NE Right to Farm Legislation Update Set for Final Vote

Nebraska state senators are working on a revised bill that would expand agricultural producers’ protections under Nebraska’s 1982 Right to Farm Act. They’ve sent the legislation on to the final stage of the process. The North Platte Telegraph says Legislative Bill 227 deals with nuisance lawsuits against farms. Senators set a two-year time limit to file nuisance suit against a change in the way a farm or public grain warehouse operates. The bill’s author wants to give farmers and livestock producers more protection when they expand, in case their neighbors consider the expansion an intrusion into their quality of life. Current state law says no suits can be filed over any changes in an agricultural operation if the farm or warehouse already existed and wasn’t considered a nuisance before the change. The bill passed by a vote of 31-7 in the first round before passing in the second round 38-0 after an amendment was inserted that limits nuisance lawsuits to within two years of a supposed “offensive change” to an operation. The amendment says “no lawsuit shall be maintained” if filed after two years. The only way it would be allowed is if the suit is brought to enforce a previous court order telling the producer to correct a previous nuisance.