first taught a course on food seven years ago, it was hard to find books," says Carolyn de la Peña, associate professor of American studies at UC Davis. Instead, she had to use narrow, often technical articles that didn't appeal to students.

In the past 10 years, a body of literature has emerged: Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation," Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and Morgan Spurlock's documentary film "Super Size Me," among others. "You can hand them to a student, and they can see how their own choices affect labor practices or health or the environment," de la Peña says.

Will the trend continue? While "[p]rofessors acknowledge that all the courses in the world aren't going to end college students' love affair with pizza and beer . . . once you have gone from ignorance to a greater understanding of how your choices impact the food system, you can't go back."

In the LL.M. Program in Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law, we are continuing to expand our offerings in food law, with three courses in the curriculum and others being developed. There has been enough interest among J.D. students so that we have opened two of these classes to them, and yes, we have had to move to a slightly larger classroom (although admittedly we are a long ways from the largest lecture hall). Similarly, our new Journal of Food Law & Policy has been very well received. And, I have contracted with Carolina Press for the publication of an Agricultural Law J.D. casebook - with an emphasis on the natural link between agriculture and food.

The Law of Food and Agriculture

As we have done in recent years, we began our academic year with An Introduction to the Law of Food and Agriculture, a popular course taught by our long-time friend and colleague, Neil Hamilton. Neil is the Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law at the Drake University School of Law and the Director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center. He has taught agricultural law for over twenty years and was instrumental in the founding of our LL.M. Program, serving as one of our first professors in 1981. He returns to Arkansas at least twice each year to teach classes in the LL.M. Program. Pictured here is Professor Hamilton and University of Arkansas School of Law Dean Cynthia Nance.

In this course, Professor Hamilton introduces our LL.M. candidates to a wide array of agricultural policy issues and discusses current trends affecting food and agriculture.
Among the current issues that the class discussed were:

• Increased consumer and retail interest in local foods
• Direct marketing opportunities for agricultural producers
• Sustainable agriculture and the development of a sustainable food system

Exemplifying the currency and significance of the issues discussed in class, today the Washington Post highlighted the local food movement in its article, As Food Becomes a Cause, Meeting Puts Issues on the Table.

As this article notes:

The term "foodie" is no longer reserved for an exclusive club of chefs and discriminating diners. Today, food has become a focus -- and a cause -- for a broad audience, from individuals such as the Chico residents offering their yards to an idealistic urban farmer, to corporations such as Chipotle, which this month announced that each of its more than 730 restaurants will be required to buy a percentage of the produce it serves from local farms.

Sodexo, the world's largest food-service company, now sources from 700 independent, regional farmers and is overhauling its menus to focus on seasonal and local ingredients. Wal-Mart announced last month that it plans to buy and sell $400 million worth of locally grown produce at its stores in 2008. "It's no longer the fringe elements," said Tracey Ryder, founder of Edible Communities, a publisher of regional food magazines. "We call it the new mainstream."

As one of the founders of the slow food movement in Iowa, Professor Hamilton is at the Slow Food Nation in San Francisco that is described in the Post article.

We are pleased to offer our LL.M. candidates an opportunity to begin their year of study by exploring this very current area of law and policy - the merger of food and agriculture through the formation of a food law system that is based on sound agricultural production practices, environmental sustainability, and a restored connection between consumers and their food.

Welcoming the class of 2008-2009

We are pleased to welcome a new class of LL.M. Candidates - attorneys from Kentucky, Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, and the country of Ukraine. Orientation for the new class was held on Friday, August 15. After giving each of the attorneys a chance to introduce themselves, there was a PowerPoint presentation that introduced agricultural law, emphasized the importance of studying the law of food and agriculture, and described our unique program.

To learn more about any of these topics, watch the introductory orientation presentation yourself.

Farm Blogs From Around the World

I was pleased to receive an email a few weeks back from the author of a new blog called Farm Blogs that gathers together links to the very best of global blogging about farms and farming. It includes a blog roll sorted by country along with a General Interest section (where we are linked). Posts are made up of blog recommendations by other farm bloggers combined with farming stories from around the world. There are a number of very interesting posts and some beautiful photography.

The author of this blog and the source of my email is author Ian Walthew of Auvergne, France. He describes his use of blogs "much as one might use a scrapbook or a cuttings folder - a 'scrap-blogger' you could say, using blogs to gather and collate material for future use."

Ian invites readers of the post to send him the details of any farm/rural blogs that they like and think are worthy of being listed. Any recommendation should come with a short decription of the person recommending and a short description of each of their recommended blogs. Contact Ian at ianwalthew.com for more information and to make your recommendation.

Note that Ian is the author of 'A Place in My Country: In Search of a Rural Dream' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson; hardback, 2007; Phoenix; paperback, 2008. The book is a memoir of his move to rural life in England where many of the changes he discovers are similar to that experienced in rural areas here. Clover Stroud of The Sunday Telegraph writes that the book is "Funny, touching and ultimately very moving; this is a beautiful, unsentimental account of a personal loss that is reflected in the rapidly changing texture of life in rural England." We will add this book to our list of suggested titles for our spring Agricultural Perspectives course.

In addition to Farm Blogs, Ian also blogs at 'A Place in the Auvergne' - a "scrap-blog" that follows his life as a self-described English ex-urbanite with his Australian wife in rural France. Good stories, political and social commentary with an international perspective, and again, beautiful pictures.

We are pleased that Ian found us and happy to pass on this information about his work. I am sure you will enjoy reading about his experiences.

Exploring Food in Vienna

As the last post was titled, Professor Kelley Participates in World Justice Forum in Vienna, this post might well be titled, Professor Schneider Eats in Vienna! I suppose that since I am a food law professor, I can justify my Viennese food exploration as almost work related. But, the truth of the matter is that while Christopher was hard at work at the forum, I had the fantastic opportunity explore the beautiful city of Vienna. And, while I could describe what a beautiful city Vienna is, or I could discuss its wonderful history of music, as is so often the case when I travel, I found the food culture to be of great interest. So that will be the focus of my brief tribute to this wonderful city.

Much of my experience can be summed up with the statement, "Food and drink are to be appreciated, consumed slowly, and thoroughly enjoyed." And, when the weather is nice - they are to be consumed outside - in parks, at lovely sidewalk cafes and at markets. What a fine tradition!

Consider the coffee. No drive-thru paper cups of coffee sloshed down on the go. The coffee house is a Viennese institution. And I was told that the Viennese take their coffee very seriously. Melange is the native preference, a delicious mixture of very strong, rich coffee and frothed milk which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is served in a cup and saucer on a small plate or tray along with a glass of water and a small biscuit or wrapped chocolate. Of course, many coffeehouses also sold wonderful pastries as a perfect accompaniment.

My interest in local food led me to converse with a delightful Viennese woman who was selling her families' homemade sausage at a kiosk in a small market area. I asked her to select my lunch for me, and she chose wisely: the most wonderful sausage I have ever tasted, fried new potatoes and home made sauerkraut. Oh, and of course Austrian beer. Although I admit that it would have been enough for me to eat for both lunch and dinner, it was delicious.

Although this lunch was had a small market area in the midst of the quiet historic downtown, the Naschmarkt is Vienna's most famous and surely the liveliest food market. This fascinating market includes vendors selling all types of food, flowers, herbs, and beverages in a friendly, busy atmosphere. Market vendors intermix with cafes and street musicians entertain - truly a fun experience.

Vienna is a fascinating city with wonderful food experiences for tourist and regular alike. I am pleased I was able to visit and hope to return again.

Professor Kelley Participates in the World Justice Forum in Vienna

As noted in the update post, Professor Kelley participated in the recent World Justice Forum held in Vienna, Austria, July 2-5, 2008. This forum brought together five hundred recognized leaders from throughout the world to officially launch the World Justice Project (WPJ), a new multidisciplinary, multinational movement to strengthen the rule of law worldwide. As was reported in the international media, participants represented "95 countries and 15 disciplines and featured Supreme Court justices, former European presidents, Nobel Laureates and other world leaders."

ABA President and WJP founder William H. Neukom stated that the forum was about “actions, not discussions; programs, not declarations” and stressed the multi-disciplinary aspects of the project. Participants included rule of law experts and high-profile leaders from a wide range of disciplines. At the forum, they discussed cross-disciplinary collaborations that can advance the rule of law and will determine the future focus of the World Justice Project.

The WJP working definition of the rule of law comprises four universal principles:

1. The government and its officials and agents are accountable under the law;
2. The laws are clear, publicized, stable and fair, and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property;
3. The process by which the laws are enacted, administered and enforced is accessible, fair and efficient;
4. The laws are upheld, and access to justice is provided, by competent, independent, and ethical law enforcement officials, attorneys or representatives, and judges, who are of sufficient number, have adequate resources, and reflect the makeup of the communities they serve.

The Forum featured discussions on multidisciplinary approaches to advancing the rule of law and presentations on work sponsored by the WJP. Two main elements of the project were introduced at the forum: the Rule of Law Index and the Opportunity Fund. The new Index is considered to be the first comprehensive measure of a countries’ adherence to the rule of law. It represents an expanded measurement of rule of law, evaluating 100 different variables that make up the rule of law.

The second prong is an Opportunity Fund that will provide seed money for pilot programs developed during the Forum. Participants will be encouraged to submit applications centered on programs to advance the rule of law in their communities. Distributions of $10,000 to $20,000 are expected to be made for those programs.

The Forum was the culmination of Phase I of the World Justice Project; future forums will analyze programs that have been incubated with the funding announced today, and with additional monies as fundraising efforts continue.

We were honored that the school of law was represented at the forum and look forward to the exciting work of the WJP.

An Update on Summer Activities

Although the LL.M. Program is not in session over the summer months, a lot of exciting work takes place during this time.

This summer, we are pleased to report two improvements in our physical facilities.

• Thanks to generous assistance from our alumni, we have been able add audiovisual capability to the new LL.M. Study. We will now be able to use this spectacular room for classes and special lectures as well as study space. Special thanks to Lisa Schreurs for her work coordinating this project.

• And, the school of law is in the process of renovating two of its classrooms to integrate state-of-the-art video conferencing and classroom capture equipment. The video conferencing equipment will allow us to further expand our use of digital video conferenced (DVC) lectures and discussions.

Meanwhile, Professor Kelley and I have had a busy travel schedule. He began the summer with a visit to Ukraine where he made presentations to a number of audiences, furthered our DVC collaboration plans with law schools in Ukraine, and worked on plans for the visit of Ukrainian judges and law professors this fall. He was then off to Russia to attend an international law conference in St. Petersburg. His next venue was Vienna, Austria where he participated in the World Justice Forum. More on that in a special post.



I have been basing my work from our farm in southern Minnesota this summer. I made my annual trek north with all of the dogs and cats in tow (not literally, of course; they ride in the comfort of a van).

I met Christopher in Vienna where I was delighted to hear about some of the exciting work going on at the World Justice Forum and to meet some of the participants. While the forum was in session, I had the opportunity to tour the beautiful city and to sample the local cuisine.
A separate post on that . . .


I am writing this post from our farm in Minnesota, back at work on the new agricultural law casebook that I am working on for Carolina Press.

It has been many years since the publication of the initial Agricultural Law J.D. casebook written by Professors Don Pedersen (University of Arkansas and former Director of the LL.M. Program), Keith Meyer (University of Kansas), and Norman Thorson (University of Nebraska) was published, and that fine work is now out of date. It is my hope that this new issues-based casebook will provide law professors with an interesting opportunity to teach an agricultural law survey course based on current issues involving our food system.

Christopher will soon head back to Ukraine where he is teaching a session on legal writing to Ukrainian summer law clerks and participating in the strategic planning process for the international firm that he works with, Inyurpolis.

Throughout the busy summer, we have enjoyed hearing from our new LL.M. candidates, fielding questions about the program and assisting them with their plans. I am particularly pleased to report that our most recently admitted candidate from Ukraine, Ulyana just received her visa and will be arriving in Arkansas next month.

We will be posting an introduction to each of our candidates soon - this year promises to be another excellent year for the LL.M. Program. Stay tuned!

Opportunities Beyond the Law School

The Graduate Program in Agricultural Law offers 24 credits of specialized courses in the law of food and agriculture. And, in addition to these special courses, LL.M. candidates have the opportunity to take up to six credits of graduate level courses that are related to their agricultural law studies but that are outside of our usual curriculum. This opens the doors of the full University of Arkansas campus to our students - with graduate courses in business, agricultural economics, rural sociology, and other relevant subjects. One of our candidates this past year, K.C. Tucker took advantage of this opportunity and took a new course in the MBA program through the new Center for Sustainability. I asked K.C. to describe her experience for us -

A View from the Other Side of Campus

After reading about the University of Arkansas’ Sustainability Initiative and the Applied Sustainability Center, I ventured beyond the walls of the law school to take a course at the Sam M. Walton College of Business on sustainability taught by Professor Terry K. Tremwel. Like sustainable agriculture, sustainable businesses "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." They are guided by the triple-play definition of sustainability - balancing environmental protection with economic growth and social development.


The sustainability course offered amazing opportunities to meet with some of the nation’s leading sustainable businesspeople. Each class was structured with a guest speaker for the first half of class, followed by a lecture and class discussion on a relevant sustainability topic.

For example, one snowy evening in January we were visited by Gary Whicker, Senior Vice President of Engineering Services for JB Hunt Transport Services, Inc. Mr. Whicker explained to the class that business and sustainability needed to be synonymous; “no one would go into a business expecting it to fail.” Mr. Whicker further discussed how the current environmental crisis is actually a business opportunity, and then he outlined steps that JB Hunt is taking to make sustainability part of their business strategy. The second half of the class dovetailed nicely with a discussion led by Professor Tremwel on population growth and how it relates to the exponential need for energy resources.

Throughout the semester, we were fortunate enough to learn about corporate sustainability plans from executives of Wal-Mart, Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and CHEP while also hearing guest professors discuss topics such as: ecological economics (Dr. Robert Costanza); purchasing power parity (Dr. Andrew Horowitz); how sustainability relates to firm performance (Dr. Jon Johnson); competitive and prosocial behavior (Dr. David Schroeder); how markets work (Dr. David Gay), global standards for environmental audits (Dr. Gary Peters) and metrics for addressing externalities (Dr. Jennie Popp).

The course work was engaging as well as manageable. Professor Tremwel welcomed me and was always available for any help I needed beyond the classroom. The milestone academic projects of the course were a Personal Sustainability Plan (PSP) and a research project. The PSP gave us an opportunity to reflect upon the sustainability of the choices we make in our everyday lives and challenged us to think differently about some of these choices. My PSP included some lifestyle changes such as walking to the grocery store instead of driving and starting my own vegetable and herb garden. The research project was an excellent exercise in framing research, evaluating academic and scientific sources, and honing writing skills. Overall, the class was a great success and I highly recommend it to future LL.M.’ers!

K.C. is an associate attorney at the Bassett Law Firm LLP with a practice focused on food and agriculture. Pictured right, is her dog Olive, suited up for a walk to the grocery store!

Graduation Photos

Some photos of our happy graduates! Congratulations to the LL.M. class of 2008!

LL.M. Class of 2008 - Graduation Ceremony

The University of Arkansas School of Law held its commencement ceremony on May 17, 2008, and as a featured part of our ceremony, we congratulated this year's LL.M. class. While most are still completing work on their thesis, eight of our candidates had finished all of their regular course work and were thus entitled to "walk" with their class for commencement.

Here are excerpts from our ceremony, with pictures to be posted soon -

• Since 1980, the University of Arkansas School of Law has had the only LL.M. program in the United States that offers an advanced legal degree in agricultural law. Our LL.M. candidates study the wide array of legal and policy issues that relate to the food we eat, the natural fibers we wear, and most recently, the biofuels that run our vehicles. They learn the law of food and agriculture from the perspective of the farmer, the retailer, and the consumer.
• Because of our unique program, we attract candidates from throughout the United States and from many other countries. We now have alumni from 35 different states and 18 foreign countries.

We are proud of our candidate’s hard work and dedication this year. Congratulations to the class of 2008!

Jeanie Stephens Callicott received her B.S. degree in Political Science and Journalism from Southern Arkansas University and her J.D. degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in the state of Arkansas. Jeanie has accepted a position in the regulatory division at Wal-Mart, where she will be the Admissibility Compliance Manager for Imports.

Irina Feofanova is an attorney from Russia, having earned her Specialist in Law degree with honors from the Novgorod State University. Irina has been researching international child labor issues in the context of human rights for her LL.M. thesis and will be continuing this work through the next year.

Eric Howard Foy received his B.S. degree in Business Management from Brigham Young University and his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Eric is licensed to practice law in the state of Oklahoma. He will soon be leaving for an internship in Washington D.C. with the National Pork Producers Council, working on legislation affecting the industry.

Cara McCarthy received her B.S. in Social Science/Environmental Studies from Michigan State University and her J.D. from Wayne State University Law School. Cara recently began her work in Washington, D.C. as a legal specialist with the Packers & Stockyards Division of GIPSA, an agency within the USDA.

Shannon Mirus received her B.S. degree in Agricultural Business, magna cum laude, University of Arkansas and her J.D. degree cum laude from the University of Arkansas School of Law. Shannon is licensed to practice law in the state of Arkansas and has accepted a position as staff attorney at the National Center for Agricultural Law.

Rusty Wade Rumley received his B.S. degree in Agribusiness, magna cum laude from Oklahoma State University and his J.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Oklahoma. Rusty is continuing work in the area of farmland valuation and special use tax valuation and will be returning to Oklahoma to private practice.

Elizabeth R. Springsteen received her B.A. degree in Political Science/Pre Law from Michigan State University, and her J.D.degree, cum laude, from the University of Toledo College of Law. She is licensed to practice law in both Ohio and Michigan. Elizabeth recently agreed to work for one year as a staff attorney at the National Center for Agricultural Law, after which she plans to return to Michigan where her family operates an eight generation centennial farm.

Amanda Michelle Thomas received her B.A. degree in Economics with honors from the University of Central Arkansas and her J.D. degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Arkansas. This summer she is continuing her research involving the challenges faced by retail food outlets in securing and marketing local and organic foods.

K.C. Dupps Tucker received her B.A. degree in Drama/Political Science from Colorado College and her J.D. degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law. K.C. is licensed to practice law in the state of Arkansas and is an associate with the Bassett Law firm here in Fayetteville. The firm allowed her to take this academic year off to complete her LL.M. degree, and I am pleased to report that she not only completed all of her course work successfully, she finished her thesis last week. She reports back to work on Monday and will resume her work on the Oklahoma state litigation against Arkansas poultry companies. She will also be practicing in the area of food law and regulation.

Congratulations, LL.M. Class of 2008!

Food and Agriculture

The LL.M. Program had its last day of classes last Friday, and we celebrated the last day of the semester with the entire School of Law community with a Staff Appreciation all-school luncheon. Good home-style soul food was the fare, catered by a law school favorite, Momma Dean's.

It just takes a look at the headlines for a reminder of how fortunate we are.

The head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Josette Sheeran called for "urgent action to tackle the 'silent tsunami' of rising food prices which threatens to push more than 100 million people worldwide into hunger."

The PBS broadcast, News Hour reported a stern warning from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "If not handled properly, this crisis could result in a cascade of others ... and become a multidimensional problem affecting economic growth, social progress and even political security around the world." More than 34 countries experienced protest, unrest, or food riots within the last month.

Today marks the beginning of their multi-part series on the global food crisis Global Food Crisis: The New World of Soaring Food Prices.

Another critical policy issue to be debated in the LL.M. Program.

Video Conferencing Expands "Agricultural Perspectives"

Each spring, the LL.M. candidates are enrolled in a course entitled Agricultural Perspectives. In this course, we consider the rich and varied history of American agriculture and debate today's issues in the context of this history. We examine a wide range of social and economic issues considering their origin and how history is reflected in today's policies. Topics considered include agrarianism, land tenancy issues, slavery, sharecropping, farm structure, early farm activism, and the Dust Bowl.

This week, we had an opportunity to consider state efforts to restrict corporate farming, and we were delighted to host a live guest lecture from Assistant Professor Anthony Schutz via video conference from the University of Nebraska College of Law. Professor Schutz has researched extensively in the area of anti-corporate farming statutes and worked closely with the Nebraska legislature in its efforts to craft a statute consistent with the dormant commerce clause. Professor Schutz did an excellent job of framing the issues and presenting the complexity of the state's varied interests. Appreciation is extended to Professor Schutz and the University of Nebraska - Lincoln College of Law.

The use of video conferenced discussions allows the LL.M. Program to easily connect and interact with agricultural law experts world wide. Next year, we anticipate our use of this technology to increase, as the School of Law will have a newly remodeled dedicated video conference classroom to host our discussions.

LL.M. Candidates Meet the USDA General Counsel

USDA General Counsel Marc. L. Kesselman recently visited the University of Arkansas School of Law as a guest of the National Center for Agricultural Law. Mr. Kessleman delivered a public address, "Perspectives of USDA's Regulatory Policy Officer: Regulatory Reform and Agriculture in a Climate of Change." The LL.M. candidates had an opportunity to meet with him informally over lunch and to participate in a question and answer session with him. For more information on the visit, see the National Center’s e-newsletter.