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Senate Judiciary reviews S.45 shifting burden in 'right to farm' disputes
Summary
Committee counsel described S.45 as a rewrite of the state's right-to-farm language that would move the burden of proof onto plaintiffs, define "generally accepted agricultural practices," and require a sworn mediation statement before nuisance or trespass suits proceed.
The Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed S.45, a proposal to change how Vermont law treats nuisance and trespass claims against agricultural operations by shifting the burden of proof to plaintiffs and adding a mediation requirement, Legislative Counsel Mike Grady told the panel.
The bill would replace the current rebuttable presumption protecting farms with language that, when an agricultural activity is conducted "in accordance with generally accepted agricultural practices," the activity "shall not be or become a nuisance or trespass." Grady said the draft defines those practices to include state water-quality requirements, the Agency of Agriculture pesticide rule and "practices conducted in a manner consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards followed by similar operators of agricultural activities in the state." He warned the precise content of those customs would be litigated until courts develop precedent.
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