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Court Cites Expert Testimony of Center Director in Oil & Gas Case

On June 19, 2020, the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas issued an opinion in the case of Chito v. Pulaski Twp. Zoning Hearing Bd., (Docket 10467 of 2015), in which the court denied a substantive challenge to the township’s regulation of oil and gas drilling. In reaching this conclusion, the court cited the expert testimony of Ross Pifer on the issue of the historic compatibility of oil and gas drilling and agricultural communities in Pennsylvania.

June 19th, 2020|

Center Staff Featured in American Agricultural Law Association’s Agricultural Law Update

This week, center staff were featured in two sections of the American Agricultural Law Association’s Agricultural Law Update (Update). In the Update’s new Practice Tips section, staff attorney Jackie Schweichler wrote an article titled, When Litigation Doesn’t Fit – Try Agricultural Mediation. The Update also spotlights 2020 Penn State Law graduate Travis Buck for his first-place award in AALA’s 2019 Student Paper Writing Contest. AALA board member Ross Pifer presented Travis with the award for Travis’s article, Capper-Volstead & Output Restrictions: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

June 19th, 2020|

Center Staff Attend Virtual 7th Annual Mid South Ag & Environmental Law Conference

On June 7th and 8th, 2020, Center Staff attended the two day 7th Annual Mid South Ag & Environmental Law Conference hosted online by the National Agricultural Law Center. The conference addressed a variety of agricultural law topics with national importance including agricultural lending, environmental regulations, crop insurance, and more. Presentations were provided by Greg Cole, President and CEO of AgHeritage Farm Credit Services; Wes Boyer, Partner, Boyer Terry; Autumn Veazey Price, Director, Government Relations, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Michael Cooley, Partner, Allen Wellman McNew Harvey, LLP; Amanda Jones Tollison, Partner, Butler Snow; […]

June 8th, 2020|

Ross Pifer Presents in the Ag & Food Law Update Webinar

On May 19, 2020, Professor Ross Pifer presented in the Ag & Food Law Update for the Mid-South Conference webinar, where he gave an update on Chlorpyrifos, the final rules related to the Clean Water Act, and a summary of the recent U.S. Supreme Court case from Hawaii addressing water law. Other presenters included Harrison Pittman, Director of the National Agricultural Law Center and Peggy Kirk Hall, Director of Agricultural & Resource Law Program at the Ohio State University.

Center staff also prepared a publication entitled […]
May 19th, 2020|

Staff Attorney Brook Duer Joins Webinars with Penn State Extension

Over the past few weeks, Staff Attorney Brook Duer was a presenter at three webinars conducted by Penn State Extension. On April 9, he presented during the webinar entitled COVID-19 Stimulus Benefits for Sole Proprietors and Independent Contractors. On April 10, he presented at the webinar entitled COVID-19 Stimulus Benefits for Dairy Industry Farmers and Small Business. On April 22, he presented at the webinar Solar Leasing for Landowners.

April 22nd, 2020|

Center Welcomes the Director of Child Nutrition Programs for Pennsylvania to the Agricultural Law Podcast

On March 9, 2020, the Center published a Special Episode in the Agricultural Law Podcast. In this, special episode we were delighted to welcome Vonda Cooke, State Director of Child Nutrition Programs for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Ms. Cooke joins Audry Thompson to discuss the 2012 changes to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and the potential impacts of the recent January 23, 2020, proposed rule, Simplifying Meal Service and Monitoring Requirements in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.

This episode, Special Episode #1. School Lunches with Vonda Cooke, can be found on most podcast […]

March 9th, 2020|

Center Staff Attend 71st Annual Oil and Gas Law Conference in Houston

On February 20-21, 2020, staff from Penn State’s Center for Agricultural and Shale Law attended the Institute for Energy Law’s 71st Annual Oil and Gas Law Conference in Houston, TX. During the first day of the conference, speakers addressed current issues in the energy sector including: national security, recent court rulings, ethics in negotiations, expert witnesses, royalties, M&A negotiations, and certain types of insurance. Notably, speaker Owen L. Anderson discussed a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court case involving the rule of capture and hydraulic fracturing. See, […]

February 23rd, 2020|

Brook Duer Gives Presentation at Biglerville High School

On February 17, 2020, Brook Duer attended Penn State Cooperative Extension’s annual President’s Day Commercial Fruit School at Biglerville High School. Brook addressed the afternoon session of 100+ attendees on the array of legal resources available from the CASL.
Later in the week on February 22, 2020, Brook Duer presented on landowner liability at the annual Forest Landowner’s Conference in Clarion.
February 22nd, 2020|