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Agriculture

Farm Lease Auctions, Graduation of an AgTech Moonshot and More

Auctions Gain Popularity for Farm Leases Cash rent auctions for farm leases are a growing trend according to a recent article on Ag Web. While auctions for purchasing land have been around for a long time, the auction format for farm leases is somewhat new. One of the benefits of the auction format is price transparency. “Rent auctions provide true open market rental valuation and answer the question: What will the market bear for my ground,” according to Jim Rothermich of Iowa Appraisal. The cash rental rates traditionally published by the Land-Grant Universities has not necessarily kept pace with actual market data, due in part because the University data relies on

joelcape February 10, 2023

Agriculture

The Great Biofuels Debate | Cape Law Firm | Legal News

The Great Biofuels Debate A recent Wall Street Journal report framed opposing views in the increasingly contentious debate over Biofuels policy and use in the United States. Policies seeking alternatives to fossil fuels have been around for decades, going back at least to the 1970’s when an oil embargo by OPEC countries caused a global energy crises. Government support for alternative fuels, particularly renewable sources such as biofuels, surged forward again in the early 2000’s with legislation that implemented the Renewable Fuels Standard (RNS) mandating the use of renewable fuels in the nation’s fuel supply. The RNS has been a boon to U.S. agriculture, especially for corn and soybean producers, since

joelcape February 3, 2023

Legal News

Federal Trade Commission Seeks Ban on Worker Noncompete Agreements

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a new rule that will ban employers’ use of non-compete agreements on their employees. Traditionally, noncompete agreements were disfavored and courts often refused to enforce them, reasoning that losing employees to competitors was just ordinary competition and workers should not be unduly burdened in their pursuit of a livelihood. However over the last two decades attitudes towards noncompetes swung in favor of employers among courts and state legislatures by allowing and enforcing the agreements. As a result noncompetes have become fairly pervasive in the U.S. and cover a wide swath of workers, ranging from “hairstylists and warehouse workers to doctors and business executives” according to

joelcape January 13, 2023

Agriculture

Natural State Coalition, Farm Bill Challenges, and More News

Natural State Coalition Seeks Safe Herbicide Use to Protect Lands The Natural State Coalition recently launched a campaign to protect Arkansas’ diverse landscapes from continuous damage resulting from overuse of dicamba herbicides. Since 2016, Arkansas’ lands and landowners have suffered injuries repeatedly from dicamba, a herbicide that is difficult to control and habitually volatizes after it has been sprayed, moving into other areas where it damages or kills plants that are not tolerant. The problems with dicamba emerged after the release of soybeans and cotton engineered to be resistant to dicamba which rely on in-crop applications of the herbicide, especially in the warmer months of the growing season which increases its volatility. The

joelcape January 6, 2023

Agriculture

Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough, Waterhemp’s Evolution & More

Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Re-Enters the Discussion on Energy The U.S. Department of Energy announced a scientific breakthrough in nuclear fusion was achieved this week when a controlled-fusion reaction achieved “fusion ignition” for the first time on earth. In other words, the experiment produced more energy that it consumed. Nuclear fusion has long been viewed as a holy grail of clean, sustainable, theoretically limitless energy. You can read the DOE’s announcement here. What does this have to do with agriculture? Nothing in the short-term, but it could be monumental for the future of U.S. ag. A significant portion of U.S. crops are grown for renewable fuel feedstocks, along with enormous investment in

joelcape December 16, 2022

Legal News

Significant Changes in Market Structures Here for the Long Haul

Dan Basse, President of AgResource, delivered his broad economic assessment of U.S. and global markets at the American Seed Trade Association’s 2022 Corn, Soybean & Sorghum Seed Expo this week in Chicago. Dan’s presentations are always compelling and loaded with data. Here are some of the highlights: The ultra-low interest rates that we have enjoyed for the last several years are gone and are unlikely to return for quite a while. Historically, periods of low interest have been short-lived and this last period of low rates was relatively long. Market structures have changed in light of the Russia-Ukraine war and regional reactions to the pandemic. Inflation is at 40-year highs

joelcape December 9, 2022