Posted January 21, 2014
The effort to repeal the Kansas law limiting corporate
farming operations has been dropped for the 2014 legislative session, according
to an article by the Topeka Capital-Journal available here.
Sen. Larry Powell (R-Garden City), chairman of the Senate
Natural Resources Committee, said a report from the “Kansas Judicial Council
recommended potential modification of the state’s statute to avoid potential constitutional
issues, but the council did not endorse wholesale repeal.” Powell said, “I have no plan to deal with it
unless leadership pushes me.”
During the 2013 legislative session, the Kansas
Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Farm Bureau urged the repeal of the
corporate farming law, arguing that it hinders investment in Kansas
agriculture, according to an article by the Hays Post available here.
The current state law, K.S.A.
2012 Supp. 17-5904, restricts corporations from engaging in production
agriculture in the state. Restricted
operations include large swine and dairy facilities, requiring a majority of
partners to be related and requiring at least one to live or actively work on
the farm. The law also limits the number
of stockholders allowed in a farming operation and requires all corporate farms
with land in the state to submit annual reports to the Secretary of State.
The “Kansas Agricultural Growth and Rural Investment
Initiative” was introduced last session and sought to allow “any agricultural
business entity to operate anywhere in the state.”
Those in favor of the change argue that the current law
is “keeping new agribusiness from coming to Kansas.”
Opponents, however, argue that “experience in other
states has shown that swine and dairy facilities are not significant job
creators.” They “point to reports that
the low-wage, high-turnover jobs that are created can be a net drag on local
communities, which can experience increased social service and public safety costs.”
For more information on corporate farming laws, please
visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
