Senate Judiciary reviews S.45 changes that shift nuisance burden and limit trespass protection for farms

The Senate Judiciary Committee on May 20 reviewed S.45, legislation that would revise Chapter 195 (the state's Right-to-Farm law) to change when agricultural activities qualify for nuisance protection and to narrow some protections for farms.

Michael Green, legislative counsel, walked the committee through differences between the Senate- and House-passed texts. He said the House version retains the bill's core finding that ordinary farming activities generally should not be treated as nuisances but adds several new qualifications, including a requirement that a person asserting protection be in "good standing" with enforcement authorities and that certain concentrated animal feeding operations subject to corrective-action permitting cannot claim protection under generally accepted agricultural practices.

The committee heard that the House text removes any reference to trespass protection that had appeared in the Senate version. "There's no protection for trespass in the House-passed version,"…