SGLF Releases Study on Importance of Right-to-Farm

Washington, DC- The State Government Leadership Foundation (SGLF) today released a new study on right-to-farm statutes in America. The study follows the digital ad campaign on the benefits of right-to-farm legislation that the SGLF launched in Florida earlier this month. There is currently legislation being considered in the Florida legislature that would reduce the threat of nuisance lawsuits and make it easier for farmers to navigate the difficult times they are currently facing.

The SGLF’s right-to-farm study examines the agriculture and legal landscapes in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Florida. Key findings show that some states have instituted their right-to-farm statute to properly protect farmers, while other states have faced legal challenges that have diminished the strength of the protections their statutes provide.

“As evidenced by the study, states better protect their food supply when they make commonsense right-to-farm reforms,” said SGLF Deputy Executive Director Casey Dietrich.  “With the number of farms declining in the US, farmers and producers are increasingly vulnerable to being victims of frivolous lawsuits. Reducing the threat of these lawsuits will make it easier for farmers to navigate these tough times, which will benefit our country’s agriculture industry overall.”  
 

Highlights From The Study

•  States that suffer from weak, outdated, and faltering right-to-farm statutes put their farmers at risk.
•  The law functions as intended when it is maintained, updated, and addresses changing conditions and environments.
•  Right-to-farm has been largely successful in states like Louisiana, whose proactive mentality should be seen as a model for other states.
•  Florida ranks high on the lists of states that nurture their right-to-farms laws and is another model state in the country.
•  Problems with right-to-farm legislation are strikingly evident when states fight to catch up with the changing times, instead of proactively updating the law to address current and future challenges. 
•  States could see their farmlands and woodlands taken over and subsumed by urban developments, industries run out of the state, and be hit with a large economic void that was once filled by farmers, if they do not constantly search for improvement to add protections for industries in their states.

Read the full study here. 

ABOUT SGLF

The State Government Leadership Foundation (SGLF) develops conservative policies and supports principled state leadership to tackle America’s immense challenges. No matter what happens in Washington, D.C., SGLF believes that both the right leaders and forward-thinking solutions are found in state capitals across the country. SGLF promotes good governance and conservative principles, including: limited government, low taxes, less regulation, individual liberty and opportunity for all. SGLF is a 501 (c)(4) social welfare organization and a strategic partner of the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), the nation’s largest organization focused entirely on electing state Republicans.

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