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Corporate Farming Laws

Overview

Several states have statutes or constitutional provisions that restrict the power of certain corporations to engage in farming or agriculture, or to acquire, purchase, or otherwise obtain land that is used or usable for agricultural production. Such legal provisions are commonly referred to as corporate farming laws, or anti-corporate farming laws. Most corporate farming laws are enacted as statutes rather than constitutional amendments. Nine states have laws that prohibit or limit corporate farming: South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas. Read the full overview

Note: Recently added resources are posted at the top of the applicable sections.

State Laws

North Dakota, N.D. Cent. Code §§ 10-06.1 through 10-06.1-2

Nebraska, Neb. Const. Art. XII, § 8

Kansas, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 17-5904

Wisconsin, Wis. Stat. § 182.001

Minnesota, Minn. Stat. § 500.24

Iowa, Iowa Code §§ 202B.101 through 202B.402

Missouri Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 350.015 through 316.015

South Dakota, S.D. Codified Laws §§ 47-9A-1 through 47-9A-23

Oklahoma, Const. Art. XXII, § 2

Oklahoma, Okla. Stat. tit. 18, § 951

Case Law

Note: Recently summarized cases are listed and linked in Recent Postings.

Case Law Index for Corporate Farming Laws

Center Research Publications

Market Concentration, Horizontal Consolidation, and Vertical Integration in the Hog and Cattle
Industries: Taking Stock of the Road Ahead (Pittman, 2005)

The Constitutionality of Corporate Farming Laws in the Eighth Circuit (Pittman, 2004)

Part I: An Overview of Organizational and Ownership Options Available to Agricultural Enterprises

(Goforth, 2002)

Reference Resources

Publications

Is There a Future for Legislative Involvement in Shaping the Structure of Agriculture?

(McEowen, 2003)

Court Again Declares South Dakota's Anti-Corporate Farming Law Illegal (Guebert, 2003)

Anti-Corporate Farming Laws, the "Goldschmidt Hypothesis" and Rural Community Welfare

(Welsh and Lyson, 2001)

Testing the Impact of Corporate Farming Restrictions on the Nebraska Hog Industry

(Matthey and Royer, 2001)

Anti-Corporate Farming Laws as Environmental Policy (Thompson, 1997)

Corporate Farming Laws: A Policy Dilemma for States (Royer, 1995)

Does I-300 Work? (NebraskaStudies.org)

Reorganizing U.S. Agriculture The Rise of Industrial Agriculture and Direct Marketing

(Welsh, 1997)

Two Issues in Corporate Agriculture Anti-Corporate Farming Statutes and Production Contracts

(Haroldson, 1992)

Additional Resources

Anti-Corporate Farming Laws (U. ND)

Anti-Corporate Farming Laws in the Heartland (Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund)

Anti-Corporate Farming Laws Benefit Rural Community (Friends of the Constitution--I300.org)

Agriculture--Banning Corporate Ownership (NewRules.org)

Corporate Agribusiness Research Project (CARP)

Recommended Publications and Readings (not freely available electronically)

Validity, Construction, and Application of State Constitutional and Statutory Provisions Regarding

Corporate Farming, 125 A.L.R.5th 147 (Pittman)

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