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.
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