Some lawmakers in Austin want to update a more than 40 year old law intended to protect farmers and ranchers from urban sprawl.
Back in 1981, the Texas Legislature passed The Right to Farm Act to “conserve, protect, and encourage the development” of agricultural land for the production of food and other products. However, in recent years, urban sprawl has meant that some ag producers are finding themselves being held accountable to laws and regulations from cities and municipalities they were not initially a part of.
In Austin, at a recent committee meeting, North Texas hay producer James Lockridge told lawmakers about the battle he’s fought the past several years. “Just one city alone has cost me over $150,000,” Lockridge said. “Farmers Branch, Texas mowed every single crop I had in 2021. And their reasoning is it's a nuisance.”
The Right to Farm Act contains a provision that allows entities to find farmers and ranchers if their operation poses a threat to the health and safety of the community. Now, lawmakers are looking to tighten that loophole.
House Bill 1750 proposed by Republican Representative Dewayne Burns would force cities and municipalities to prove there’s a long term effect on health and safety before issuing a citation or assessing a penalty.
“This bill would force those cities to prove there's an actual threat to public health,” Burns said. “A city would have to provide evidence that storing hay bales in a field is a threat to public safety. That limiting the height of an ag crop is addressing a legitimate public health concern.”
“This bill will put an end to the practice of extreme overreach on the part of some cities. They’re passing absurd ordinances aimed at forcing farmers, ranchers, and other agriculturalists to stop operating, move or cease production.”
Last month, at a committee hearing for the bill in Austin, several farmers and ranchers told stories about thousands of dollars in fines they’re been forced to pay.
Many, like John Paul Dineen III, the District 4 State Director for the Texas Farm Bureau, said the alleged “health affects” in farming communities are temporary. Dineen told lawmakers about a farmer in Bexar County, who had police called on him while harvesting corn because of the dust it produces. “During their discussion, the officer was called away. When the officer returned about an hour later, the corn had been harvested.,” Dineen said. “This is an example, and shows that oftentimes ag activities are temporary and not a nuisance or threat to public health.”
HB 1750 passed committee, and is heading to the full Texas House of Representatives for consideration. Representative Burns said he hopes lawmakers pass the bill, for all of Texas, not just farmers and ranchers. “This bill protects the family farm,” Burns said. “And the folks that used to live in a rural community but, through no fault of their own, now find themselves surrounded by new neighbors and new regulations.”
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