Illinois Farm Nuisance Suit Act Protects Established Farms

The Farm Nuisance Suit Act (740 ILCS 70) provides that no farm or farm operation in existence for one year or more may become a private or public nuisance because of changed conditions in or about the surrounding non-agricultural area, if the farm was not a nuisance when it began. The Act does not protect farms whose operations are negligently or improperly run, or that violate state or federal pollution law. It also expressly provides that local governments may not adopt ordinances that make established farm operations a nuisance.

Plaintiffs filing barred nuisance suits may be liable for the farm operator's reasonable attorney fees and costs of defending the action under Section 70/4.1 of the Act.