Agriculture

Entity Selection and General Corporate

How you set up your farm or agriculture operation can have a lasting impact on how you do business.  We will help you in all stages of the life cycle, from selecting and structuring an appropriate entity, to raising capital to support the entity’s growth, to executing a successful exit strategy or transfer of control to the next generation of the family owners.  Read more here.

Environmental Compliance

Environmental regulations from at the federal and state level have a lasting impact on agricultural operations.  Our team can provide help with issues around the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, underground storage tanks, the handling of solid and hazardous waste or compliance pesticide and herbicide regulations.  Read more here.

Estate Planning and Succession Planning

Ensuring that your agricultural operation is ready for the next generation is critical.  Vorys provides a full range of estate planning services designed to meet your personal, economic and tax planning goals.  Our basic estate planning services include preparing wills, revocable trusts, financial powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney and living wills.  Our lawyers also have experience in succession planning for owners of farms and agricultural operations, including inter-generational strategies to transfer wealth and control.  Read more here. 

Financing

Agriculture is big business, whether a family farm or an agricultural services provider, operations require significant cash flow to maintain and grow.  We negotiate, prepare and review numerous forms of loan and financing documentation, including credit facilities for working capital, long-term and acquisition purposes.  We also advise our corporate clients in all types of real estate financing and leasing as well as equipment leasing.  Read more here.

Economic & Tax Incentives

Local, state and federal economic development incentives can assist agricultural operations in expanding and even help funding new construction projects.  Vorys is at the forefront of the new Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) program, a part of federal tax reform, which ultimately may provide agricultural producers to take advantage of a new potential source of capital for their businesses and real estate developments located in QOZs.  Read more here. 

Real Estate

Real estate is critical to most farmers and agricultural producers and Vorys has deep experience assisting clients with countless real estate projects, such as financing, acquisition, sales, zoning, land use, construction, development and leasing.  We also assist our agriculture clients with property management agreements, title issues and issues surrounding jointly-owned farm property.  We advise clients on farm property designated as “agricultural district,” including the reasons for and against designating farmland as an agricultural district and discussing the risks and penalties for taking property out of agricultural district designation.  We assist agricultural clients with real estate transactions involving state grants, such as the Clean Ohio Fund.  Read more here. 

Contracts & Commercial Agreements

In the agriculture world, products and services are produced, bought, sold, leased, licensed, delivered and inspected on a daily basis.  All of these transactions involve some form of contract between the parties to the transactions.  We help you ensure your contracts meet your expectations, maximize efficiency, minimize cost, appropriately address and allocate risk.  Our lawyers learn your businesses, expectations and desired outcomes.  Our team then strategizes with you on methods to achieve the most advantageous contract terms and help complete the contracting process so that you and other contracting parties have a clear understanding of their rights and obligations.  We can provide you with contract counsel on the entire realm of contracts, including those related to government subsidies and set-aside programs.

Eminent Domain

Vorys has significant experience representing farmers in cases all over the state when the government uses its power to take farmland through eminent domain related to road projects, flooding, pipelines and utility easements.  Our team understands the tactics of governments at municipal, county, state and federal levels and knows exactly what to expect.  Read more here. 

Taxation

Whether you are dealing with the tax treatment of real estate transfers, the valuation of your real property, public utility tax or business income tax, you can count on the lawyers at Vorys to protect your interests.  Our lawyers focus on working to identify and implement planning opportunities, to explain tax consequences, and to develop appropriate approaches to state and local tax issues.  When disputes arise, our team vigorously defends our clients in tax audits and seeks to develop creative approaches to resolving tax disputes.  Read more here. 

Labor & Employment

Agricultural operation owners and managers are the first line of defense against exposure to costly employment litigation.  We assist companies and managers in anticipating and preventing employee relations problems through education, training and counseling.  We also assist our agricultural clients in preparing and implementing personnel policies designed to minimize potential liability and establish best practices.  We also draft employment manuals, drug and alcohol testing policies, and other documents regulating the workplace.  We also provide training so that our clients’ supervisors and managers act in ways that comply with the law.  We help our clients to create, implement and amend employee benefit plans and we assist our clients in securing employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visas for their workforce.  Read more here. 

Intellectual Property

Vorys offers a full suite of intellectual property services that focus on the needs of farmers and agricultural operators.  From trademarking names and logos to assisting with patents related to processing, development, production and packaging, our team will guide you through the complex strategic planning, sensitive negotiations and other important details of intellectual property protection.  We also work with the creators of intellectual property to ensure that their efforts do not infringe the rights of others.  Read more here. 

Litigation 

Vorys has the experience to assist agricultural operators in every imaginable kind of dispute, whether it is related to business agreements, nuisance issues, ownership of abandoned railroad corridors, utility easements or licenses, adverse possession, personal injury, environmental, employment, construction water/flooding and other business/property disputes or losses.  Read more here. 

Appellate

Vorys regularly monitors agriculture-related litigation in appellate courts across the country to ensure that we, and our clients, are knowledgeable about important new developments in agriculture law.  In addition to successfully litigating appeals from our own cases, Vorys has filed amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs on behalf of clients in state courts, including the Supreme Court of Ohio, and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, to ensure that the interests of our agriculture clients are fully considered and represented in key cases.  Read more here. 

Bankruptcy

Whether your operation, or your suppliers or customers, are facing financial difficulties, the Vorys bankruptcy team can assist.  We can provide agricultural operations with guidance on in-court and out-of-court debt restructurings, asset protection and recovery and debtor/creditor matters.  Read more here.