The Right to Farm Law
Picture this, you have ranch that’s been in your family for generations, to subsidize the lean times you lease your land to pheasant hunters. Shouldn’t that be your right? Apparently not according to the Humane Society of the United States. I’m Susan Allen, when Open Range returns how some North Dakota farmers are playing chess with animal rights groups. Farmers and ranchers are realizing that Humane Society of the United States can be a force to reckon with . The group not to be confused with local humane societies or animal rescues was instrumental in a 2009 constitutional amendment in Ohio that required new livestock care standards, but North Dakota farmers who lease land for bird hunting think the HSUS has over stepped it’s bounds in backing a ballot proposal to ban fenced hunting preserves. In a preemptive move according to Drovers Cattle Network the North Dakota Farm Bureau is working to put a measure on the States June or November ballot that would state “The right of farmers and ranchers to engage in modern farming and ranching practices shall be forever guaranteed in this state. No law shall be enacted which abridges the right of farmers and rancher to employ agricultural technology , modern livestock and ranching practices”. Basically a right to farm law forever locked into a North Dakota’s constitution, a state that in 2000 overwhelmingly approved the right to hunt ,fish and trap. North Dakota’s “right to farm measure” protects agriculture and set the standards for other states. We’ll keep an eye on this one as it could set the course for other states.
