The farmer lawyer

 The day I closed on my 10 acres was one of the happiest days of my life. I wanted to keep my horses, get some cows, chickens, ducks, sheep, pigs, and build my dream farm. Being a “farmer” and a lawyer has really helped me see the practical issues of agriculture, cattle, farming and food production. Although I was born in Alaska to homesteading parents, and much of my childhood was spent in West Virginia with my extended family, I spent my formative years in the city and my farm is still very much a work in progress.  I call myself a "farmer" in quotation marks because I don’t have the responsibility of being a farmer for income. But, I do the work of being a farmer lawyer having had built my own three strand barbed wire fence with my kids, gotten a few cows back into the pasture, and raising animals. I am in awe of the entire agricultural and food production system and those who keep it going. That said, my first job is as a lawyer, and as a food and farm lawyer, my job is to make sure my clients are protected and that they are compliant with the local, state, and federal laws that impact their food and farm businesses. To that end, we offer a variety of services from startup to handing down or selling your farm or business, including:

• General Business services– see our small business page for more specifics
• Agribusiness
• Cottage food operations
• Restaurants, bakeries, food shops, mobile food carts/vans
• Meat and food production
• Advocacy, political, or nonprofit food and farm issues
• Environmental due diligence
• Farm leases
• Agricultural exemptions
• Family business related agreements and conflict resolution
• Transportation of animals, food, and flowers
• Food events and markets
• Cooperatives
• Equine operations
• Beverage law
• Meat packing and processing
• Policies and procedures for compliance and risk management
• Cattle and livestock
• Egg Sales
• Urban farm issues
• Flower/floral industry issues
• Beekeeping