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States Try to Stem the Tide of Corporate Ag Ownership

ElliotPhotos
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Flickr Creative Commons

A movement has been growing across the nation over the past decades—an interest in building an agricultural system that benefits family farms and rural communities. A system that isn’t controlled by large, corporate interests. Nine states have passed laws restricting corporate farming, says the Center for Rural Affairs.Oklahoma has the oldest corporate farming law in the nation, dating back to the state’s inception in 1907.

The original Oklahoma law prohibited all corporate ownership of agricultural production. But the statute has been weakened by court challenges over the years. The law now exempts all corporate livestock ownership and production, for example. Corporate land ownership is now also allowed under limited circumstances.

Kansas and Nebraska have also attempted to restrict corporate farming over the years. These laws protect family farms and ranches from the threat of unfair competition.