First it was wind and now solar is all the rage. Much like wind easements, solar farm easements are not to be taken lightly nor signed up for without due consideration.
Most of the of the time, the solar farm lease is an exploratory lease that signs up all your acres for a potential installation of solar. You can do quick math on the per acre amount if a farm is installed on your fields and see nothing but easy street ahead. A close reading of the actual terms and conditions could result in the solar farm optioning just a piece of your property and leaving you with an odd shaped parcel to farm around that grows palmer amaranth all season long and frustrates your remaining acres into less productivity, not more.
Here are some things to consider when contemplating your new bright sun shinny day.
Every ag equipment operator has had it happen, a high dollar piece of equipment, with weather threatening on a weekend, is ground to a halt for a simple mechanical failure, like a shear bolt doing its job and well, shearing.
That simple break can bring a series of operations that rely upon each other to stand still unless another shear pin is available. Those are usually stocked after the first time a shear bolt strands the operation.
While shear bolts don’t physically manifest in other portions of an ag operation, they are metaphorically sure do. Taking time to identify in advance breaking points in an operation can cause you the pain and misery of threading a new bolt in the dark, with a little drizzle, while a semi waits to be loaded.
Hear are some “shear bolt” areas that your operation should be prepared to deal with
To the delight of comedians everywhere the FTC is reportedly looking into why McDonald's ice cream machines often seem to be out of order. At first this seems pretty much like a waste of time, and nothing do with ag law, but it does.
It's because the McDonald's franchisees may be restricted from repairing the machines. The technicians are hard to come by and the four-hour cleaning cycle seems overly complex, but if you can’t even hire somebody other than a previously anointed technician, the market doesn’t work right. That is high prices and less quality. The ice cream machine with a repair restriction is legally the same critter as a yield monitor or a tractor that has the same rules. Imagine the delay when only a factory authorized representative can adjust, or trouble shoot a wonky seed tube sensor.
The concept is that an owner of a piece of equipment has right to repair, and the right would be expanded to require manufacturers publish diagnostic tools and documentation they use to fix repair their goods. This concept has traction in some states out east, where it was on a the ballot in Massachusetts as measure requiring data on cars that manufactures don’t like to make public. In fact, 27 states have kicked around right to repair measures in various formats.
Another concept being pushed is requiring manufacturers to create products that can be easily fix. Consider Apple products and how they are seemingly impossible to access, like the iPods. They have small batteries in them that fail after a number of years and right now, you or a third party that attempts to replace them will void the warranty if you do manage to figure out how to open them up. The other option is to toss them and buy new, which environmental advocates are against.
Who would be against this? The people who build things don’t want their products easily copied and they raise concerns that non authorized non trained people modifying their product makes the product dangerous in some cases.
Ag relies upon tech and this issue is as important to the future of ag as climate change, land use, and taxation.
Back in 2018, California, which can change the law with a ballot procedure that allows the voters to bypass the legislature and essentially enact whatever, passed a law that prevents farm owners in the state from using confinement systems for veal, bred hogs, or layers that are “cruel”. To not be cruel, the animal must be able to do the Hokey Pokey in the area, that is, the animal must be able to lie down, stand up and turn all the way around and each animal has a minimum square footage required.
Also, it is illegal in California to sell products that are derived from facilities that do not meet the Hokey Pokey test starting 1 Jan 2022. California raises about 4% of the bacon it needs, most of it comes from the Midwest. So essentially, the Californian’s are telling Iowa how to raise hogs, chicken and beef.
Since we are talking about it here, it should be no surprise that it went to court. American Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers took the lead. They lost. They lost in the appeals court, even though the court acknowledges that the rule will cause changes throughout the nation. This appeals court, the 9th Circuit, is referred to in some legal circles as the 9th Circus, as it has a long history of adopting liberally liberal interpretations of the law to further social agendas.
Back in the dark ages when I went to law school, we read about Wickard, a farmer who was growing wheat in violation of an ordinance enacted by the state. The federal court pointed out that the Constitution says the feds regulate Commerce between states and since wheat makes the flour and people in all states buy flour, the fed gets a say in by making sure that one state doesn’t make an undue burden on the other state residents. This is referred to as the dormant commerce clause. It is a wide-reaching grant of federal authority, but it has always been viewed by the courts as a narrow power.
The court didn’t care that the Hokey Pokey rule, while limited to California Agri business, has an impact on ag business in other states. 87% of all pork is consumed outside of California, but the 13% who now have to have Hokey Pokey approved production raise the price for all. Since it impacts everybody, the court found it okay.
The price increase has restaurant owners simply considering removing pork from the menu, which of course, is the ultimate goal of those who seek to dismantle and eliminate ag production as we currently know it.
This ruling can go up for appeal to the US Supreme court, so it is not over for Bacon in San Francisco, but it doesn’t look great.
Public service reminders
HIPPA means your doctor can’t tell your neighbor about that weird growth on your arm pit or ask about your vaccination status. HIPPA applies to covered entities who get your health information, like doctors, insurance companies and hospitals. It does not cover Aunt Maude asking if you have to continue to take penicillin or if that rash is all cleared up.
Free Speech does not mean you can say whatever you want to say at any time. All rights are subject to other people’s enjoyment of their rights. For example, you cannot yell fire, or we are all going to die in a crowded theatre unless it is factual. Also, certain words are “Fighting words’ and are essentially off limits for expressing yourself. Also, certain images are pornographic and not artistic. In the words of a Supreme Court justice “I will know it when I see it.”. So, we do have limits on our conduct as part of our social compact with one another.
It has been tested recently in court and private companies can ask their employees to be vaccinated against whatever they ask them to be, or the employee can and work for a company that doesn’t ask or doesn’t care. If you work for government agency, which government (local, state or federal) will determine what they can and cannot ask you do to continue employment.
Sumner, Iowa Attorney practicing in Iowa primarily in Ag Law, Bankruptcy, Estate Planning, Real Estate Law. Lawyers at the Dillon Law P.C. are dedicated to serving Iowa, including but not limited to the cities of Allison, Charles City, Cresco, Decorah, Des Moines, Dubuque, Elkader, Grundy Center, Independence, Manchester, New Hampton, Waterloo, Waverly, Waukon, West Union & Vinton, and the communities that make up Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Grundy, Howard, Polk, Winneshiek, counties. © 2022 Dillon Law P.C. Sumner Location | 209 E. 1st Street, Sumner, IA 50674 Volga City Location | 502 Washington St, Volga City, IA, 52077. West Union Location | 103 N. Vine Street, West Union, Iowa 52175 West Union, Iowa 52175 We are there most Fridays 10-3 and by appointment. Telephone: (563) 578-1850 Email: info@dillonlawpc.com Home | Attorneys | Blog | Ag Law | Bankruptcy | Estate Planning | Real Estate Law | Contact | Iowa Ag Law Attorney Sumner Taxation Commercial Transactions Production Contracts Labor Hobby Farm Liability Bremer Fayette County Lawyer