At first glance, the current “Right to Farm” bill before the Georgia General Assembly appears to be protection for farmers who want to avoid law suites from urbanites who are moving to rural areas; but some opponents of the current legislation say that the changes to Georgia’s decades-old “Right to Farm” law is only a protection for large agri-business and offers little protection for small farmers and rural residents.
Most agricultural organizations in the state, like Georgia Farm Bureau and the Georgia Poultry Federation, support the changes in the new bill that would shorten the time allowed for people to sue over things like animal waste and water pollution problems.
However, some see the bill as opening the door for what is termed “CAFO” operations. That’s an acronym for “confined animal feeding operations”, such as large-scale hog and poultry operations that are owned by major corporations instead of family farmers.
House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman Robert Dickey III told members of his committee that lawmakers need to pass House Bill 1150 to clarify Georgia law to make clear that no farmers could be sued for a nuisance after their farms have been operating for more than a year.
“That’s what this bill is about, is just trying to give farmers some protection to farm their land like they’ve always done it, when you have some neighbors who might move in and have a little different opinion,” Dickey, a Musella Republican told the committee.
Others worry that the new bill could open the door for corporate-run farms to hurt the property values and way of life for rural residents and say that the bill is being pushed by the corporate meat industry to shield large-scale producers from lawsuits from potentially harmful activities.
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