Who controls your farm data? NALC webinar examines emerging state laws
Oct. 1, 2026
By Phillip Powell
National Agricultural Law Center
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Fast Facts
- Oct. 21 webinar hosted by National Agricultural Law Center
- Program will explore data ownership and monetization among stakeholders
- Free registration is available online
(341 words)
Download PHOTOS of D. Reed Freeman and Karen Ellis Carr
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As agricultural technology continues to generate increasing amounts of data, questions surround who owns that information, who can use it and who may benefit financially from it are increasingly important. A webinar hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center will help to answer some of those questions.
The webinar, titled “Agricultural Data Rights: A New State Law Landscape,” will examine how new state laws are addressing agricultural data ownership and monetization rights among various participants in the agricultural technology creation and usage chain.
The one-hour, online event will begin at 11 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, Oct. 21. It is free and open to the public.
Registration is available online through the National Agricultural Law Center at https://snip.ly/2pd5qx.
Presenters will include D. Reed Freeman, chair of the Privacy Practice Group at ArentFox Schiff, and Karen Ellis Carr, chair of the firm’s Agriculture & AgTech Industry Group.
Freeman and Carr will discuss the evolving state law landscape and how legal rights related to agricultural data are being allocated among producers, landowners, lessees, original equipment manufacturers, seed companies, aggregators and technology providers.
“Data has become an increasingly valuable component of modern agriculture, with information generated through equipment, precision agriculture technologies and other digital tools playing an important role in agricultural operations,” said NALC Director Harrison Pittman. “As states develop new approaches to agricultural data rights, understanding how those laws affect different participants will be increasingly important. We are thankful to have Reed and Karen explaining the issue.”
Freeman brings experience advising clients on privacy, data security, regulatory compliance and data-related disputes. Before entering private practice, he served as a staff attorney in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and as a chief privacy officer and vice president for legislative and regulatory affairs for an online advertising company.
Carr counsels, advocates and litigates on behalf of agriculture and food companies and industry groups, with a focus on agricultural technology, biotechnology, pesticides, environmental law and other regulated technologies. She advises clients on data use and compensation disputes, regulatory matters and litigation involving agricultural technology.
About the National Agricultural Law Center
Created by Congress in 1987, the National Agricultural Law Center serves as the nation’s leading source of agricultural and food law research and information. The NALC works with producers, agribusinesses, state and federal policymakers, lenders, Congressional staffers, attorneys, land grant universities, students, and many others to provide objective, nonpartisan agricultural and food law research and information to the nation’s agricultural community.
The NALC is a unit of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and works in close partnership with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Agricultural Library.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land-grant education system. The Division of Agriculture is one of 22 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture offers
all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without
regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or
veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally
protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media Contact:
Phillip Powell
ppowell1@uark.edu