Agriculture Law "Infoline" Available for Maryland Farmers

BALTIMORE, Md., June 2, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Agriculture Law Education Initiative has recently launched an Infoline phone number for the agricultural community to call. The Infoline phone number directs callers to legal information resources related to their agricultural operation. The Infoline, (410) 706-7377, is answered by staff at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.  "A central goal of the Initiative is to assist in the preservation of family farms. The Infoline will help link family farmers with useful resources to further this goal," says Barbara Gontrum, associate dean at Carey Law.

"This important step is a testament to our sincerity in providing resources and guidance for Maryland's agriculture community," says Moses Kairo, PhD, dean of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.  "The Infoline will be another tool to connect the Maryland agricultural community with access to legal information to guide them in managing their operations."

Cheng-i Wei, PhD, dean and director of the University of Maryland, College Park College of Agriculture and Natural Resources notes that "the Infoline will be a valuable resource to the Maryland agricultural community by being able to connect callers with legal information to help agricultural producers better understand their legal issues."

In 2011, the Maryland General Assembly gave the University System of Maryland a new assignment: preserve Maryland's family farms by helping their owners address the complicated legal issues associated with agricultural estates and trusts, regulatory compliance, and other agricultural law issues.   The Infoline will run as an initial 6-month pilot to gauge its effectiveness in servicing Maryland's agriculture community.  To learn more about the Agriculture Law Education Initiative please visit us at http://www.umaglaw.org.

The Agriculture Law Education Initiative is a collaboration under University of Maryland: MPowering the State. The Initiative combines the expertise and efforts of three distinguished Maryland institutions - the Francis King Carey School of Law at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. It is committed to providing Maryland farmers with the information they need to prosper while complying with the complex network of laws and policies protecting the integrity of the state's food system and environment. 

About MPowering the State
The University of Maryland: MPowering the State brings together two universities of distinction to form a new collaborative partnership.  Harnessing the resources of each, the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore will focus the collective expertise on critical statewide issues of public health, biomedical informatics, and bioengineering. This collaboration will drive an even greater impact on the state, its economy, the job market, and the next generation of innovators.  The joint initiatives will have a profound effect on productivity, the economy, and the very fabric of higher education.

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SOURCE University of Maryland