The leader of the state’s largest farm organization believes farmers and ranchers harvested an overflowing bushel basket of victories from the 2009 Oklahoma legislative session.
“This has been a great session for our farm and ranch families,” said Mike Spradling, Oklahoma Farm Bureau president.
The biggest highlight was passage of HB 2151, the livestock preemption bill. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture set the standard for care and handling of livestock in Oklahoma. It does not affect municipal zoning laws as some opponents had earlier feared.
“This legislation has been a priority for our members and we want to thank Governor Henry, Rep. Armes, Sen. Schulz and all the lawmakers for working hard to protect animal agriculture,” Spradling said.
Armes and Schulz authored companion bills at the beginning of the session and shepherded them through the exhaustive legislative process of becoming law.
Spradling noted this legislation establishes Oklahoma as the national leader in protecting modern animal agriculture husbandry.
“Other states are formulating similar legislation as they attempt to get out in front of the animal rights movement,” Spradling said.
Lawmakers also scored big with passage of HB 1482, strengthening the “Right to Farm” bill. This law provides a two-year statute of limitations for agriculture operations and allows for expansion and use of new technologies while continuing the protection of Oklahoma’s Right to Farm law.
“This will prevent farmers from worrying about nuisance lawsuits when urbanites move to the country and discover tractors and other farm machinery creating noise and stirring dust they had not bargained for,” Spradling said.
Other legislative victories include:
* HB 1389, which allows landowners who are successful in a claim of wrongful annexation to recover attorney fees and court costs.
“This law moves in the right direction toward a level playing field when landowners must go up against municipalities in a court of law,” Spradling said.
* HB 1473, exemption from municipal ordinances for agriculture land.
* SB 452, removes the felony charges for the practice of veterinary medicine without a license. This law was upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony and became law in November 2008.
“We want to work with veterinarians and legislators before next year’s session to develop a better understanding under Oklahoma law those practices considered animal husbandry and those practices requiring a licensed veterinarian,” Spradling said.
* HB 1583, creates a Certified Weed Free Hay program in Oklahoma.
* HB 1483, adds contingency language to Oklahoma’s water law and requires an out-of-state applicant for a water permit to meet a strict application standard. This law also requires legislative approval of the permits.
* HB 1603, lawsuit reform. This bill contains a section called the Common Sense Consumption Act, which shields food producers from lawsuits claiming food products as the source of obesity. It also includes agritourism in the Livestock Activities Liability Limitation Act.
The Farm Bureau president added the session yielded large returns for rural Oklahoma because OFB members are politically active and have worked hard to help elect rural-friendly legislators.
“It (the legislative victories) speaks highly of our organization and the contribution of the agriculture industry to Oklahoma, that laws are better today with respect to agriculture,” Spradling said.
