Old Bridge, NJ Right to Farm: Farm Nuisance Protection (2026)

Township Code Chapter 151, Right to Farm, opens by declaring that the right to farm all land in Old Bridge Township is a natural right, though it remains subject to federal and state rules, including the New Jersey Health Code and regulations of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and it must be exercised with appropriate consideration for the Township's Zoning Ordinance, under § 151-1. Section 151-2 spells out what the right to farm covers: large irrigation pumps and equipment, aerial and ground seeding and spraying, large tractors, numerous farm laborers, chemical fertilizers and pest, weed and fungus control products, and the right to use land for grazing animals, subject to the chapter's separate livestock restrictions.

The one hard limit is that the right to farm never extends to a practice that poses a direct threat to public health and safety. Section 151-3 folds in agricultural activities conducted according to generally accepted agricultural practice as determined by the Rutgers University School of Agriculture, and § 151-4 states the Township's rationale: temporary inconveniences to neighbors are offset by farming's benefits to open space, air quality and the food supply. Section 151-5 requires any developer or landowner selling a dwelling in an agricultural area to personally notify prospective buyers of the right-to-farm ordinance and to record that notice in the deed of conveyance filed with the County Clerk's office.