Publications Library

The Agricultural Law Center's Publications Library is comprised of legal research publications that have been researched and written by the staff of the Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center, students enrolled in the Agricultural Law course at Penn State Law, members of a Penn State law review, or students enrolled in another course at Penn State Law.

All publications on this page are in HTML format, PDF format, or .RTF format. For .RTF documents, save .RTF file and open using Word or WordPerfect. PDF documents require Adobe® Acrobat® Reader. 

The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center does not provide legal advice, nor is its work intended to be a substitute for such advice and counsel. If you require legal advice, we suggest that you seek the services of a competent attorney in your area. 

Animal Law

• Animal Welfare Law (January 2003)
• Beyond the Slaughterhouse: The Push for Farm-Animal Welfare Reform and the Resistance of Industrial Agricultural America (April 2010)
• Effective Rabies Control: A Review of the Pennsylvania Rabies Prevention and Control in Domestic Animals and Wildlife Act (April 2009)
• Herds, Heifers, and Harems: A Study of Two Livestock-Wildlife Diseases and Regulatory Mechanisms (April 2010)
• Horse Slaughter Issues in the United States (May 2012)
• Liability for the Mistreatment of Farm Animals in Pennsylvania (June 2001)
• Pennsylvania Dog Law: Taking a Bite Out of Puppy Mill Crime (April 2010)
• Pennsylvania’s Dog Law as it Relates to Agricultural Liability (June 2001)
• Premises Registration Resources and Update in Pennsylvania and Other States (January 2007)
• Summary of Pennsylvania’s Laws Regarding Trespassing Livestock
• What Is A Dangerous Dog?: A Look at the Pennsylvania Dangerous Dog Laws and the Controversy Surrounding Breed Specific Legislation (April 2010)

Commercial Law (Bankruptcy, Business Structure, Contracts, etc.) 

• Livestock Production Contracts: Information for Pennsylvania Farmers (December 2001)
• Overview on Bankruptcy for the Family Farmer (June 2005)
• Selected Topics in Agricultural Contract Law (September 2003)
• A Step by Step Guide to Forming a Limited Liability Company in Pennsylvania (2006)
• Using a Limited Liability Company to Operate a Pennsylvania Family Farm Business (April 2001)
• What Every Farmer Should Know About Secured Transactions (June 2004)

Environmental/Natural Resources Law

• Applying Aged Pennsylvania Precedent in the Time of Marcellus Shale: The Possible Outcome and Implication of the Intersection of Dunham, Hendler, and Hoge in Butler v. Charles Powers Estate (May 2012)
• Basic Use and Monitoring of Water Resources in Pennsylvania (April 2003)
• The Biofuel Debate: Fuel, Food, and the Future of the Planet (April 2009)
• Checkoff Programs in the Forest Products Industry: Examining and Comparing the Proposed Softwood and Hardwood Industry Checkoffs (May 2011)
• Chesapeake Bay Watershed Non-Point Source Pollution Update: A Pilot Program Which Should Drive the Nation (April 2009)
• Environmental Protection Programs Applicable to Modern Agriculture (September 1999)
• The Liquid Nature of Gas: Or How to Capture a Fugacious Resource (April 2010)
• McClellan v. Granville Township Board of Supervisors (upholding the Nutrient Management Act) (2000)
• The Regulatory Drought: Farmer vs. Fish — An Examination of the Events Leading to California's Water Crisis (April 2010)
• What Every Farmer Should Know About Mining Law (February 2004)

Farmland Preservation/Land Use (Clean and Green, Conservation Easements, Zoning, etc.)

• Agricultural Conservation Easements (August 2004)
• Agricultural Zoning (August 2001)
• Cases Interpreting Pennsylvania’s Clean and Green Act (December 2002)
• Citing Controversies and Developments in the Void of Wind Energy Siting Policy: A Focus on Pennsylvania and New York (April 2010)
• Clean & Green: Tidying Up the Farm Tax Subsidy (2010)
• Condemnation of Agricultural Security Area Farmland (September 1999)
• Eastern Farmland Preservation Techniques: An Assessment
• The New Jersey Highlands Act: Is It "Taking" Too Much From Landowners? (April 2009)
• Overview of Regional Planning (July 2004)
• Pennsylvania ’s Clean and Green Program
• Researching and Recording Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Conservation Easements
• To Trigger or Not to Trigger?: The Imposition of Roll-Back Taxes under the Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act (May 2012)
• Transfer of Development Rights (June 2004)
• Understanding Pennsylvania’s Agricultural Security Area Law (.rtf format) (July 2003)
• Zoning Benefits for the Family Farmer (2004)

Food Law

• Bringing the Cow to Court: The Future of the Legal Battle over Raw Milk (April 2009)
• Differences in Response by the Federal and State Governments to the Needs of Individuals with Celiac Disease (April 2010)
• Eliminating the Middle Man: Potential Legal Requirements and Considerations for Pennsylvania’s Farmers’ Market Vendors (May 2012)
• The Farm-to-School Movement from Grassroots to Top-Down: The Legislation Supporting It and How Government Can Continue to Cultivate its Growth (May 2012)
• The Food Safety Enhancement Act: Adjusting Food Safety Procedures for the 21st Century (July 24, 2009)
• Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food: Government Promotion of Local Food (April 2010)
• Liability Concerns for Farmers Involved in Direct Marketing of Farm Products (August 2003)
• Liability for Milk Cleanliness — Tanker Truck Transportation of Milk (June 2001)
• Liability on Farm Products — Food Safety (October 2005)
• Menu Labeling Laws: The Right to Nutritional Information? (April 2010)
• Milking It: Raw Milk and its Various Legal Challenges (May 2011)
• Of Vegetables and Mathematics: The Possibilities and Potential Pratfalls of Implementing a Nationwide Immersion Based Nutrition Education Program in American Schools (April 2010)
• Pennsylvania Wine Import and Shipment Information
• Raw Milk: An Examination of the Reasons for its Disparate Treatment in the United States and Canada (December 2009)
• Raw Milk Regulations (April 2009)
• The Realities of Organic: An Examination of Its Past, Present, and Future (April 2010)
• Roll Sushi Roll: Defining “Sushi Grade” for the Consumer and the Sushi Bar (2011)
• A Science Based Endeavor: Interpreting Contamination Prevention in the Food Safety Modernization Act (2012)
• Urban Beekeeping: What Is All the Buzz About? (February 2010)

Intellectual Property/Biotechnology

• Basic Trademark Information for Farm Marketing (2006)
• The Controversy over rbST Milk and Absence Labeling (2011)
• A Guide to Plant Patents for Pennsylvania’s Growers (December 2002)
• Impacts of Genetically-Modified Crops and Seeds on Farmers (November 2001)
• Should the European Union Proceed with the Implementation of New GMO Rules? (January 2011)

International Trade

• The Doha Round: Objectives for Trade and Agriculture (August 2008)
• Summary and Explanation of the U.S. — Canada Lumber Dispute

Labor Law

• Agricultural Employers Required to Comply with Pennsylvania’s New Hire Reporting Program (1998)
• Agricultural Laborers: Their Inability to Unionize Under the National Labor Relations Act (May 2011)
• Labor, Farms, and Immigration: Alien Life on the Farm (April 2009) 
• Proposed Changes to Child Labor Laws Cause Scare to Farmers (May 2012)

Real Estate Law

• Agricultural Alternatives: Understanding Agricultural Liability (2011)
• Government Acquisition of Private Property (June 2000)
• Landowner’s Liability for Land Users and Statutory Protection for Landowners (June 2001)
• Liability of a Landowner to Habitual Trespassers (July 1999)
• Pennsylvania Fence Law
• Understanding Negligence Liability Against Rural Landowners (July 2010)
• Understanding Public Utility Takings (2006)

Right to Farm/Nuisance Law (Incl. ACRE)

• The Agriculture, Communities and Rural Environment Act: Protecting Pennsylvania's Agricultural Operations from Unlawful Municipal Regulation (May 2010)
• Farm Protection from Nuisance Lawsuits
• Fruit of the Vine: Understanding the Need to Establish Wineries’ Rights Under the Right to Farm Law (2011)
• Horne v. Haladay: Upholding the Pennsylvania Right to Farm Law (July 1999)
• Pennsylvania Nuisance Law (June 2000)
• Understanding Pennsylvania Act 38 (August 2005)
• Understanding “Right to Farm” Laws (1999)

Miscellaneous

• Agricultural Disparagement Statutes: An Overview (April 2010)
• Divorce and the Pennsylvania Family Farm (2006)
• Equine Liability Law Fact Sheet (March 2009)
• Estate and Tax Planning for the Family Farm: A List of Resources and Links to Tax and Planning Experts (June 2006)
• Liability for Farm Machinery Travel on Public Roads (June 2001)
• State Regulation of Dairy Pricing and the Dormant Commerce Clause (December 2009)
• Understanding the Federal Commodity Checkoff Program (April 2010)