Corporate Farming Laws

Overview

 Several states have statutes or constitutional provisions that restrict the power of certain corporations to engage in farming or agriculture, or to acquire, purchase, or otherwise obtain land that is used or usable for agricultural production. Such legal provisions are commonly referred to as corporate farming laws, or anti-corporate farming laws. Most corporate farming laws are enacted as statutes rather than constitutional amendments. Nine states have laws that prohibit or limit corporate farming: South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas. Read the full overview

Note: Recently added resources are posted at the top of the applicable sections.

State Laws

Indiana, Indiana Code Ann. §§ 32-22-3-0.5 to 32-22-3-6
Iowa, Iowa Code §§ 9H.1 through 9H.5A
Iowa, Iowa Code §§ 202B.101 through 202B.402
Kansas, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 17-5904
Minnesota, Minn. Stat. § 500.24
Missouri Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 350.010 through 350.040
Nebraska, Neb. Const. Art. XII, § 8
North Dakota, N.D. Cent. Code §§ 10-06.1-01 through 10-06.1-27
Oklahoma, Const. Art. XXII, § 2
Oklahoma, Okla. Stat. tit. 18, § 951
South Dakota, S.D. Codified Laws §§ 47-9A-1 through 47-9A-23
Wisconsin, Wis. Stat. § 182.001

Case Law

Case Law Index for Corporate Farming Laws

Center Research Publications

Legislative Roadmap (Brown, 2023)
Forms and Filing Information: Business Organizations (2019)
Right-to-Farm Statutes and Corporate Farming Laws (R. Rumley, 2009)
Market Concentration, Horizontal Consolidation, and Vertical Integration in the Hog and Cattle Industries: Taking Stock of the Road Ahead (Pittman, 2005)
The Constitutionality of Corporate Farming Laws in the Eighth Circuit (Pittman, 2004)
Part I: An Overview of Organizational and Ownership Options Available to Agricultural Enterprises (Goforth, 2002)
Part II: An Overview of Organizational and Ownership Options Available to Agricultural Enterprises (Goforth, 2002)

Agricultural Law Bibliography

Introduction   |   Keyword Search   |   Browse Categories

Legal publications on Corporate Farming Laws :

Corporate Farming (Restrictions on Corporate Farming/Family Farm Preservation)
Organizational Forms for Agriculture (Business Law and Development)
Incorporation

Reference Resources

Economic Research Service (ERS)

Briefing Room: Farm Structure & Organization
Briefing Room: Farm Household Well-Being
Publication: The Transformation of U.S. Livestock Agriculture: Scale, Efficiency and Risks (MacDonald & McBride, 2009)

Publications

The Battle Over America’s Farmlands: Corporate Farming Practices and Legislative Attempts at Preserving the Family Farm(Boomershine, 2016)
You Can’t Have Your Beef and Eat It Too: The Statutory Effect of Anti-Corporate Farming Acts on Family Farms and Beef Corporations (Trout, 2014)
Anti-Corporate Farming Laws and Industry Structure: The Case of Cattle Feeding (Schroeter, Azzam, and Aiken, 2006)
Should Corporate Farming be Limited in the United States?: An Economic Perspective (Wittmaack, 2006)
Agricultural Industrialization, Anticorporate Farming Laws, and Rural Community Welfare (Lyson and Welsh, 2004)
Is There a Future for Legislative Involvement in Shaping the Structure of Agriculture? (McEowen, 2003)
Testing the Impact of Corporate Farming Restrictions on the Nebraska Hog Industry (Matthey and Royer, 2001)
On the Effectiveness of State Anti-Corporate Farming Laws in the United States (Welsh et al., 2001)
Reorganizing U.S. Agriculture The Rise of Industrial Agriculture and Direct Marketing (Welsh, 1997)

Additional Resources

Corporate Farming Laws Posts (Ag & Food Law Blog)
State by State Ag Facts (Farm Policy Facts)
Iowa’s Anti-Corporate Farming Laws: A General Overview
Does I-300 Work? (NebraskaStudies.org)