THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURAL LAW: A GENERATIONAL SHIFT

摘要

The observation "farmin' ain't what it used to be" is so commonplace as to be cliche, as agriculturalists likely have been making it since the first humans began cultivating soils to grow selected plants approximately ten to fifteen thousand years ago. Those making it in recent years, however, may be more accurate in that assessment than any of their predecessors. Economic, demographic, environmental, and regulatory trends point to a convergence of factors that will likely result in significant structural changes in America's production agriculture sector in both the near future and for decades to come. These changes will not only affect the way production agriculture does business; they will also impact the legal needs of producers and, indeed, mayimpact the policy environment as a whole. This will trigger a host of needed adaptations for practitioners, scholars, and policy-makers operating within the realm of agricultural law.