Your Opinion: What are the limits of Right to Farm?

Dear Editor:

I wrote to the paper earlier, hoping that the News Tribune would publish some well-researched article(s) about what effect Right To Farm is going to have on our lives. On Aug. 31, Kristie Scheulen wrote in reply as someone well-versed in agriculture and the repercussions of the amendment. By Scheulen's own words, she says that operations will remain subject to all existing regulations. Scheulen also talks about being required to sit through courses in order to sell her hogs.

My original letter may have not been clear enough, because that is exactly the question I am trying to ask - Why should producers obey? By creating a new largely undefined fundamental constitutional right, the supporters of Right To Farm appear to allow any producer that objects to this kind of commercial or governmental control to sue and win, because that kind of interference by processors or the Pork Board or the government with the now fundamental Right to Farm appears illegal.

Similarly, if landlords can't prevent or even charge more for tenants that want to raise as many animals however they want, I don't think that's a good thing. Seems to me that the Right To Farm supporters shot a cannon to kill a gnat, and Scheulen's letter hasn't changed that impression. I'm still hoping to see some researched articles that show what boundaries do exist.

For the record, Ms. Scheulen, I don't have any negative feelings about agriculture, but I have lots of them about badly written law. Under previous law, agriculture enjoyed many many exemptions and protections, protections not enjoyed by the chemical industry and pharmaceutical industry and all the other sectors of the economy that agriculture requires to function.

Under this new over-arching rule favoring one sector above all others and at the most protected level, what are the boundaries? If all the existing regulations and restrictions exist, why (since they assume a situation where a constitutional right doesn't exist)? If they don't apply any more, what are the new lines and what is left to enforce them? As above, News Tribune, please help us know where we stand.