Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The committee met on the morning of Nov. 7 to discuss goals to move the project forward and grow membership. During the meeting, it was decided to begin planning a regional conference to highlight ag law research not only in the region but around the country, focused on the project's research areas.  The committee has continued to meet past Nov. to determine dates and locations.  The team is currently considering Oct. 29 in Shepardstown WV at the National Conseration Training Center with sessions focused on heirs property, environmental law (including right-to-farm farm), and agritourism issues.

At the same time, the team discussed ways to potentially collaborate with the Heirs Property Research Committee, but no real plan was developed.  The team discussed ways to continue to collaborate internally on projects and develop multistate research projects related to heirs property and agritourism issues.

During the American Ag Law meetings the project submitted a number of sessions with a few selected for the larger program.  The venue is selected since many of our colleagues attend the meetings and we are continuing to work on recruitment to better highlight how this can help with research collaboration.  Jesse Richardson presented on the Ethical Considerations in Representing Owners of Heirs Property during the preconference on Nov. 7 and the Land Use And Resource Law Update.  The team is looking at what to submit to the 2025 AALA Meetings in Scottsdale AZ Nov. 5 to 7. 

Beginning to plan annual conference for NE region to highlight ag law research and outreach being done in the area of heirs property, agritourism, and environmental law issues.  Attempting to collaborate with the American Agricultural Law Association as a part of it and working to expand the membership through the conference.  Currently planned for Oct. 29 in Shepardstown WV.

Russo, Holly, Danielle Gratz, and Paul Goeringer. Rooting for Change: Rethinking Standing in Climate Litigation Related to Agriculture, forthcoming Drake Journal of Agricultural Law (2025).

Majnooni, Sima, Holly Russo, and Paul Goeringer. Guidelines for Delaware and Maryland Ag Operations on Writing an Employee Manual. EB-2024-0725 (Jan. 2025).