Missouri Right to Farm Nuisance Protections

RSMo 537.295 provides that no agricultural operation in lawful operation for more than one year shall become a nuisance due to changed conditions in or around the locality. The statute caps compensatory damages at the reduction in fair market value of the affected property and limits punitive damages, attorney fees, and successive nuisance suits, requiring claimants to be the legal owner of property within one mile. Missouri voters also enshrined a right to farm and ranch in Article I, Section 35 of the state constitution in 2014. Together, the statutory and constitutional protections create one of the strongest right-to-farm regimes in the country. Operations that change substantially or violate state or federal law lose the protection.

Plaintiffs filing nuisance suits against protected farms face dismissal and recovery limits. Farms violating environmental or zoning law lose statutory protection and may face standard nuisance liability and regulatory penalties.