Interpreting economic assistance programs–especially when they’re coming fast and furious–is challenging. Perhaps you have questions about labor and responsibilities to employees. Maybe you’re considering entering a lease (as lessee or lessor; bonus points if you can remember which of those does what in the arrangement!). To help orient you, answer general questions, or take a deeper dive, there are some good online ag law resources available.

One good resource is Farm Commons. https://farmcommons.org/

Farm Commons receives public funding (largely through USDA) and provides extensive written and video resources on legal aspects of business structures, employment, land matters, contracts, and insurance, among others. They’ve also been churning out resources specific to COVID-19 (example archived webinar title: Labor in the Time of Corona: Understanding Oregon Farm Employment Law During COVID-19). To download certain resources, you will need to create an account (yeah, another password to generate and remember), but it’s probably worth it.

Another good resource is The National Agricultural Law Center. https://nationalaglawcenter.org/

The National Agricultural Law Center is also publicly funded (again, through USDA) and is housed at the University of Arkansas. The website includes such resources as individual state law compilations, “reading rooms” on different topics (like Agritourism, Water Law, etc.), recent ag law and food news, and a COVID-10 resource library. Note that, while the Center’s website does have an extensive glossary, there’s plenty of legalese here. This is an excellent resource if you want well-organized links to federal or state statutes of interest.