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Full-Text Articles in Law

Demanding Supply: The Bioenergy Farm Lease’S Critical Role In Biomass Supply Chain Optimization, A. Bryan Endres, Elise C. Scott Mar 2014

Demanding Supply: The Bioenergy Farm Lease’S Critical Role In Biomass Supply Chain Optimization, A. Bryan Endres, Elise C. Scott

A. Bryan Endres

As the bioenergy industry in the U.S. expands to meet increased demands for transportation fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard and electrical power under state Renewable Portfolio Standards, farmers will seek the ability to grow dedicated, high-yielding energy crops of a perennial nature on leased property. Given the large amount of farmland in the U.S. that is leased, such contributions will represent a significant, though currently not well understood, portion of the biofuel industry supply chain. Through the use of contracts as governance schemes, the parties to a bioenergy farm lease can navigate three key areas of such a lease: …


Community Supported Agriculture And Community Labor: Constructing A New Model To Unite Volunteers And Employers, A. Bryan Endres, Rachel Armstrong Sep 2013

Community Supported Agriculture And Community Labor: Constructing A New Model To Unite Volunteers And Employers, A. Bryan Endres, Rachel Armstrong

A. Bryan Endres

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a farm philosophy and marketing strategy that creates a union between consumers and farmers. Extending beyond the traditional buyer-seller relationship, CSA farmers invite customers to participate in food production in a variety of scenarios the authors refer to as “community labor.” But community labor entails a serious paradox. Traditional employment law doctrine envisions autonomous competition between laborer and employer, and makes little room for these novel, community-based relationships. More importantly, rigid application of employment law structures undermines many of the values embedded in the CSA movement and may limit its continued viability and growth. Constructed …


Frayed Seams In The "Patchwork Quilt" Of American Federalism: An Empirical Analysis Of Invasive Plant Species Regulation, A. Bryan Endres, James S.N. Mccubbins, Lauren D. Quinn, Jacob N. Barney Sep 2012

Frayed Seams In The "Patchwork Quilt" Of American Federalism: An Empirical Analysis Of Invasive Plant Species Regulation, A. Bryan Endres, James S.N. Mccubbins, Lauren D. Quinn, Jacob N. Barney

A. Bryan Endres

Increased demand for biomass feedstocks to meet renewable energy mandates will require development of newer, bigger and better plant resources. Ideal biomass traits–fast growth and ability to outcompete local vegetation, prolific seed production, adaptability to a variety of soil and climatic conditions, and resistance to pests and diseases–also typify invasive flora. Next-generation biofuel feedstocks may be more productive and profitable at the individual farm level, but also may pose a greater risk of becoming invasive, thereby damaging the broader ecosystem and the economy. Accordingly, the agronomist’s search for yield maximizing biofuel crops for deployment into novel agricultural production systems and …


Building Bio-Based Supply Chains: Theoretical Perspectives On Innovative Contract Design, A. Bryan Endres, Jody M. Endres, Jeremy J. Stoller Sep 2012

Building Bio-Based Supply Chains: Theoretical Perspectives On Innovative Contract Design, A. Bryan Endres, Jody M. Endres, Jeremy J. Stoller

A. Bryan Endres

By 2030, the United States will consume over 300 million tons of forest and agricultural feedstocks for energy production. The supply chain necessary to provide unprecedented quantities of new “bioenergy crops,” however, is fraught with uncertainty. The vertically integrated model the nascent sector currently uses may have limited opportunity for expansion to meet renewable energy mandates. A hybrid structure is likely to emerge as the industry evolves, in which end-users closely cooperate with a large number of heterogeneous producers through long-term contracting rather than as direct owners or operators of biomass farms. This “vertically coordinated” industry model is dependent on …


Necessity Is The Mother, But Protection May Not Be The Father Of Invention: The Limited Effect Of Intellectual Property Regimes On Agricultural Innovation, A. Bryan Endres, Carly E. Giffin Apr 2012

Necessity Is The Mother, But Protection May Not Be The Father Of Invention: The Limited Effect Of Intellectual Property Regimes On Agricultural Innovation, A. Bryan Endres, Carly E. Giffin

A. Bryan Endres

Standard innovation theory assumes that intellectual property protection is a prerequisite to the development of technological advances. Stretching back to the writing of the Constitution, a strong intellectual property system, comprised of both laws that establish intellectual property protection and a judicial or other adjudicative system to enforce the property right, has been considered necessary to stimulate innovation for the benefit of society. While not directly challenging this traditionally held belief, the authors used empirical data to test the assumption in the context of agriculture. This paper analyzed twenty years of agricultural production data from Argentina, Brazil, China, India, and …


Homeland Security Planning: What Victory Gardens And Fidel Castro Can Teach Us In Preparing For Food Crises In The U.S., A. Bryan Endres, Jody M. Endres Jan 2009

Homeland Security Planning: What Victory Gardens And Fidel Castro Can Teach Us In Preparing For Food Crises In The U.S., A. Bryan Endres, Jody M. Endres

A. Bryan Endres

Food security is an essential element of comprehensive government crisis response plans. The absence of a terrorist attack on the agricultural sector, however, has been “more by luck than design” and the American public has a false sense of food security due to the invisibility of its complicated food supply chain. Current planning efforts, grounded in the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 and a series of Presidential Directives, rely exclusively on the status quo of conventional agriculture and neglect the potential security benefits of regional and local food networks. Two historical examples, the World War II Victory Garden program and Cuba’s …


The Legal Needs Of Farmers: An Analysis Of The Family Farm Legal Needs Survey, A. Bryan Endres, Stephanie B. Johnson, Donald L. Uchtmann, Anne H. Silvis Jan 2009

The Legal Needs Of Farmers: An Analysis Of The Family Farm Legal Needs Survey, A. Bryan Endres, Stephanie B. Johnson, Donald L. Uchtmann, Anne H. Silvis

A. Bryan Endres

In post-modern agriculture's increasingly complex operating environment, the literature lacks a comprehensive analysis of the legal issues facing today's farm operators from the perspective of the farmer. Numerous scholars (included the authors) have analyzed various specific legal/policy issues and their impact on the agricultural community. This article, however, adopts a unique bottom-up approach in which the family farmers, rather than scholars or practitioners, identify their actual legal needs. Derived from the Family Farm Legal Needs Survey conducted by the authors with the support of the Illinois Bar Foundation, this article fills a critical gap in the literature and will enable …