Location: United States

Employment Payroll Tax Basics

The rules governing payroll taxes can be complex. Payroll taxes are generally calculated as a percentage of the employee salary. Farms that employ workers must withhold money from their employees’ paychecks, timely submit withheld amounts to the appropriate tax authorities, and file payroll tax returns with state and federal agencies. This guide outlines what payroll taxes are, and how and when to pay them.  After reading this guide you will know:

  • what are payroll taxes and who is responsible for paying them
  • the different types of payroll taxes
  • the special exemptions given to agricultural employees

New England Food Policy Advocacy Guide

This guide is designed to provide organizations and advocates with information, support, and inspiration to promote policy changes that build a more robust and resilient regional food system. The report is intended as a tool to guide individuals, organizations, coalitions, agencies, and policymakers to pursue supportive public policies and remove policy barriers. It was developed by American Farmland Trust, Conservation Law Foundation, and Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group.

Copyright Law Basics

Copyright law can seem complicated. But it’s simply a law that says that if you create something, then you own it.  For businesses, copyright can apply to things you use everyday such as graphics used on websites and in advertising or blog content. Get to know how to create and protect your copyrights. This guide examines how to protect your own copyrighted materials and avoid improper use of copyrights belonging to others.

FAQs About the Produce Safety Rule

The Produce Safety Rule (PSR) imposes new requirements on farms to ensure the safety of produce consumed by humans. But New England farms tend to be small and to sell directly to consumers. Therefore, New England farms are more likely to be exempt from the Produce Safety Rule or eligible for a Qualified Exemption.  Qualified Exemption limits the obligations of a farm under the Produce Safety Rule. This Lightning Guide answers questions small farmers may have about the Produce Safety Rule.

Operating a Sole Proprietorship

As the owner of a farm or food enterprise, you choose how you want to operate it. Choosing the right business structure is important because it affects many aspects of your company.  For example, it can influence tax treatment, exposure to risk and liability, and personal control over the business.  New farmers or food entrepreneurs often operate as sole proprietors.  This legal guide discusses the features and obligations of operating your business is as a sole proprietorship.

How to Choose a Business Structure: A Decision Tree

As a farmer or food business, choosing a business structure is an important decision with important implications for your business and your personal liability. This decision guide, developed by Conservation Law Foundation, walks you through the different business structures you can consider and weighs the advantage and drawbacks of each option. This guide is a great starting point for businesses thinking about what business structure is right for you.

Liability Waivers for On-Farm Activities

Farms often host activities that bring visitors onto the farm, such as school farm visits, volunteer days or agritourism. Such events offer valuable opportunities to increase income and raise awareness of the farm. But, accidents happen — particularly to visitors unfamiliar with hazards typically found on a farm.  Farmers frequently are advised to have visitors sign liability waivers. But how can a liability waiver reduce a farm’s legal responsibility?  Can they reduce the farm’s risk of liability and potential lawsuits against the farm if a visitor is injured? This legal guide discusses how to use liability waivers, what they can accomplish and what to include in a well-drafted liability waiver.

Deciding on the Right Structure for Your Business

Selecting a business structure is one of the first decisions when starting a food or farm business.  The structure you choose influences day-to-day operations, how you pay taxes and even how much of your personal assets are at risk.  This Lightning Guide introduces farmers and food entrepreneurs to different types of business structures.  You’ll learn about:

  • sole proprietorships,
  • general partnerships,
  • limited liability companies (LLCs), and
  • corporations.

The guide compares business formation requirements, liability and taxation for the different structures.  Use this handy guide to begin your exploration into the business structure that is right for you.

Introduction to Trademarks

Your business offers fresh, high-quality produce and value-added foods and has built a good reputation in the community.  But, can you protect your “brand” — the good-will and trust you have developed for your business?  Can you prevent competitors from riding on the coattails of your good reputation?  Learn to use strong trademarks effectively. This Lightning Guide sets out how to obtain and protect your trademark and how to identify trademark infringement.

Protecting Your Intellectual Property

This webinar, presented by CLF Senior Fellow and attorney Mary Rose Scozzafava, provides an overview of trademark and copyright law for food entrepreneurs and farmers,. If you are proud of the brand you’ve built and want to understand how best to protect it, this webinar is a great starting point. The webinar includes introductions to the following topics: (1) trademarks, including registering, using, and enforcing your trademark; (2) copyright; (3) patent; and (3) trade secret.

Governing Nonprofit Organizations

Although being involved with a nonprofit organization can be fulfilling, both personally and professionally, the law and best practices regarding its governance can be confusing. This webinar, presented by the Harvard Transactional Law Clinics, provides a brief introduction to nonprofit and charitable organizations, and addresses the duties and responsibilities for running such an organization including the role of the Board, management, and ongoing Massachusetts and U.S. filing responsibilities.

FSMA Produce Safety Rule: Selected Topics

This webinar provides a useful overview of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, presented by Rhode Island attorney Sumana Chintapalli and University of Rhode Island food safety expert Lori Pivarnik. It is a good starting point to become better acquainted with the Produce Safety Rule. The webinar includes an overview of the requirements under the rule, key definitions to know, activities covered under the rule, and how to determine if your farm is covered by the rule or exempt from it. It also reviews the requirements for agricultural water, biological soil amendments, domesticated and wild animals, and record keeping. Finally, it covers the timeline for compliance.

Agricultural Easements

Learn more about key legal issues related to agricultural easements that farmers and other landowners should consider, with a focus on Maine. This webinar, presented by attorney Beth Boepple of BCM Environmental & Land Law, includes the key legal issues related to agricultural easements. The webinar covers what agricultural easements are, what you can and can’t do on your property after you have an agricultural easement, possible benefits and drawbacks of this type of easement, who can hold an agricultural easement, and what the value return for your land could be with an easement.

Please Note: The speaker experienced some technical difficulties advancing her slides for the first third of the presentation. Viewers may consider listening to this webinar rather than also watching the visuals, to avoid confusion.

Student Loan Basics for Farmers

Student loan debt has become a significant obstacle for young farmers who are trying to make a living in agriculture. This webinar, led by Erica Kyzmir-McKeon, former CLF Senior Fellow & Attorney, and Deanne Loonin, Attorney at the Project on Predatory Student Lending at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, discusses the different types of student loans and how borrowers can deal with them. The webinar begins with the basics of understanding your loans, including how to determine the type of loans you have and a review of types of federal loans and loan servicers. The webinar then discusses managing repayment, avoiding or getting out of loan default, and loan cancellation.

Setting up Your Food Policy Council

What options are available for Food Policy Councils in terms of structure, group composition, and the decision-making process? How can you ensure that your FPC’s work reflects your community’s needs? Hear from Sara Dewey (CLF) and Andrea Freeman (MA Public Health Association) on these topics and more in our webinar, Setting up Your Food Policy Council: Getting Started With Governance. The webinar provides an introduction to Food Policy Councils and then dives into key issues you need to consider when setting up or participating in a Food Policy Council, including building effective coalitions, structuring a Council and working toward a diverse and inclusive membership, and dividing up roles and responsibilities to get work done.

Food Policy Councils & Advocacy

What is food policy? How can Food Policy Councils shape it? And what is the current landscape of food policy advocacy in Massachusetts? Learn about these topics from Sara Dewey (CLF) and Brittany Peats (MA Food System Collaborative) in our webinar, Putting Food Policy Councils to Work: Advancing Food Policy in Massachusetts. The webinar will cover the following topics: (1) the basics of what Food Policy Councils are and what they can do; (2) an introduction to food policy and how Food Policy Councils can shape policy at all levels of government; and (3) updates about food policy in Massachusetts and opportunities for Food Policy Councils to get involved.