What Farmers and Ranchers Need to Know Overview For many farmers and ranchers in the Midwest and West, the “fence line” isn’t just a physical boundary between pastures; it can also be a jurisdictional boundary between state and federal or tribal law. Navigating the complexities of Federal Indian Law is […]Read more »
Water Law
54 posts
New Protections for Property Rights, Water, and Rural Assets Overview The 2026 Kansas legislative session has been particularly active concerning agriculture and rural landowners, with lawmakers focusing heavily on property rights and water management. Several key bills have been signed into law that directly impact how Kansans farm, ranch, and […]Read more »
H.B. 2433 and the Fight for State Supremacy Overview In Kansas, a high-stakes legislative and legal “tug-of-war” is currently unfolding, and the prize is the state’s most precious resource: water. At the center of the storm is House Bill 2433, a piece of legislation that seeks to determine who really […]Read more »
Overview Over the past three years, I have written on a couple of occasions about the accommodation doctrine – a mineral owner’s right to use the surface estate to drill for and produce minerals. The doctrine requires a balancing of the interests of the surface and mineral owner. But, at […]Read more »
Overview With today’s article I start my annual trek through what I believe to be the “Top 10” ag law and tax developments of the previous year. It’s always difficult to determine the ten “big ones.” I start with a much larger list and slowly pair it down. Some significant […]Read more »
Introduction I have been on the road with seminars a lot recently and haven’t had time to write much for the blog. I am off the road now for a few days and thought I’d take a moment to write about a few more legal and tax issues that farmers […]Read more »
Buy-Sell Agreements Buy-sell agreements can be very important to help assure smooth transitioning of the business from one generation to the next. But it’s important that a buy-sell agreement be carefully drafted and followed. In my view, next to a properly drafted will or trust, a buy-sell agreement is often […]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 »
Cranberry Bogs and the Clean Water Act Courte Oreilles Lakes Association, Inc. v. Zawistowski, No. 3:24-cv-00128 (W.D. Wis. Filed Feb. 28, 2024) The Clean Water Act regulates the discharge of pollutants from a fixed point into a water of the United States. Not regulated is water runoff from irrigation activities […]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 »