Maryland Farm Bureau-Led Legal Effort Upholds Maryland’s Right-To-Farm Law

Maryland Farm Bureau-Led Legal Effort Upholds Maryland’s Right-To-Farm Law

DAVIDSONVILLE, MD  – Maryland Farm Bureau (MDFB) applauded an Appellate Court of Maryland ruling, supported by a MDFB-led amicus brief, that affirmed right-to-farm (RTF) provisions protecting a farm’s ability to use modern nutrient management techniques without the threat of litigation.

“Maryland introduced a Right-to-Farm law in 1981 to shield agricultural activities from complaining non-farm neighbors by providing a defense for nuisance actions brought against farms and other agricultural operations,” said Maryland Farm Bureau President Jamie Raley. “Maryland Farm Bureau initiated the appeal of the Talbot County case to protect the RTF for our farmer members. We are pleased that the Appellate Court of Maryland upheld the RTF and brought clarity and certainty to the law.”

The May 30th ruling, In the Matter of Cheryl Lewis, et al., written by Judge Glenn T. Harrell, Jr., affirmed the principle that Maryland’s RTF law broadly shields farmers and their operations from vexatious lawsuits. Maryland’s RTF law protects farm operations from litigation asserting that the farm is a nuisance or that a farm interferes with others’ use of their property, as long as they are utilizing standard agricultural practices.

In this case, the Circuit Court for Talbot County had previously reversed a Talbot County Agricultural Resolution Board ruling that a particular Talbot County farm was protected by Maryland’s RTF law. The Circuit Court decision had questioned a suspected discrepancy in the law, setting a dangerous precedent that could allow farmers to be sued while following normal agricultural practices. However, Judge Harrell’s May 30th ruling overruled the Circuit Court opinion and found that the Talbot County Agricultural Resolution Board had made the correct decision.

When Maryland’s General Assembly modified the RTF law in 1998, it “contemplated a scenario like the one at issue here: an expanded nutrient management system,” Judge Harrell wrote. “That regulation does not require a particular agricultural operation to exist for one year in order to enjoy liability protection.”

As the state’s largest agricultural trade organization, the Maryland Farm Bureau submitted and financed a friend-of-the-court brief in the appeals process arguing that the RTF law rightfully covered the farm in question. Maryland Farm Bureau’s brief was financially supported by the Delmarva Chicken Association and signed onto by Maryland Grain Producers Association, Fred R. Moore & Sons, Inc., Maryland Forests Association, Inc., Maryland Horse Council, Maryland Nursery, Landscape, and Greenhouse Association, Inc., and Horizon Farm Credit.

Click here to read Judge Harrell’s May 30th ruling.

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