Reading Tea Leaves and remembering the Drive Through

To Paraphrase the Philosopher Leo Getz of Lethal Weapon 2 , they get you at the drive through because they know you miles away before you realize you have been gotten. Keeping an eye on emerging case law and divining what those events might mean to the ag sector is as important to the long term stability of the ag sector as farm bill payments and CRP signup rates.
In North Dakota, pipelines have been just as legally entertaining there as it has been in Iowa. In a set of litigation events, a natural gas company ended up using federal laws to push through a eminent domain claim. By using federal law, the federal appeals court said the federal rules about attorney fees controlled, not the more favorable state laws regarding landowners rights to attorney fees. While it is limited to a narrow issue, the implication is quite broad.
Part of determining when to fight and when to fold is who carries the legal cost. However, the secondary effect that companies can seek federal laws that are more favorable that state level protections undercuts the concept that we have a limited federal government.
The limits of the federal government, with all rights not expressly granted to them by the people and the other rights granted to the state by the people, seems to be under erosion and attack. With an industry that relies on a federal government to set rational trade policy , tax policy and provide assurances of a safe products to its consumers, ag is already deeply impacted by the federal government. Removing the underpinnings of each state being able to set its policy for its citizens does not serve the interests of ag.
For example, Iowa has a state wide system for citing hog buildings. It was crafted after a period of litigation and competing ideas at the county level. Imagine having that set back distance, manure management plan and permitting process set as side when an out state interest uses federal standards to achieve its objectives. What good then, is the idea of fifty state each exercising the laws and regulations as their citizens desire and demand?
Draw the parallels between hog buildings and data centers. Lots of ideas about those concepts are being kicked about through out the nation. What is acceptable in the wind swept plains is not nearly the same as what works in the crowded narrow confines of the east. One size does not fit all.
Its not just about attorney fees in North Dakota, expansion of federal power is clear. The US Mail has moved from a neutral background event to a another political lever to pull to meet federal political objectives, likewise for FEMA. Targeted and selective enforcement of criminal provisions against those who seek alternative outcomes to stated policy objectives is nothing new, but the blatant pay to play atmosphere reminds me of the gilded 1920s. Most politicians apparently prefer cash for pardons and not a near new combine with updated yield monitors. How can agricultural interests of less than giant scale stay seated at the table?
It doesn’t take an AI search supported by a data center to remember what happed to ag after the 1920s (which itself wasn’t all that kind to ag).