Agricultural Law & Rural Practice | Solo Small Firm & General Practice Section

This blog discusses topics of relevance to attorneys with clients who work in the agricultural industry, and to attorneys who practice in rural areas. Published by the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Solo Small Firm & General Practice Section, monthly articles are typically written by section members.  This section’s central purpose is to enhance the quality of practice for the solo and small-firm lawyer, as well as the lawyer who has interests beyond the bounds of a single professional practice area. The section sponsors CLE seminars, provides resources on its webpage, produces CLE seminars, hosts a conference each fall, and publishes a newsletter.​​​

Members of the State Bar of Wisconsin may join the section by visiting https://www.wisbar.org/formembers/groups/pages/join-a-group.aspx (login required).

Section Website: https://www.wisbar.org/forMembers/Groups/Sections/SoloSmallFirmandGeneralPracticeSection/pages/home.aspx

Latest from Agricultural Law & Rural Practice | Solo Small Firm & General Practice Section - Page 2

​The Lawyering Skills Course at the University of Wisconsin Law School is a unique opportunity for students to learn how to practice law in the “real world.” Students learn legal skills from practicing lawyers from all over Wisconsin through simulation.

Each spring semester, 2L and 3L students are exposed to nine substantive areas of legal practice. This all-inclusive course is taught by practitioners and reveals the day-to-day work of practicing lawyers.
About the Course
The course has been an
Continue Reading UW’s Lawyering Skills Program Helps Students Learn ‘Real-World’ Skills

A bankruptcy filing is intended to give debtors a financial “fresh start.” However, debtors’ financial futures are only as good as what they can make of it. Fortunately, former bankruptcy debtors have many steps, options, and resources to make the most of their fresh start, and continue the road to financial independence.

Here are a few:
First: Get Serious About Personal Finances
The most important first step for debtors emerging from bankruptcy is to get serious about their personal
Continue Reading Lawyers: Advice to Help Your Bankruptcy Clients Take a ‘Fresh Start’


Fed up with the way state government works? ​Convinced that the Wisconsin Constitution insufficiently protects certain individual liberties? Convinced you’re the guy or gal destined to lead a movement to amend our Constitution, but unsure of the process? If so you’re in luck. Here’s a brief “how-to guide” to amending the Wisconsin Constitution.HistoryThe Wisconsin Constitution was debated and drafted in a constitutional convention that ran from December 1847 to February 1848, and the product of that convention was
Continue Reading Amending the Wisconsin Constitution: A Brief How-to Guide

As we head into winter, many people across the state will throw on their snowmobiling gear and hop on the approximately 25,000 miles of snowmobile trails we have in Wisconsin.

Snowmobiling is incredibly popular in the dairy state. There are more than 200,000 registered snowmobiles in Wisconsin,1 and we are home to the World Championship Snowmobile Derby (in Eagle River) and the International Snowmobile Racing Hall of Fame (in St. Germain).2
25,000 Miles of Trails, Most on
Continue Reading Protecting Private Landowners: Recreational Immunity in Wisconsin

Once upon a time (did I really start an article that way?) pumpkin farms were few and far between. The farmers usually just placed a few rows of pumpkins of increasing size near the farm’s driveway, modestly priced their product, and sold the pumpkins for cash only.

The farms certainly weren’t the commercial extravaganzas they are today, with everything from pumpkins and caramel apples, to food markets that include fanciful soaps and pick-your-own floral bouquets. Add a petting zoo
Continue Reading A Corn Maze of Insurance: Agritourism, Immunity, and Liability

Farm bankruptcies are down according to an excellent article appearing in Market Intel. Farm Bureau Senior Economist Veronica Nigh analyzes Chapter 12 filings around the country and points out that such filings for the year ending June 30, 2021, are the lowest since 2015.

While that would normally be considered good news, we believe it is somewhat misleading.

In fact, we believe farm bankruptcies are not down at all. Instead, we conclude that more farmers are filing under
Continue Reading Are Farm Bankruptcies Down in 2021?

Bias is not limited to major issues such as race and gender. Bias is present in many other areas, such as our educational background, where we live, and how we dress.Did you attend U.W., Marquette, or an out-of-state law school? We are judged on where we practice. Are you based in a rural county or an urban one? We are evaluated on our very own appearance. Do you have a thin and wispy or large and burly build? Are
Continue Reading Anti-bias Training: Critical for All Lawyers

This article was originally published on the Melnick & Melnick law blog and is used here with the author’s permission.

I love a good rom-com. And You’ve Got Mail is one of the best, for sure in my top 10. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, virtual romance (over email and a dial-up modem), and in New York City – need I say more?

But there is more. Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) owns a small business, a charming children’s bookstore
Continue Reading Small Business Lessons: You’ve Got Mail

Currently, Wisconsin law provides stiff (some might even say draconian) penalties for the possession, sale or use of cannabis for either recreational or medicinal purposes.

For example, if a Wisconsin farmer grows 201 cannabis plants on a small plot of land or if the farmer were to possess a small “bail” of cannabis weighing just over 22 pounds with a plan to sell it to friends or cancer patients, current Wisconsin law provides that he or she could be
Continue Reading Proposed Cannabis Legislation: What's in it for Rural Wisconsin?

The Biden administration has rolled out its proposed changes to the tax code, which departs significantly from the tax policies enacted during the Trump administration.

Famers and small-business owners should be aware of the proposed changes, because the proposal has the potential to translate into higher annual taxes.

Importantly, before any proposed tax plan can become law, it must obviously be passed by Congress. The new tax proposals, if passed into law, will affect how attorneys and tax professionals
Continue Reading Considerations for Farm Clients on the Ever-changing Tax Code

Leasing farmland is a common practice that can be a profitable venture for nonoperating rural land owners. In 2014, a total of 4,670,320 acres of agricultural land in Wisconsin was rented out, with landlords received rents totaling $579,953,000.1

However, these agricultural leases can cause issues when the landowner’s circumstances change – for example, when they wish to the sell their property or lease to a different tenant. In these cases, it is often necessary or desirable to terminate
Continue Reading Plan Ahead or Pay the Costs: Terminating an Agricultural Tenancy

Earlier this year, I attended an annual conference on bankruptcy, debtor, and creditors’ rights issues – as I have annually for 15 years.

A featured speaker at the conference was Jeff Ditzenberger, a farmer who makes it his mission to assist individuals with their mental health issues. Ditzenberger is founder of the Talking, Understanding, Growing, Supporting (T.U.G.S.) program for mental health.

During his presentation, Ditzenberger talked about the growing need for mental health care – not only for farmers, but
Continue Reading Lending a Helping Hand to Wisconsin’s Farming Community

My rural house backs up to a county highway, the other side of which is one of many cornfields.
The highway is frequently used by a local farmer to access his fields with his tractor and many implements. Whenever a tractor roars past hauling a tank filled with manure, my wife and I laughingly declare, “Here comes the s**t spreader!”
This scene is a common one in Wisconsin – especially this time of year when it is harvest season.
Continue Reading It's Harvest Season: May a Farmer Drive That Thing on the Road?

This past weekend, I went with my family, including my granddaughters, to a Wisconsin apple farm. The farm sold apples and pumpkins, raspberries and honey, doughnuts and cider, and lots more. This farm had transitioned away from growing corn and beans to having become a diversified mix of profit centers.
We spent several hours there and paid for the activity area and the corn maze, as well as substantially-higher-than-store-prices to pick our own apples, pumpkins, and raspberries.
We were
Continue Reading The Changing Face of Farming and Agriculture

Time was, that motions to dismiss for a failure to state a claim did not play a big role in business litigation in Wisconsin courts. Wisconsin pleading rules conformed with federal pleading rules, and both standards required mere “notice pleading” (unless fraud or libel was being alleged).1 Business-related complaints tended to be relatively​ short and to the point. Key facts were identified, and the defendant was given notice of which type of claims were being alleged against it.
Continue Reading The Revitalization of Motions to Dismiss in Wisconsin Business Litigation

Wisconsin’s rural landscape has dramatically changed in recent decades. The rate at which farmland is developed appears to be increasing – according to the Center for Land Use Education, 396,583 acres of Wisconsin farmland was developed for nonagricultural uses between 1992 and 2010.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) 2015-17 Farmland Preservation Biennial Report, the amount of land in Wisconsin used for agriculture fell by 200,000 acres. This increase in farmland
Continue Reading Wisconsin’s Fence Laws: An Unexpected Cost of Owning Rural Property