Iowa Code 657.11 protects qualifying animal feeding operations and farms from most nuisance suits unless plaintiffs prove specified statutory exceptions.
Iowa Code section 657.11 declares that animal feeding operations are not a public or private nuisance and provides farmers immunity from most nuisance lawsuits when operating in compliance with federal and state law. The statute requires plaintiffs to prove the operation unreasonably and substantially interferes with use of land, that the injury results from negligent operation, or that statutory standards were violated. The Iowa Supreme Court limited the law's reach in cases including Gacke v. Pork Xtra and Honomichl v. Valley View Swine, allowing certain neighbor claims to proceed.
Plaintiffs must satisfy statutory exception elements; otherwise nuisance suits are barred and may be dismissed with costs.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Polk County allows backyard composting but regulates it through the Health Nuisance Regulation: a compost pile that harbors vermin, produces offensive odors,...
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Polk County has no ordinance for or against artificial turf on residential lots. Installation on unincorporated land is generally unrestricted; cities and HO...
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Polk County has no ordinance banning native or prairie landscaping, and the county promotes native roadside vegetation. The one legal limit: your planting ca...
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Iowa has no state ban on collecting rainwater, and Polk County sets no rain-barrel ordinance. Residents may capture roof runoff in barrels or cisterns; only ...
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Polk County sets no lawn-watering schedule. Central Iowa's water is managed by Central Iowa Water Works / Des Moines Water Works, which can impose voluntary ...
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Iowa Code 317.10 requires every landowner to destroy all noxious weeds on their land as directed by the county board of supervisors. Polk County's Weed Commi...
See how West Des Moines's farm nuisance protection rules stack up against other locations.
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