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

2 of the Solano County Code, first adopted by Ordinance No. 1270 and amended by Ordinance No. 1378, sets the county's right-to-farm policy. 2-20 explains the problem the chapter addresses: as nonagricultural development, especially housing, has pushed into farm areas, agricultural operations have increasingly drawn nuisance complaints, forcing some operations to curtail activity and discouraging investment in farm improvements. 2-30, titled 'Nuisance,' is the operative protection: a preexisting or future agricultural operation, or any of its appurtenances, conducted for commercial purposes and consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards on agricultural land, cannot become a nuisance, public or private, merely because adjacent land uses have changed.

The shield is not absolute. It does not apply if the nuisance actually results from negligent or improper operation of the agricultural activity or its appurtenances, or if the activity obstructs free passage or customary use of a navigable lake, river, stream, canal, basin, or a public park, square, street, or highway. 2-40 requires the county to be able to give notice of the ordinance to real property purchasers through preliminary title reports and recorded deeds, warning buyers near agricultural land that they may experience dust, smoke, noise, and odor from farming, and directing questions to the Solano County Department of Resource Management or the Solano County Agricultural Commissioner.

2-50 lets the county post signs at the entry of established farming areas notifying purchasers that land nearby is used for agriculture and that producers' interests are legally protected. Agricultural lands under this chapter are those zoned exclusive agricultural (A), limited agricultural (A-L), park (P), watershed and conservation (W), and marsh preservation (MP) under Chapter 28, plus other land actually used for agricultural operations.