Volume 22 | Issue 24

In a 6-1 ruling last Friday, the N.C. Supreme Court denied a constitutional challenge to North Carolina's right-to-farm law, which protects farmers against nuisance lawsuits. North Carolina Farm Bureau, along with the General Assembly and the Attorney General, intervened to defend the statute, which was challenged by the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help (REACH), North Carolina Environmental Justice Community Action Network, and Waterkeeper Alliance. Associate Justice Anita Earls, of Durham, was the dissenting vote.

In 2017, the North Carolina legislature passed H.B. 467 to clarify and strengthen the state’s Right to Farm laws to protect and ensure farming can continue in the state. The Right to Farm law was first passed in 1979, strengthened again in 2013, and further clarified in 2017 and 2018 after a federal judge allowed nuisance lawsuits to be filed against swine farms in federal court. However, as the appeals court noted last December, this law affects all of agriculture, not just the swine industry.

Read more about "The Fight for the Right to Farm" from the Fall 2018 NC Pork Report.

Deadline approaching for 2023 Lois Britt Memorial Industry Scholarship

Applications are now being accepted for the 2023 Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship. The scholarship is sponsored by CME Group and the National Pork Industry Foundation and managed and administered by the National Pork Producers Council. 

Ten $2,500 scholarships are awarded annually to current college students who intend to pursue a career in the pork industry and who exhibit characteristics representative of future pork industry leaders.

All entries must be submitted by Jan. 3, 2023 to be accepted.

Questions: contact Craig Boelling, NPPC Vice President of Resource Development, with questions about the scholarship.