Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals heard a challenge to the Indiana Right to Farm Statute.  In Himsel v. Himsel, the court held the statute was constitutional. Factual Background Sam Himsel has farmed in rural Hendricks County, Indiana, for his entire life.  In 2012, he and his sons decided to form 4/9 Livestock to start raising hogs.  They located their hog farm on property that had been in their family for over two decades and had been used for agriculture since at least 1941. The family planned to construct… Read More →

There have been several court decisions lately across the country related to states’ Right to Farm statutes.  These cases provide good examples of the types of claims that can arise against a farm operation and also illustrate the differences between each state’s Right to Farm Act. Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Right-to-Farm Act was at issue in Burlingame v. Dagostin, 2018 WL 1530690. Since 1955, the Dagostin family has operated a farm in Luzerne County.  Up until 1990, it was a dairy, but then was switched to a beef farm.  In… Read More →

In recent weeks, the big buzz in agricultural law was a verdict in North Carolina, finding a Smithfield Foods subsidiary liable for nuisance and awarding $50 million in damages to neighboring landowners.  Today, we will take a look at that case, discuss why the Right to Farm statute did not apply, and consider how this might have played on in Texas. Background Smithfield Foods and subsidiary Murphy Brown, LLC contracts with a number of hog farmers in North Carolina to raise pigs.  Each farm raises the animals, but… Read More →