Ag Docket Blog

April 11, 2017 | Kristine A. Tidgren

Last December, we told you that the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), the USDA division tasked with interpreting the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, 7 U.S.C.

April 9, 2017 | Kristine A. Tidgren

A jury returned a verdict in favor of the Kansas class plaintiffs in the amount of $217.7 million on June 23, 2017. Read more here.

Last week, the Iowa Supreme Court considered its first case challenging an Iowa Department of Revenue’s (IDOR) assessment of corporate income tax since 2010.[i] In both cases, the taxpayers lost, but this time it was because the taxpayer did not have a taxable nexus in Iowa.

March 29, 2017 | Kristine A. Tidgren

Today, Governor Branstad signed SF 447 into law. The new law, designed to curb damage awards in nuisance cases brought against responsible animal feeding operations, went into effect immediately.

March 18, 2017 | Kristine A. Tidgren

Update: On April 11, 2017, DMWW announced that it would not be appealing this decision.

Last year, many of us were surprised by an Iowa Court of Appeals decision that held that a single grazing horse was sufficient to establish a farm tenancy. Why did this matter?

March 9, 2017 | Kristine A. Tidgren

Update: The 2017 Iowa Legislative Session ended on April 22, 2017. No water quality legislation was enacted.

Update: On March 24, House Speaker Paul Ryan cancelled a vote scheduled for that day on the Republicans proposed repeal and replacement plan. Officials have stated that they will now turn their attention to tax reform.

February 28, 2017 | Kristine A. Tidgren

HSB134 passed out of an Iowa House agricultural subcommittee on February 22. The bill would limit allowable damages in nuisance lawsuits filed against animal feeding operations that have used “existing prudent and generally utilized management practices reasonable” for their operations. The bill would also allow animal feeding operations that prevail in a nuisance lawsuit brought against them to recover reasonable attorney fees from the losing plaintiff.

February 24, 2017 | Kristine A. Tidgren

In a 4-3 decision, the Iowa Supreme Court today ruled­­­ that a 69-year-old woman was a “vulnerable elder” under Iowa’s Elder Abuse statute because of her age.

Pages