Unlike traditional areas of the law, agricultural law is not just one field of study but is made of those areas of law that impact agriculture (Schneider, 2009).  Production agriculture is at the heart of agricultural law (Kershen, 2008).  As has been highlighted by many agricultural law scholars, the study, research, and education related to agricultural law are necessary because agriculture is important to human existence (Schneider, 2009).  Understanding the impacts of laws on production agriculture can assist policymakers, producers, and service providers to better adapt to the changing needs on agriculture.

    Legal risks are pervasive in agricultural and natural resource industries. Stakeholders’ decisions are often constrained by limited knowledge of laws and their impacts on operations, including environmental laws, contract laws, agricultural leasing, bankruptcy, estate planning, food safety, and others. Legal risk impacts vary across agricultural firm types, geographic regions, and government agencies, ranging from local ordinances to state laws to federal laws. 

    Legal risk impacts are becoming a growing concern of agriculture and natural resources operations.  For example, in Maryland, 60 percent of agricultural producers and service providers responded that laws and regulations in the state affect farm businesses to a high degree.  In this survey, respondents highlighted a wide range of issues impacting agricultural operations from environmental law issues, zoning and planning issues, estate planning, and USDA programs as potential areas of concern for producers (Millet-Williams et al, 2019).  This is just one example in one state with other states having similar to truly unique issues depending on the conditions in that state.

    While much progress has been made in understanding making decisions with legal risks, the knowledge base remains incomplete due to the continually evolving nature of U.S. law.  There is a continuing need to examine both the short- and long-term effects of legal changes in agriculture and other natural resource-based industries.  The ever-evolving definition of waters covered under the Clean Water Act is a good example, highlighting the importance of understanding the changing nature of the law and legal risk management. A better understanding of how legal changes affect these businesses will improve and help firm-level decision-making adapt to laws changes. Though proposed in the Northeast, one of the strengths of this project is it will bring a national scope of institutions represented by the participants and allow us to understand a breadth of the local, state, and federal laws impacting the agricultural and natural resource industries.  

    While many legal issues are initially driven by local and/or state interests, these may also turn into concerns in other states.  In response to legal challenges involving North Carolina’s right-to-farm law, in 2018, the North Carolina legislature amended that law to provide additional statutory protections to agricultural operations.  Following the North Carolina amendments, several other states looked at modifying their state’s right-to-farm law to provide similar protections.   Pulling together a coalition of national institutions working together on these issues will help all states understand the effects of changes in agricultural law.

    This proposed coalition would allow researchers to present work to a broader group of peers and allow a more successful understanding of applying these legal issues to a broader range of legal risks impacting the agricultural and natural resource industries.  In addition, the information exchange format creates opportunities for researchers to interact on issues of mutual interest, fostering extramural grant-writing efforts.