Laura Lee
Is a Taylor Swift-themed corn maze considered agriculture? What about haunted houses, goat yoga, or turning your family farm into a wedding venue? These quirky yet serious questions opened the 10th annual Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference in Annapolis — where legal experts, farmers, and policymakers gathered to tackle some of the most complex and timely issues impacting Maryland’s agricultural landscape.
Hosted by the University of Maryland Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI), the conference brought together voices from across the agricultural, environmental, and legal communities. Over the course of five panels, attendees explored the growing legal gray areas in agriculture — from land use and liability protections to the ever-expanding world of agritourism.
“I went to a haunted house recently, and instead of being scared, I was just focused on whether it qualified as agritourism,” joked Jesse Richardson, JD, MS, professor and lead land-use attorney at the West Virginia University College of Law. His lighthearted comment reflected the deeper challenge at hand: As farms diversify to survive, the legal definitions of agriculture are being pushed — and tested — like never before.
The day kicked off with Richardson and environmental attorney Tony Gorski, JD, MSL, digging into recent updates to right-to-farm laws in Maryland and nationwide. Later, experts discussed how to regulate “value-added agriculture” — a term that includes everything from farm wineries and seasonal hayrides to corn mazes and pumpkin patches.
According to a 2020 Grow & Fortify report, value-added agriculture generates nearly 74,000 jobs and contributes more than $20.6 billion to Maryland’s economy each year. But as the sector evolves, so do the legal questions.
“[Agritourism] is something that not only we in the legal profession, but many of our ag economists and rural sociologists have been grappling with for years,” said panelist Peggy Kirk Hall, JD, MS, director of the Agricultural and Resource Law Program at Ohio State University. “It’s just trying to understand what is this thing that we’re calling agritourism, and how do we define it?”
ALEI, a University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State initiative that is a collaboration of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law at UMB; the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park; and the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, is uniquely positioned to lead these conversations.
“This year we’re excited to bring panelists who are experts at other institutions of higher education particularly related to value-added agriculture,” said Margaret Todd, JD, senior research associate at ALEI and managing director at UMB. “It’s a subject we’ve been struggling with here in the state of Maryland.”
Growing a New Generation of Ag Law Leaders
In the afternoon, the spotlight turned to food donations and liability protections for farmers. Kathleen Hoke, JD, MPH, professor at Maryland Carey Law and director of the Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy-Eastern Region, walked attendees through updates to federal Good Samaritan laws designed to reduce food waste and food insecurity.
For Olivia Scuderi, a first-year law student, the day was more than educational — it was personal. “I grew up in Montgomery County agriculture, and I would love to lobby for agriculture,” said Scuderi, who dreams of eventually taking over her family’s farm.
That connection between education and advocacy is a driving force behind ALEI’s mission. As Maryland Carey Law Vice Dean Deborah Eisenberg, JD, explained, “ALEI helps farmers across the state really understand the complexity of agriculture laws and do the right thing. Maryland Carey Law is committed to educating a pipeline of lawyers who will go out and practice agricultural law, whether representing farmers, being a solo practitioner in a small town helping a farmer down the street, or helping to implement laws in ways that are beneficial for farmers.”
