Written by: Joel McKie, Esq. and JD Howard, Esq. A North Carolina jury just dealt a major blow to a farmer and potentially to farmers across the nation this past April. Jurors awarded ten landowners near a hog farm over $50 million in damages. The suit alleged that these landowners lived near a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (“CAFO”) that was licensed to hold 14,688 hogs. The Plaintiffs alleged that the odors

Written by: Joel McKie, Esq. For owners of broiler grow-out houses, the decision to make upgrades to their facilities at the demand of a poultry integrator can be very difficult.  On one hand, the value of a grower’s farm and in many cases, the grower’s livelihood is inextricably connected to the continued operations of the broiler grow-out houses.  However, further investment (and in some cases debt) into broiler grow-out houses

Written by: JD Howard, Esq. In the most recent legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly passed House Bill 205, which takes steps to safeguard our state’s natural resources by regulating the extraction of oil and gas through hydraulic fracturing. Governor Nathan Deal signed the bill and it is now set to go into effect on July 1, 2018. The impetus behind the bill’s creation is interest in the Conasauga Shale Field

Written by: Joel L. McKie, Esq. On Tuesday, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed SB 458, a bill that modifies Georgia’s conservation use property tax abatement program (commonly known as “CUVA”). The bill, which modifies O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4, goes into effect on July 1, 2018. Georgia’s CUVA program generally allows natural or naturalized citizens, qualifying estates and trusts, and family owned farm entities to often pay lower property taxes where they agree

Written by: Joel McKie, Esq.  Over the years, the Georgia General Assembly has enacted multiple laws to protect landowners from claims by parties who have been injured while on their property for recreational purposes. These acts have largely been enacted to incentivize property owners to allow others to use their property for hunting, fishing, and agritourism purposes. The most commonly known statute is Georgia’s Recreational Property Act (“RPA”). Enacting in 1965,