Right to Farm in Virginia (2026)
21 rules on the books across Virginia, 15 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
Farm Nuisance Protection
Whether established farms are shielded from nuisance lawsuits and from local ordinances that would restrict their operations.
Loudoun County
Some RestrictionsLoudoun County requires record plats and deeds for Rural Hamlet subdivisions in the A-3 and A-10 districts to carry a…
Read full rule →Chesapeake
Few RestrictionsChesapeake's noise ordinance protects working farms outright: Sec. 26-141(11)-(12) exempts equipment noise from…
Read full rule →Hanover County
Few RestrictionsHanover County's noise ordinance, Code § 16-4(3), exempts the production of agricultural, horticultural and forestal…
Read full rule →Montgomery County
Few RestrictionsMontgomery County exempts farm buildings and structures from the zoning chapter's requirements once they meet the…
Read full rule →Roanoke County
Few RestrictionsRoanoke County, Virginia (outside the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem) tells new residents up front that its…
Read full rule →Spotsylvania County
Few RestrictionsSpotsylvania County's Right to Farm Program (Chapter 13A) protects bona fide commercial agricultural and forestal…
Read full rule →Agricultural Zoning Protection
State rules that limit how cities and counties may zone or restrict agricultural land uses, including livestock and crop operations.
Virginia: statewide
StatewideSome RestrictionsVirginia Code 15.2-2288 and 15.2-2288.3 limit how localities may zone agricultural land, preserving by-right production…
Read full rule →Fairfax County
Some RestrictionsFairfax County lets owners of farm and forest land petition the Board of Supervisors to create a Local Agricultural and…
Read full rule →Frederick County
Some RestrictionsFrederick County zones nearly all of its unincorporated land outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown as RA…
Read full rule →Hampton
Some RestrictionsHampton, Virginia requires at least 3 acres to farm in the R-R district and keeps any animal structure or yard at least…
Read full rule →Hanover County
Some RestrictionsHanover County protects farmland through its A-1 Agricultural zoning district rather than a separate right-to-farm…
Read full rule →Lynchburg
Some RestrictionsLynchburg's Conservation (R-C) district is the only zone where large-scale farming is a by-right land use: raising…
Read full rule →Montgomery County
Some RestrictionsMontgomery County's A-1 Agricultural District is built to preserve the rural character of the county's unincorporated…
Read full rule →Roanoke County
Some RestrictionsRoanoke County, Virginia (outside the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem) protects farmland through two rural…
Read full rule →Virginia Beach
Some RestrictionsAG-1 and AG-2 zoning districts protect farmland in Virginia Beach's rural south, permitting farming, agritourism and…
Read full rule →Loudoun County
Light RestrictionsLand in Loudoun County's Agricultural Rural-1 (AR-1) Zoning District is designated an agricultural district, and every…
Read full rule →Albemarle County
Few RestrictionsAlbemarle County's Rural Areas (RA) zoning district, covering most land in Albemarle County outside Charlottesville and…
Read full rule →Prince William County
Few RestrictionsOn any A-1 Agricultural lot of two acres or more, Prince William County permits farming, livestock keeping, fisheries…
Read full rule →Roanoke
Few RestrictionsRoanoke zones agriculturally productive land as the RA, Residential-Agricultural District, whose stated purpose is to…
Read full rule →Spotsylvania County
Few RestrictionsSpotsylvania County's Right to Farm Program shields commercial agricultural and forestal operations from nuisance…
Read full rule →Stafford County
Few RestrictionsStafford County's A-1 Agricultural district exists to reserve land for traditional farming and preserve rural…
Read full rule →