Farm Law and Ag Law Blog

Midwest Professionals to Host Free Seminar to Assist Farmers            Please consider joining us for an upcoming seminar that will focus on current issues farmers are facing due to the downturn in the agricultural sector.  We are hopeful these topics will give farmers valuable information that can assist them during these difficult times.  N

Using multiple LLC's can drastically increase the liability protection for a farm.  This article discusses the layout of doing so.  First though:  I generally hate disclaimers, but I find it necessary to state a few.    First, this article is for general information only and is written for the benefit of fellow farmers to consider in structuring their farms.   Second, state laws vary, and this article is not state specific.   Third, if you feel the need to comment on whether you disagree or that I’m wrong, please first go to:   https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ppp/ppp-91.pdf .    It is an excellent publication from Purdue that is in line with what I am writing about in this article and gives some real life examples.    In the last article, I wrote about how liability insurance is a necessity, but with the trends in jury verdicts, it may not be enough to save the farm.    In other words, you could get a judgment against your farm for more than the policy limits

If there is one thing I wish I could get clients to understand is the fact that even if your farm has liability insurance, you are likely under insured with your current liability coverage.    Essentially, if you have a million dollars of coverage, or several million, the coverage is peanuts now days.   How big a bag of peanuts? Well, here in Indiana we recently had a whopping 35 million dollar verdict against a defendant for causing an accident that left the plaintiff a quadriplegic.   Similar verdicts have been handed down across the country as of late.    You can read about it here:   https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/45836-recent-35m-verdict-is-among-largest-indiana-jury-personal-injury-awards    As one attorney stated “ jurors are increasingly less offended by requests for million-dollar-plus verdicts”    Whoa.   Wasn’t it not too long ago society was up in arms about a woman in Texas getting several million for being burned by hot coffee?   It sure was.   But,

YOUNG FARMERS SHOULD MANDATE TRANSITION PLAN AND AVOID NFL This week I am told there are 50,000+ FFA members in Indianapolis for their yearly convention.   I find it fitting to write this article about younger farmers who are the next generation and what happens when the older generation fails to put together a farm transition plan.   Without a transition plan, I believe there is a 90% chance the next generation goes to the NFL, which stands for N ot F arming L ong.   (yes, I coined this and take credit for it)   Before I discuss this further, let’s look at a few things. 1.       First, no one ever keeps score in farming.   What I mean is that when a son or daughter returns to the farm, no one keeps track of their hours, their input, their monetary contribution, or so forth.   As the years go by, no one is able to remember what all the young farmer contributed to the operation, especially the nonfarm siblings.   Then, at distribution time, the dreaded “fair is equal” mental

LEAVING ADEQUATE "REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE" FOR CROP INSURANCE CLAIM This fall we have snow on crops in North Dakota, wet in the mid west, a hurricane down south, flooding along the eastern seaboard....all this will keep crop adjusters busy.  Perhaps too busy, in that it may be difficult for farmers to get adjusters on scene in a timely manner.  This means farmers may be back trying to harvest what they can before an adjuster can get there.  In these circumstances, it could be  critical  you leave an adequate "representative sample" of the crop, depending on the circumstances.  Essentially, a representative sample is an amount of the crop left in the field that adequately represents what the condition of the field was as a whole.   It allows the crop insurance company to derive a yield for the entire field based off of strips left by the farmer. What the heck is that, you may ask?  Good question.   The exact definition is contained in the crop ins

               Crop insurance plays an ever increasing role in modern farming.  However, like any safety net, crop insurance can be wrought with holes.   Over the years I’ve seen producers have their claims denied for many different reasons.   Often times these reasons are really no fault of the producer.   Simply stated, the federal crop insurance rules are very complex and can be unforgiving.                  Generally, when a producer believes they have a claim, they call up their agent.   The agent then submits a claim and at some point an adjuster is assigned to the case.   The adjuster comes out to the farm and evaluates the crop, measures bins, and so forth.   Although the adjuster should be well versed in the procedures, sometimes such is not the case.   We had a case a few years ago where the producer had frost kill the corn before it reached maturity.   The producer wanted to have the corn salvaged for silage.   The adjuster informed the producer that strips would hav

FARMING AS A SOLE PROPRIETOR PUTS YOUR FARM AT RISK From time to time, non-farm friends of mine will invite me to a casino.    Casinos really are not my cup of tea, and I remind them that my gambling each year is putting seed in the planter, and I have far more money at stake than I could ever take to the casino.                If you think about it, we as farmers each year have, just to name a few, the following risks:   weather, weeds, prices, plant disease, etc.    These are referred to as “production risks” and, simply stated, each year we take on these risks that we accept are just part of farming.    As to these risks, farming as a sole proprietor, S-corp, C-corp, or other entity, has no bearing on these risks.                Now, let’s consider other risks that are what I would call “operational” risks.    These risks exist as part of a secondary layer of risk.    For example, injury or death to an employee, accidents occurring on roads that cause injury or death, che