2021 PA Farm Show

Agricultural Law Symposium

On January 12 and 14, 2021, the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law will be hosting the 2021 Pennsylvania Farm Show Agricultural Law Symposium consisting of four hours of educational webinars on current topics of importance in agricultural law presented by the Center’s legal staff and guest experts in their fields.  The symposium will include a recap of 2020’s biggest agricultural law developments and sessions covering solar leasing, what you need to know about the Chesapeake Bay and the Conowingo Dam and the dramatic past year in pesticide liability and regulation.  The symposium is part of the Virtual 2021 Farm Show.  Instead of an in-person Farm Show, the 105th Pennsylvania Farm Show will celebrate Pennsylvania agriculture virtually with a slate of on-line events focusing on education and awareness for both the general public and the agriculture industry.  

Symposium sessions are free and open to the general public and will be conducted via ZOOM and will be conducted on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 from 1:00 pm – 3:15 pm (EST) and on Thursday, January 14, 2021, from 1:00 pm – 3:15 pm (EST).  More information and registration is available at the Center’s event page or register directly here.  Approval has been obtained for four hours of CLE credits to be offered to Pennsylvania licensed attorneys and the session materials will be provided to those who pre-register.   

The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, January 12, 2021  (1:00 – 3:15 pm)                   

1:00 pm -  The Year 2020 in Agricultural Law: The Year of Living Dangerously 

Ross H. Pifer (Director) and Audry Thompson (Research Assistant) from the Center will review the biggest developments in agricultural law in 2020.    

2:15 pm -  Utility Scale Solar Leasing: How It Works and When It Doesn’t 

Brook Duer (Staff Attorney) from the Center and Doug Wolfgang, Director of PDA’s Bureau of Farmland Preservation, will provide landowners with an in-depth look at leasing land for grid-scale solar electrical generation and how existing ag programs may conflict with a solar lease. 

Thursday, January 14, 2021  (1:00 – 3:15 pm)

1:00 pm - Chesapeake Bay Developments: Moving the Ball or the Goal Line?  

Brook Duer (Staff Attorney) from the Center will moderate a discussion between special guests Lara B. Fowler, Esq. of Penn State Law and Paul Goeringer, Esq. from the University of Maryland, College Agriculture and Natural Resources on the recently filed Chesapeake Bay litigation against the EPA,  the pending Conowingo Dam re-licensure settlement and the impending Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan.  

2:15 pm - Pesticide Drama & Non-Target Liability 

Jackie Schweichler (Staff Attorney) and Chloe Marie (Research Specialist) from the Center will review civil liability for non-target property damage from dicamba and other pesticides/herbicides, 2020’s court-ordered dicamba registration cancellation and new 5-year EPA registration, the status of glyphosate personal injury litigation/settlements and state actions on chlorpyrifos.