Overview Agricultural operations are inherently subject to financial uncertainty. Drought, rising input costs, declining commodity prices, and livestock losses can quickly undermine even a carefully constructed farm debt repayment plan. For “family farmers” reorganizing under Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code, the ability to adjust a confirmed plan when circumstances […]Read more »
Bankruptcy
86 posts
ERP and Equipment Gains A few years ago, the USDA retooled the former Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program and renamed it as the Emergency Relief Program or ERP. The amount of farm income is key to maximizing ERP payments, and the question was how USDA would treat gain from equipment […]Read more »
Overview I have started a new Substack that contains the “Rural Practice Digest.” You can access it at mceowenaglawandtax.substack.com. While I will post other content from time-to-time that is available without a paid subscription, the Digest is for paid subscribers. The inaugural edition is 22 pages in length and covers […]Read more »
Overview The legal system interacts with farmers, ranchers and rural landowners in numerous ways. With today’s post, I take a look at a few of those. Court Sorts Out Damages Triggered by Erroneous Survey. Simmons v. Ryder, No. 364826 2024 Mich. App. LEXIS 1181 (Mich. Ct. App. Feb. 15, 2024) […]Read more »
Overview One of the eligibility requirements for Chapter 12 bankruptcy is that more than 50 percent of an individual debtor’s gross income must come from farming in either the year before filing or in both the second and third tax years preceding filing. 11 U.S.C. §1325(b). This provision seeks to […]Read more »
Introduction Farmers and ranchers face numerous legal issues on a regular basis. The variety is vast from contract issues to income tax, estate and business planning, to real estate-related issues. Other issues come up with water, criminal matters, and environmental law. Then there are frequent issues with federal and state […]Read more »
Overview The field of agricultural law is broad and dynamic. There is always something happening. That’s a function of the many varied ways that the law intersects with land ownership, land use, economics and the production of food and fiber. Below is my commentary on a few recent cases involving […]Read more »
Overview On August 7-8 in beautiful Coeur d’ Alene, ID, Washburn Law School the second of its two summer conferences on farm income taxation as well as farm and ranch estate and business planning. A bonus for the ID conference will be a two-day conference focusing on various ag legal […]Read more »
Overview Later this week is the first of two summer conferences put on by Washburn Law School focusing on farm income taxation as well as farm and ranch estate and business planning. This week’s conference will be in Petoskey, Michigan, which is near the northernmost part of the lower peninsula […]Read more »
The following is a listing by category of my blog articles for the first quarter of 2023. Bankruptcy Failure to Execute a Written Lease Leads to a Lawsuit; and Improper Use of SBA Loan Funds https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2023/02/failure-to-execute-a-written-lease-leads-to-a-lawsuit-and-improper-use-of-sba-loan-funds.html Chapter 12 Bankruptcy – Proposing a Reorganization Plan in Good Faith https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/agriculturallaw/2023/02/chapter-12-bankruptcy-proposing-a-reorganization-plan-in-good-faith.html Business Planning […]Read more »