A special agriculture roundtable discussion took place on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. The goal was to highlight a recent wave of nuisance lawsuits in the state targeting hog farms.
Lawmakers and agricultural leaders discussed the growing threat to farmers and how out-of-state lawyers are using nuisance lawsuits to get around states’ right-to-farm laws. The discussion included the economic impact of these lawsuits on the rural economy and America’s farmers.
American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall told the gathering that these suits pit neighbor against neighbor and communities against each other. “The regulations need to be on trial lawyers,” he says. “We need to let our farmers and ranchers do what they do best, which is feed the world. They aren’t a nuisance. They deserve a fair shot to grow and succeed.”
North Carolina Farm Bureau President Larry Wooten says he’s very concerned about the scars left over in North Carolina and in rural communities because of these lawsuits.
North Carolina Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler says these nuisance lawsuits won’t stop at animal agriculture. “If we don’t do something about it now, there’s not a farm in America that won’t be affected,” Troxler says.
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.