Bill To Enhance Ag Protection
Advanced By Colorado Lawmakers

DENVER —(AP)— A bill intended to protect farms and ranches from being sued by people who do not like living near them was approved by a state legislative committee last week.

The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 4-3 for the measure by committee member Sen. Ken Chlouber, R-Leadville.

Chlouber said Senate Bill 43 would strengthen the state ``right-to-farm'' law. The legislation, which will go to the full Senate, would require courts to make the loser pay the winner's court, attorney and expert fees in a lawsuit claiming an agriculture operation was a nuisance.

Chlouber conceded the proposal has created ``a bit of heartburn'' among trial lawyers and advocates of stronger regulation of large hog farms.

The bill also generated strong protest from two committee members, one of them an eastern Colorado farmer. Sen. Mark Hillman, R-Burlington, said the bill, while intended to protect farmers and ranchers, could penalize family ag operations fighting large corporate operations.

A 1981 law attempts to protect farmers and ranchers from being harassed by people who move near them and then complain about odors, dust, traffic and other byproducts of ag operations. It declares existing operations cannot be considered a nuisance.

Since then, other states have adopted similar laws, some of them much stronger. A 1996 Colorado law allows counties to enact their own right-to-farm ordinances.

The laws, however, do not prevent disgruntled neighbors from suing farmers and ranchers. Conflicts have increased as more people have moved from the growing urban areas into the country and former ag land is carved into subdivisions.

Larimer County officials responded to misunderstandings between farmers and urban refugees by publishing the handbook ``Code of the West ... the Realities of Rural Living.'' The book warns that farmers often work around the clock during harvest and planting and that animals and their manure can stink.

Hillman and Sen. Terry Phillips, D-Louisville, questioned what would happen if a family farmer sued a large, corporate-backed ag operation over a legitimate complaint. Phillips said the prospect of having to pick up the bill for the other side might scare off the owner of the small farm.

Hillman said huge hog farms have cropped up near longtime family farmers in eastern Colorado. ``You have some who are good neighbors and some who are not-so-good neighbors.''

What happens to the ``little old lady'' who has farmed in the area for a long time and is having problems with the new, giant operation next door? he asked.

``She pays her money, she takes her chances and goes to court. Now she pays her money, takes her chances and then pays somebody else's money, too,'' Hillman said.

Colorado Farm Bureau spokesman Ray Christensen said the benefits might outweigh the risks.

``It reduces the potential for lawsuits, and in agriculture that's a plus,'' he said.

Colorado Counties Inc. also supports the bill, said spokesman Christopher Castilian.