UC law student plants seeds of hope for community farmers

When her family farm started raising hops for craft brewers, University of Cincinnati College of Law student Hannah Scott (2L) quickly learned the challenges of a rural business owner. And like brewers adding hops to flavor beer, Scott is adding a much-needed J.D. to her hometown.  

Farmers in particular battle tricky regulatory language and strict laws to simply open their business or sell their products. And these regulations can often change. 

Experiencing these challenges firsthand fueled Scott’s decision to become a lawyer. Her hometown in Brown County, Ohio, is populated by small businesses and farmlands–an area where legal aid is limited.

In addition to standard licensing and food processing regulations, Scott explains, “the United States Department of Agriculture estimates a large percentage of agricultural land in the US is about to change ownership as many farmers are reaching retirement age. Terms of land ownership and succession planning have significant implications for farmers.”    

After years of managing most aspects of her family's farm business, she says, “I kept finding myself thinking that it would be great to have a lawyer who really understands agriculture and rural communities.”

Scott received her bachelor’s degree in sociology at Duke University, and her master’s of science degree in rural sociology at The Ohio State University (OSU).

At OSU she studied the sociology of agriculture and researched interest groups that engage federal agricultural policy. Scott researched the structure of the contemporary agricultural interest group community, examining which groups participate in policy making, how they participate, and whether their participation creates policy engagement niches.