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Ag law expert clarifies Iowa’s ag nuisance ruling

The Iowa Supreme Court has issued a key ruling on the constitutionality of Iowa’s embattled right-to-farm statute and how future ag nuisance lawsuits might be dealt with.

The director of the Center for Ag Law at Iowa State University, Kristine Tidgren, says the decision is a victory for livestock producers, in one respect.

“The plaintiffs really wanted the court to say that the statute—the right-to-farm statute that was at issue—was just unconstitutional. They wanted the court to basically eliminate that protection for ag producers—and the court didn’t do that,” Tidgren says.

But the decision does not prevent ag nuisance lawsuits from being filed and livestock producers may still have to prove they are operating within the law, she says.

“This does give them more protection because the court did affirm that, ‘yeah, that statute can be valid’. But it’s not something that can be decided on summary judgement. It’s going to have to be after some fact-finding, which again is costly.”

However, by requiring plaintiffs to provide more proof of negligence or a violation of the law, the ruling may help deter the filing of unsupported claims, Tidgren says.

AUDIO: Kristine Tidgren

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