Family Farm Friday #5: Our Right to Farm

"The farm just won't get tended if the farmer isn't here, and these amber waves of grain might just disappear." ~Merle Haggard


As I mentioned on a previous blog, I recently had a law review article published about Right to Farm statutes. I realize that most of you are not going to sit down and read my entire article, so I figured I'd sum up the issue for today's blog.
You've heard the song, "Daddy Won't Sell the Farm" right? The story told by that song is the reason we have right to farm statutes. Here are the important lyrics......“His cows get loose and run right through the fast food parking lots, and Daddy gets calls from the mini-malls when they're downwind from his hogs. When his tractor backs up traffic, the reception ain’t too warm. The citys growing around him, but Daddy won't sell the farm.”

This problem is becoming more and more prevalent in the US. Our population is growing and people are moving from cities to the open spaces in the country. A problem develops, however, when the people who move to the country looking for peace and quiet don't know anything about agricultlure and the practices that we use. And you know what? Most people don't know! Did you know that the average American is 3 genertions removed from the farm? That means these people have never lived on a farm, and have never even gone to visit their grandparents on the farm! And did you know that less than 2% of Americans are directly invovled in production agriculture? This lack of understanding can spell disaster for producers if we are not careful.

The new neighbors don't understand why tractors are driving slowly down the highway, why you are bailing hay before the sun comes up, why the steers that were just weaned are keeping the up all night, why there is dust from the corrals when you work cattle, why you are spreading manure on the corn field and making it stink....and the list goes on and on.


My favorite stories that I came across on this issue involves complaints made to a dairy and a feedlot. The neighbor called up the dairy farmer next door becuase he was concerned the farmer was abusing his cattle. When the farmer asked how they were being abused, the caller explained that he could see their udders were all swollen, and that must have been the cause. The feedlot situation arose when the neighbor demanded that the feedlot should wash all of their cattle daily to prevent the smell.
These are the types of things that people from the city honestly just don't know. When they don't understand, sometimes they file nuisance lawsuits seeking monetary fines (which are bad enough!) but even more serious, injunctions to keep you from using the essential practice that they find bothersome.

At the most basic level, nuisance law says that you can't use your property in a way that interferes with another person's enjoyment of his property. You can see where the problem comes in for farmers! Luckily, all states enacted Right to Farm laws. These laws say (mind you they are all different and contain different provisions so I'm just giving the basics here) that if the farm was there first, and the neighbor moved to the area, then the neighbor can't keep the farmer from farming, so long as the farmer is not being grossly negligent. These laws, while critically important, are not that well publicized or known about. Those of us involved in production agriculture need to be aware of the law in our state......one day, we may need to use it!


Obviously, communication with and education for these neighbors are our first line of defense....if we talk to them and explain what we are doing, a lot of this mess may be avoided. One dairy farm I read about sent out monthly newletters to neighbors telling them about what was going on at the farm and giving then a chance to voice concerns and express any opinions. They even included a scratch and sniff patch that smelled like manure in one of these letters to help people understand what they were smelling!


However, sometimes you run into those people who talking doesn't work for. If that ever happens, knowledge of your state's right to farm law is a little weapon you might need to pull out of the arsenal one day.


If anyone is interested, I will be happy to mail or email you a copy of my article, which focuses on the specific provisions incuded in laws across the US that are important in order to protect family farmers.