Farm Law and Ag Law Blog

Medicaid – What is it and why should you (and your farm) should care? Our law firm frequently gets calls from clients wanting to inquire about making a Last Will and Testament or appointing someone as Power of Attorney.   This is quite often prompted by the death of a loved one, the diagnosis of an unexpected illness, or being told of a negative estate experience by a friend or neighbor.   Estate planning at any stage of life is something we would always encourage, but there is an aspect of planning that we often times find overlooked and that is planning in advance for Medicaid. There is much confusion about not only the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, but how and what each program covers specifically.   For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing the discussion on long term care needs such as the expense of a nursing home.   For that discussion, the only important thing to note about Medicare, including Medicare supplement insurance, is t...

      John was recently quoted in a DC Bureau piece of journalism regarding foreign farmland investment. You can find the article here:  Schwarz quoted in article on foreign farmland investment 

               I have read farm magazines for the vast majority of my life and still do.   Although I do most reading via the internet, there’s something about reading a printed farm magazine that I just can’t get out of my system.   Prior to the last five years or so, I don’t recall seeing a lot of “farm retirement” auction advertisements.   Sure, they were there, but they seem to have picked up during the last downturn in the farm economy.    I figured it was a lot of farmers who did not care to weather another economic downturn.   Seeing that we’ve now had 2-3 years of better years, and the retirement auctions have not subsided, perhaps even increased, I’m not so sure my thinking was correct.   Actually, using the word “retirement” and “farmer” in the same sentence was rare in years past.               What I have noticed is the difference be...

                    If I did not farm, or was oblivious to grain prices, there would be one barometer that I could rely on to know what the price of grain is doing, and that is how many phone calls I get regarding oral farm leases and the timing necessary to terminate them.    Every time grain prices go up, I get numerous calls from farmers who have been farming a piece of land under an oral lease, only to find out that the landlord has decided to lease to someone who will pay a higher price.   Because oral leases are somewhat akin to the wild, wild west, the question always asked is whether or not termination was timely given, properly given, and if either did not occur, what are the farmer’s rights.                 In spite of the mantra of “get it in writing” that we are all told, I would venture to guess that at least a ...