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Bird, Jacobsen & Stevens, P.C.
Ironwood Square Building
300 Third Avenue SE, Suite 305
Rochester, MN 55904

507-282-1503 | Contact Us

Agricultural Law and Farm Claims

The field of agricultural litigation covers a variety of issues that routinely arise on modern farms. This includes stray voltage, defective milking equipment, adulterated feed, defective feeding equipment, defective dairy and hog confinement buildings, herbicide and pesticide claims, and defective heating and cooling systems. In order to effectively practice in this area of the law, the attorney you select must have knowledge of the science and economics involved in modern farming and access to the top specialists in each field.

View more information on some of these fields:

Stray Voltage
Defective Farm Equipment and Defective Farm Buildings
Adulterated Feed
Veterinary and Nutritional Malpractice
Herbicide/Pesticide Claims

Farmers that make claims against utilities and other corporations hire high-powered defense attorneys and “expert witnesses” that always blame the farmer as the cause of his/her damages. This means that the knowledge and experience of your lawyer is of utmost importance regarding issues relating to electric currents, electrical distribution systems, animal diseases, animal nutrition, agronomy, feeding systems, feed storage systems, milking practices, milking equipment, farm structures and hog confinement facilities.

Bird, Jacobsen & Stevens has that experience and knowledge. Bird, Jacobsen & Stevens has an extensive library of books and other materials related to these topics and have access to numerous top experts at universities and in private practice. We also have successfully handled many complex agricultural loss cases to jury verdict and in the appellate courts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and in other state and federal courts.

Stray Voltage

“Stray voltage” or “stray current” is a phenomenon recognized and proven in recent years to have devastating adverse impacts on farms and farm animals. Stray voltage is caused by electric current running through the farm and can have either off-farm or on-farm sources. The off-farm source is almost always the electric utility serving the particular farm affected. This can come in the form of either steady state current or through transient spikes in electricity. The utilities always vigorously fight these cases and always blame the farmer for any damages that are suffered.

Damage from stray voltage is hard to detect and hiring the right persons for evaluation and testing is important. While stray voltage can affect any animals, dairy cows have proven to be particularly susceptible to electric current. The scientific literature supports the conclusion that the dairy cow’s immune system is adversely affected by stray voltage, leading to a variety of problems, such as mastitis, hoof problems, loss of milk production, reproductive loss, and death loss.

Because the immune system of the cow is compromised by electric current, numerous pathogens that would otherwise not affect the cow are permitted to flourish. Veterinarians and nutritionists often treat just the symptoms or just the specific disease that they diagnose, without seeking and eradicating the underlying cause of the immune suppression. Commonly, the farmer seeks the advice of his normal professional consultants, who then attempt the usual, well-accepted methods of eradicating a problem. Sometimes these solutions work, but only temporarily. More problems are encountered or those that exist become resistant to any form of treatment. In the case of mastitis, the farmer’s milking practices and procedures, which have not changed, become suspected as a cause of increased somatic cell count. Sometimes farmers make management decisions that make matters worse while seeking solutions, without knowing or realizing that the underlying cause is an immune suppression problem caused by stray voltage.

Bird, Jacobsen & Stevens has represented many farmers suffering from stray voltage. We understand the law and the science and know how to take on large utilities in the courts.

Defective Farm Equipment and Defective Farm Buildings

Defective farm equipment and buildings can cause serious economic loss for today’s modern farmer. Bird, Jacobsen & Stevens have handled many of these cases, including silos, silo unloaders, feeding systems, curtains in confinement and dairy barns, temperature controls, teat dip, milking equipment, milk-line washing equipment, computer-controlled feeders and milkers, 3-phase electric converters, and ventilation fans and controls.

Adulterated Feed

Farm animals have special dietary requirements. This is especially true with dairy cows and hogs. Modern farmers most often hire nutrition professionals to help them determine rations for feeding. Problems with feed most often come in one of four areas: (1) the ration on paper (that is, the recipe selected by the nutritionist) is wrong for the animals, (2) the ingredients in the ration are defective (spoiled, moldy or lacking nutrients), (3) the ration as mixed isn’t the same as the paper ration, or (4) palatability – that is, the animals won’t eat the feed. Another concern is that animals, particularly beef and dairy cows, can “sort” through feed – that is select certain parts of the mixed ration and leave the rest in the bunk.

Feed concerns on farms can result in a variety of problems for the farmer, all of which can affect production and reproduction.

High energy feeds can sometimes result in a condition known as “acidosis” in which the acid concentration in the stomach exceeds optimum levels. Ruminant animals (cattle and sheep) are most often affected by this condition. This shows up usually in the feet and legs first with abscesses and sores, and can result in death when the animals are unable to stand.
Lack of certain essential vitamins and minerals can also affect production and increase incidence of reproductive problems.
Moldy and spoiled feed is a major concern. Mold cannot always be seen on visual inspection, so the nutritionist should test feed if mold is suspected. Mold itself may not harm the animal, but can adversely affect palatability and thus lower feed intake and cause “off-feed” conditions. Mold is the substrate for toxins in feed, including aflatoxin, zearalanone, vomitoxin, T-2 toxin, tricothecene, and ochratoxin.
It is important to decrease the incidence of rapid changes in the ration, in order to give the animals the ability to effectively transition from one diet to another.
Testing feed for nutrient content is especially important and most nutrition professionals do such testing as a matter of course.

Bird, Jacobsen & Stevens has tried to verdict and settled many cases involving feed related issues. We have the attorneys and staff capable of handling all of the issues and document management necessary to obtaining a successful result in this type of commercial and economic loss claim.

Veterinary and Nutritional Malpractice

Veterinarians and nutritionists, like everyone else, occasionally make mistakes. When this happens, farmers can suffer economic losses. With extensive experience in agricultural related cases Bird, Jacobsen & Stevens has the knowledge to help you recover your economic losses stemming from veterinary or nutritional malpractice.

Herbicide/Pesticide Claims

Misapplication of herbicide and pesticides can result in economic losses and devastating personal injury. Elevators sometimes erroneously apply glyphosate to corn that is not genetically modified to permit such application. Applying anhydrous ammonia and other chemicals with sprayers in a windy situation can result in “drift” that can kill adjacent livestock, damage other crops and cause personal injury to humans. Mistakes are made by custom applicators, including misreading labels, formulating erroneous combinations and concentrations of chemicals, and using faulty application equipment. Bird, Jacobsen & Stevens has experience in handling claims like these.