“Right To Farm Law” Battle In Western New York

The next time you are on a drive through a farming community, or planning to move to the country, there is an important New York State law you should be aware of.

The summer is rolling on and there is nothing like a good road trip or Sunday drive to help relax or to add to the excitement of the weekend. New York State is blessed with rolling hills, and plenty of wide open spaces. Contrary to popular belief, New York State is more than just New York City. There are thousands of acres of farmland that help to feed the people in the Empire State and beyond.

Many of these farms are owned and worked by families who have worked them for generations. Through wars, droughts, inflation and high prices, farm families ion New York State have pressed on. They deserve our thanks, and our respect.

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In a recent post on the Nextdoor app, a person was calling out their neighbor for the work they were doing in their fields. The farm has been in the Town of Boston, New York for generations and, like all farms, requires work nearly year round. The complaint was that the farmer was "tearing up the fields" and creating a mess and dust that affected this person's house!

This brought a massive response and many were using the New York State Right to Farm law as reference. This is also a law that is broken down by county. The farm in this case is located in Erie County in Western New York. The law reads that: " Farmers, as well as those employed, retained or otherwise authorized to act on behalf of farmers, may lawfully engage in agricultural practices within Erie county at all such times and all such locations as are reasonably necessary to conduct the business of agriculture".

The argument against this farmer was that the dust was falling onto the neighbor's home and property. And while we can assume that the farmer did not intend to make a mess for the neighbor, the law says: "Such farming activities may include, but not be limited to, activities that cause noise, dust, fumes.."

This is an ongoing issue in many small towns as people move from city or village areas to the rural and country farmland. While there should always be a good balance and respect going both to the farm and the new neighbors, you can't complain about something (or someone) that has been in place for generations doing the work that need to be done to feed the community.