La Plata County, CO Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)

Section 70-13 opens by describing what agriculture brings with it: noise, odors, dust, mud and smoke, ditch and field burning, machinery and livestock on public roads, odors from manure, feeds and chemical applications, lights and noises at all hours of the day and night, and on-farm processing and marketing of crops and livestock. The code acknowledges that people with urban sensitivities perceive these as inconveniences, and states that state law and county policy protect most agricultural practices from unnecessary, intrusive litigation.

The operative protection is in subsection II. No inconvenience shall be considered a nuisance so long as it occurs as part of non-negligent and legal agricultural practices as stated in C.R.S. § 35-3.5-101 et seq. Two conditions carry the weight: the practice must be non-negligent and it must be legal.

Subsection III turns the policy into a review tool. The county can impose conditions on the approval of any development to ensure that it does not adversely affect adjacent or near-by agricultural operations and does not limit the viability of those operations. The conditions can address nuisance or liability issues, predation of stock by domestic dogs, traffic conflicts, interference with irrigation, proliferation of undesirable plants and rodents, erosion, and wildlife intrusion.

Notice requirements come next. In appropriate projects the decision-making body can require a plat note giving notice that Colorado is a right to farm state. Subsection V adds the fence law: Colorado is a fence out law state, and owners of real property shall fence livestock out prior to recovery of damages for trespassing livestock, pursuant to C.R.S. § 35-46-101 et seq. A plat notice that Colorado is a fence law state can be required in appropriate projects.

Other Land Use Code sections point the same direction. Agricultural operations and structures are exempt from the hazard and sensitive-land standards of Section 70-8, and outdoor lighting whose primary purpose is the function or security of an agricultural use is exempt from Section 70-7. In the Animas Valley plan area agricultural structures carry a 35 foot height maximum against 30 feet for nonagricultural structures.