ABSTRACT
Complaints and legal actions by neighbors and consumers about production methods and offensive smells led production interest groups to propose three groups of legislative ideas. The first was anti-nuisance laws to address unfair situations, where neighbors used nuisance law to enjoin longstanding farm practices. Second, some state legislatures adopted product disparagement laws so that a false statement about an agricultural product could lead to liability for resulting economic injuries. More recently, a few states adopted “ag-gag” laws that make it illegal to release inflammatory photographs and videos of conditions at an agricultural facility without the consent of the property’s owner.
