Utah Law To Protect Ag Land
From Lawsuits Is Little Used

OGDEN, Utah —(AP)— Few Utah farmers and ranchers have taken advantage of a 1994 state law intended to protect them from neighbors who do not like the sounds and smells of agriculture.

As of last month, only 17,652 acres had been registered with the Utah Department of Agriculture as being in agriculture protection areas. That's less than one-fifth of one percent of the more than 9.6 million agricultural acres Utah had in 1992, said Larry Lewis, department spokesman.

And, 12,000 of the acres now protected are in one ranch in Iron County, said Iron County Clerk David Yardley.

Only 14 areas were registered with the state in February, although there may be more. County clerks are supposed to inform the state agriculture department of each new protection area.

"At this point we're not sure all the counties are doing it," Lewis said.

The protection areas are intended to prevent farms and ranches from being devoured by urban sprawl. The law allows agricultural producers, either singly or in groups, to apply to county governments to have their land declared an agricultural protection area.

The designation limits government regulation on farm-related activities and limits neighbors' ability to file suit for farm-related nuisances.

Box Elder and Weber counties only this year adopted procedures for farmers and ranchers to apply for the designation. In Box Elder, two protection areas already have been declared.

Kurt Zundel, a dairy farmer near Fielding, said he acted quickly when he learned about the law because the owner of a neighboring property had applied for the zoning to develop a small subdivision.

"It was just what we needed," he said. "We immediately got hold of the county recorder and got the ball rolling."

Now that his protection area is in place, anyone who wants to buy property within 300 feet of Zundel's will learn that the farm is protected from regulation and lawsuits arising from normal farm activity, said Kim Christy, vice president of public policy for Utah's Farm Bureau.

"It requires acceptance of any inconvenience and annoyance; it has to be broadcast on subdivision information for future buyers," he said.

This year, legislators broadened the agriculture protection law to correct what Christy believes was an oversight in the original legislation four years ago.

If Gov. Michael Leavitt signs House Bill 74, cities and towns would win the right to allow agriculture protection zones. The bill was sponsored by Eli Anderson, D-Tremonton.

The state needs to do more to protect its food supply, Lewis said. "We're growing houses on land that is better suited for growing our food. We need to recognize where that high quality food-growing land is and set it aside and put the houses somewhere else," he said.