The Banks Law Firm, PLLC, of Little Rock, Ark., has given a gift to the National Agricultural Law Center to create a premier legal education series focused on southern agricultural producers and to help promote the twenty-fifth anniversary of the center.

The educational series will consist of a series of webinars, in-person producer workshops, and several publications covering topics such as food animal agriculture, the farm bill reauthorization, federal crop insurance, agricultural bankruptcy, and environmental regulation.

"We are proud to help support the National Agricultural Law Center and hope that our support encourages other donors to continue supporting the great work of the Center as well," said Chuck Banks.

Created in 1987, the National Agricultural Law Center mission is to serve as the nation's leading source of agricultural and food law research and information. The center accomplishes this mission through a variety of research, information, and education activities conducted on a national scale. It is the only agricultural law research and information facility that is independent, national in scope, and directly connected to the national agricultural information network. The center serves the nation's vast agricultural community, which includes producers, federal and state policymakers, extension personnel, attorneys, and others.

The Banks Law Firm concentrates a portion of its practice on representing agricultural producers. Because he comes from a long farm background, Chuck Banks has represented the interests of farmers in a variety of agricultural matters, including his representation of more than 300 rice farmers and farming entities in litigation against Bayer CropScience LP when genetically modified rice infiltrated the U.S. rice supply and depressed farm level prices.

As part of the gift, Grant Ballard, associate attorney at the Banks Law Firm, will serve as a Research Consultant to the National Agricultural Law Center and assist in the center's national research and information activities.

The National Agricultural Law Center has recently published two articles written by Mr. Ballard relevant to farmers' interaction with the federal crop insurance program, The Federal Crop Insurance Program:  Administration, Structure and Operation and Filing a Crop Insurance Claim: An Overview for Producers. These articles and others can be found on the center website at http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org.