"The decision to create the Center, now more than twenty years ago, was certainly the right decision. As agriculture has evolved over the last quarter century, legal issues have gotten bigger and their impact has gotten broader. . . . Your work can bring predictability and equity in every day dealings in unchartered areas where agriculture is moving."

USDA Secretary Mike Johanns speaking at the
National Agricultural Law Center, April 2007.

In 1987, Congress recognized the University of Arkansas School of Law for its "unique expertise in the area of agricultural law" and called for the creation of the National Center for Agricultural Law Research and Information at the Law School. Since then, the National Agricultural Law Center has been funded with federal appropriations through the National Agricultural Library, an entity within the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The National Agricultural Law Center is the only agricultural law research and information facility that is independent, national and international in scope, and directly connected to the national agricultural information network. The Center has expanded the scope of its coverage to include food law as it recognizes the expanding scope of agricultural law and its convergence with food law topics. The Center is staffed by a team of law and research professors, lawyers, other specialists, and graduate assistants from the University of Arkansas School of Law Graduate Program in Agricultural Law.

In early 2003, pursuant to Congressional directive, the Center established a close working relationship with the Drake Agricultural Law Center at Drake University School of Law in Des Moines, Iowa. The blend of the Center's national and international agricultural and food law focus and Drake's concentration on state and local food policy issues has formed a creative environment of sharing that generates activities and projects designed to reach all members of the agricultural and food law communities.

The Center's Mission

The National Agricultural Law Center is the nation's leading national and
international resource for agricultural and food law research and information.

Research

The National Agricultural Law Center conducts legal research into the most critical issues facing agriculture and food today. Based on this research, the Center publishes online articles, notes, case summaries and other publications by leading agricultural law scholars and attorneys from across the country and the world. These publications are also included in online Reading Rooms organized by agricultural and food law topics.

Information

The National Agricultural Law Center serves as an agricultural and food law information center affiliated with the National Agricultural Library. Its website provides access to Center publications and serves as a gateway to agricultural law resources on the Internet. The Center maintains an agricultural and food law collection in the Young Law Library at the University of Arkansas School of Law, adds cataloging to the agricultural database, AGRICOLA, and prepares and disseminates research bibliographies. In addition, the Center participates in the online agricultural reference network AgNIC.

Education

Graduate Program in Agricultural Law: The National Agricultural Law Center's Graduate Assistantship Program allows the Center to use the valuable research and writing skills of a selected group of students enrolled in the Graduate Program in Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law. These lawyers are provided with both financial assistance and excellent work experience in researching and writing on important current and future issues confronting agricultural law. Center staff occasionally teach courses in the Graduate Program, sharing their expertise and the knowledge gained through their specialized agricultural and food law research.

Journal of Food Law and Policy: The National Agricultural Law Center helps support the Journal of Food Law and Policy, the new law journal published by the University of Arkansas School of Law and the first student-published law journal focused on food.

The National Agricultural Law Center participates in the Agricultural Network Information Center (AgNIC). This site is reviewed for accuracy and updated every six months.