Are you looking for ways to support your local agricultural community this summer? Reno is crawling with local farmers markets that feature products from local farmers and ranchers. On April 21, a new farm stand by farmer owned Reno Food Systems opened. This program directs education on agricultural policies as part of its market program. Reno Food Systems farm stand is open on Sundays from 3 to 7 pm. Also, be sure to stop by the Riverside Farmers Market, located at Idlewild Park. This farmers market is open year-round on Sundays, and their central location allows a walk along the Truckee River after browsing the vendors. Although we would venture to say fresh produce is the best part of local markets, you can also find household items and handmade gifts at these Reno farmers markets.

Supporting members of our community that provide underappreciated products, such as a healthy food system, is something Schroeder Law Offices encourages. Nevada has a thriving agricultural community, and this is in large part maintained by protecting our water resources. At Schroeder Law Offices, we strive to provide farmers and ranchers with tools to maintain their businesses and support their local communities.

Oregon Women for Agriculture will be hosting their Annual Auction and Dinner on April 15th, 2023 at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center in Albany, Oregon. This year’s theme is “From Farm to Forest- and Everything in Between.” Shareholder Laura Schroeder, firm administrator Scott Borison, and senior paralegal Tara Lomacz are excited to be attending the event.

Founded in 1969, Oregon Women for Agriculture began with the mission to “work together to communicate the story of today’s agriculture.” The organization is passionate about educating the community on the importance of sustainable agriculture to the environment and economy. Their work can be found in their support of programs including Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom and the Summer Agriculture Institute. These programs are meant to help students learn the importance of agriculture in their day-to-day life, like understanding how their food makes it from the farm to the grocery store. OWA is also responsible for the popular crop identification signs that can be found all along Oregon’s roadways. These signs help spread the word on the hundreds of different crops farmers grow all across the state.

The 2023 Oregon Women for Agriculture Annual Auction will help support OWA so that they can continue their work in the Oregon community for years to come! The event will feature a silent auction and dinner, as well as a live auction beginning at 7:15 pm. Visit the event website here for details on ticket cost, reserving a table, and more. We hope to see you there!

2022’s Nevada Farm Bureau Annual Meeting marks the 103rd meeting in the organization’s history. The event will run from November 10th through November 12th. Events include educational breakout sessions, The Nevada Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Annual Discussion Meet, and a silent auction to raise money for agriculture promotion and education hosted by The Nevada Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee.  Each day, events will run from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM. To learn more about booking an overnight stay at the event or read up on the event’s agenda, visit the website here: 103rd Annual Meeting – Nevada Farm Bureau (nvfb.org).

In the article “Trends in Clinical Legal Education Affecting Agriculture” by Caroline Lobdell and Scott Horngren, the authors provide a thorough look into the current state of environmental, agricultural, and animal law programs in law schools throughout the country. Though environmental law programs have steadily increased since the passage of groundbreaking environmental laws in the 1970s, the authors argue that these programs fail to offer a balanced education on agriculture and environmental law. Instead, they often focus exclusively on fighting for environmental causes. In doing so, they neglect to cover the interests of farmers, ranchers, and other natural resource users, who make up a huge part of environmental and agricultural interests.

Rather than viewing natural resource use as inherently wrong or not worthy of study, the article urges law programs to educate students on the interests of natural resource users and the cases they may come across in these industries as lawyers. In doing so, law students will get a more well-rounded understanding of environmental and agricultural issues, be better equipped to anticipate opposing arguments, and even work together with natural resource users in pursuing conservation efforts.  

To showcase the positive impact of a well-balanced environmental and agricultural education, the article uses Lewis & Clark’s Western Resource Legal Center (WRLC) as a case study. The law clinic, incorporated by Laura A. Schroeder, aimed to help students understand the interests of ranching, farming, timber, and other resource dependent industries. WRLC was later incorporated into Lewis & Clark to follow a seminar format to address legal issues affecting these industries in addition to an externship program that has partnered with the Oregon Farm Bureau, the Oregon Cattleman’s Association, American Forest Resource Council, Schroeder Law Offices, and others. With so many students willing to share positive experiences, the article makes a compelling argument for law schools to implement similar programs in their environmental law curriculums.  

WRLC’s founder and former Dean of Lewis and Clark Law School, James Huffman described the program as “a little boat that is finally afloat.”  On WRLC’s inception, Huffman stated “[t]here is a lot more to be done to make it seaworthy and expand the fleet, but it can be done.”  As budding law students with agricultural backgrounds, WRLC alumni, such as Schroeder Law Offices’ Associate Attorney Caitlin Skulan, were able to obtain a more balanced legal education as it pertains to the natural world and the resources we rely on. WRLC was a life raft in a sea full of environmental advocacy opinions on the Lewis and Clark campus.  The balance of working with farmers, ranchers, timber harvesters, and other sustainable natural resources users offers law students a reprieve from viewpoints that organizations like Farm Bureau and Cattlemen’s Associations are the villains of the environmental story. 

Similar to environmental advocacy focused clinics, students are still exposed to a whole host of environmental laws including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, and state and federal Administrative Procedure Acts.  WRLC students have an opportunity to participate in real cases with the people who work and rely on natural resources and take pride in their roles as stewards of the land their livelihoods rely on.  As an employer of WRLC Alumni, Schroeder Law Offices hopes to see similar programs emerging at other law schools to better prepare future lawyers to represent our valued clientele.   

To learn more about WRLC and the current state of environmental, agricultural, and animal law programs, check out the link to the full article here.

This year’s Oregon State Fair boasts some truly spectacular sights, including agriculture competitions, musical guests, and plenty of opportunities to learn about Oregon farmers and ranchers. If you’re looking to end your summer on a high note, why not Join Schroeder Law Offices at the Oregon State Fair? Friday marks the start of the 11 day event, which runs from August 26^th to September 5^th at the Salem, Oregon Fairgrounds.

Tara Lomacz will be working the Oregon Women for Agriculture booth on Friday, August 26^th from 1 to 3:30 PM and Sunday, August 28^th from 3:30 PM to 6 PM. Madeleine Criglow will also be working the booth that Sunday afternoon to join in on the fun.

Come celebrate and learn about the achievements of all Oregonians, including Oregon’s farmers and ranchers. While you’re there, check out the exciting special events, thrilling competitions, and tasty food.

Find event details on the Oregon State Fair website by clicking here: https://oregonstatefair.org/. We hope to see you there!

Hopefully you didn’t miss the first annual Nevada Agricultural Fair on July 7 through 10, 2022!  Schroeder Law Offices staff didn’t miss it, but if you did, here is a recap:       

Thursday, July 7:  Youth participants checked in livestock including market and breeder goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, and poultry.  Schroeder Law Offices staff assisted with large animal check in and assigning stalls and ear tags.  Then, SLO helped with poultry check in by performing health checks on show and market chickens.

Thursday Night kicked off the three-day Mayhemalition Derby with lawn mower races. Youth agriculture participants attended the derby events for free and were recruited to throw water balloons at the drivers!

Friday, July 8:  The livestock show began with youth showmanship classes.  Youth are judged on how well they show their livestock and general knowledge of the species.  Youth could also participate in Hippology and Horse Judging competitions on Friday.

After the livestock shows, SLO staff hosted a wine wall at the Mayhemalition Demolition Derby to raise funds for next year’s Youth awards.

Saturday, July 9:  Saturday hosted the busiest show day with market and breeder classes. In market and breeder classes, youth are judged by the quality of the animal they raised for the show. Livestock is judged by its breed standard with awards going to best of breed, best of class, and best of show. SLO staff helped run the poultry show, including market, breeder, and showmanship poultry classes. SLO staff also supported the youth market auction by bidding on market chickens.  We even won a couple pens!

Sunday, July 10:  The 2022 Fair wrapped up on Sunday with the Horse Show.  The Horse Show was open to youth and adults, with participant ages ranging from one-and-a-half years to some individuals enjoying retirement.

The first annual Nevada Agriculture Fair proved to be a busy weekend for SLO staff.  However, we had fun, got to connect with some of our clients, and supported local youth agriculture. Keep an eye out for details on next year’s fair at https://www.nvagfair.com/. We will be!

National Ag Day is March 24, 2020. It’s a special day to recognize and celebrate the contributions of agriculture. We should all “thank a farmer” at every meal and every time we get dressed. Therefore, National Ag Day is an organized effort to do just that. See the Agriculture Council of America’s website for more details: https://www.agday.org/.

Especially today, the agricultural community is showing its every-day-grit. It does so by continuing its important calling of feeding and clothing the world in the face of the current COVID-19 outbreak. Today, children in rural families are home due to school closures. They are working alongside their parents to provide food and fiber for the other 99% of the population. Safety requires shutting down many industries to avoid spreading the virus. However, the agricultural and trucking sectors are working as hard as ever to ensure the rest of us have what we need to weather the storm. Planting, harvesting, milking, and calving do not stop in the face of a pandemic.

COVID-19 Restrictions Exclude Agriculture

Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued an executive order on March 17th prohibiting gatherings over 25 people. Certain organizations (like farmers markets) didn’t know whether they would need to shut down operations as a result of the order. Consequently the Oregon Department of Agriculture issued guidance on March 20th. This guidance identified farmers, ranchers, food processors, farm workers, truckers, and service suppliers as “essential services” that are not required to shut down in response to the Governor’s order.

Schroeder Law Offices extends a giant “THANK YOU!” to the agriculture community. Agriculture is the backbone of the Nation on National Ag Day, during times of illness, and every day! It is truly our pleasure to provide water rights support to the agriculture community on National Ag Day and always.

Photo: The children of Bingham Beef in North Powder, Oregon, hearing “another job” during their extended “spring break.” Photo credit: Carly Carlson.

On July 31, 2018, Bloomberg released an interactive series of maps demonstrating the breakdown of land use in the United States. The article, which can be found here, provides an in-depth look at the ways in which we utilize the nearly 2 billion acres of land in the contiguous United States.

The United States is a huge country, ranking third in the world in both land mass and population. However, the vast majority remains uninhabited. Only around 70 million cumulative acres are considered “urban” land. Another 50 million-or-so acres qualify as “rural residential” land. So, what do we do with the remaining 94%? First and foremost, we farm.

Between pasture, rangeland, and cropland, over half of America’s total acreage is used for agriculture. As shown in the Bloomberg maps, if all the grazing land in the United States were laid out side-by-side, it would cover nearly all of the western states. Additionally, over 391 million acres throughout the country are used for growing commercial and consumable crops.

It is unsurprising, then, that the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) estimates that over 80% of water in the US is used for agricultural purposes. When the proportion of agricultural land is compared to the proportion of agricultural water, the ratio makes sense.

The Bloomberg maps offer a fascinating breakdown of the way our country as a whole makes use of its space and, by extension, its water. Stay tuned to Schroeder Law Offices’ blog for more water use facts!

On Saturday, April 21, 2018, members of Schroeder Law Offices’ Portland office attended the Oregon Women for Agriculture’s 31^st annual auction and dinner, at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center. This year’s theme was “Good Things are Growing.” Schroeder Law partnered with Country Side Nursery and Fairdale Nursery to donate a large Japanese maple and pot to the organization’s auction. Benefits and proceeds from the auction go to Oregon State University’s Ag Honors Scholarships, Crop identification signs, and the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation.