El Dorado County, CA Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)

290 declares it County policy to conserve agricultural land by limiting when agricultural operations can be treated as a nuisance once nonagricultural development, such as new residential subdivisions, moves in nearby. 'Agricultural Land' covers parcels zoned Planned Agricultural (PA), Limited Agriculture (LA), Agricultural Grazing (AG), Forest Resource (FR), or Timberland Production Zone (TPZ), plus lots carrying a General Plan Agricultural District or Agricultural Land (AL) designation. 'Agricultural Operations' is defined broadly to include cultivation and tillage of the soil, agricultural burning, pest and disease control on crops and livestock, lawful pesticide and fertilizer application, and the raising, irrigation, pruning, harvesting, or processing of any crop, livestock, or timber commodity.

Subsection C bars any present or future commercial agricultural operation conducted consistent with accepted industry customs and standards from becoming a private or public nuisance due to a changed condition of adjacent land use. If a dispute arises, an interested party can ask the County Agricultural Commission for a written advisory opinion or mediation on whether a specific operation constitutes a nuisance; the Agricultural Commissioner may adopt implementing regulations, and the UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor can serve as technical advisor. Subsection E separately requires every seller of unincorporated county real property to give buyers a written disclosure statement containing a copy of the Right to Farm Ordinance and the county's 'Agricultural Land Use in El Dorado County' brochure, disclosing any agricultural setback requirements and noting that intensive agricultural activities may occur nearby; the buyer must sign the disclosure and the seller keeps the signed copy in escrow.