Does your town support its agricultural businesses? In western New York, the Erie County Farm Bureau is hoping that all towns in the county say “yes” by passing a local right-to-farm law. 

In 2005, then Erie County Farm Bureau President Hans Mobius challenged the county Farm Bureau Board to encourage all Erie County towns to pass a right-to-farm law. Today, 16 of the 25 towns have passed laws. “I’d like to see every town in the county have the opportunity to protect agriculture through establishment of local right-to-farm provisions and administer these through a right-to-farm committee,” said Mobius.

A local right-to-farm law is one tool that a town can use to help create a supportive environment for farms. Right-to-farm laws document agriculture’s importance to a town, make it known to town residents that generally accepted agricultural practices occur there, and can create a dispute resolution process for farm-related conflicts. 

In Erie County, the Farm Bureau Board sent letters to every town supervisor requesting their support for a local law, and then followed that with direct contacts by Farm Bureau members.  Once a right-to-farm law is passed, town officials have been recognized and presented with a plaque at a town board meeting. Media have been asked to attend to publicize the town’s support of agriculture and signs are often placed at the town edges to identify that the town has a right-to-farm law. Towns are also encouraged to form a right-to-farm committee to oversee land use conflicts and promote agriculture in the town. Mobius sees this committee as one way to involve farmers in their local government and garner town support for local agriculture.