Who do you call to find out legal distances?

[RockyGlen]

Remember me posting about how far from the river I needed to put my pig pen? Apparently I should have worried about the neighbor instead of the water! The neighbor is vacant land and always has been. We put the pen 500 feet inside our fence line, so 500 feet from his fence line. He is complaining and saying we have to move it farther away so it can not be smelled from his property. I called the ag. department and they said that since we do not live in town and have no covenants, there are no restrictions and we could put it on the fencline if we wanted. This guy insists he talked to a lawyer and we have no right to stink up his property.

Are there federal laws? Is there someone I should call other than the dep. of Ag?

[CGUARDSMAN]

Originally Posted by RockyGlen

Remember me posting about how far from the river I needed to put my pig pen? Apparently I should have worried about the neighbor instead of the water! The neighbor is vacant land and always has been. We put the pen 500 feet inside our fence line, so 500 feet from his fence line. He is complaining and saying we have to move it farther away so it can not be smelled from his property. I called the ag. department and they said that since we do not live in town and have no covenants, there are no restrictions and we could put it on the fencline if we wanted. This guy insists he talked to a lawyer and we have no right to stink up his property.

Are there federal laws? Is there someone I should call other than the dep. of Ag?

if you are zoned ag he is bluffing. if he can't handle the smell of the country he should go back to the city.

[RockyGlen]

Originally Posted by CGUARDSMAN

if you are zoned ag he is bluffing. if he can't handle the smell of the country he should go back to the city.

that's just it - he does not live there and never has. There are no dwellings on the land and there never has been. He has had it for sale for 4 years now, but it is 56 acres, with NO water rights and no improvements, and he is asking 10,000 an acre. He probably figures our pig smell would prevent it selling, but until he gets a reality check he isn't going to sell it anyway. If he came down to 2K an acre, we would buy it outright, but he is living in a dream world.

[wy_white_wolf]

Depends on your county zoning here and every county is different. Get a copy of your county zoning reg's and learn them.

I know Natrona has them on line. Not sure what county your in. Here, If your zoned Ag then you are in the right. If your Urban Ag though you need to get rid of the pigs.

[RockyGlen]

we are in Converse county and are zoned county ag.

[simon66]

He is probably coming from a standpoint that he (and his hack) considers your pig pen a "Nuisance" and thus affecting his "quiet enjoyment" of the property. This is what I am guessing, anyway.

A lot of residential leases have this Quiet Enjoyment provision in them. Until now, I didnt realize it pertained to landowner making claims against others under it...

Perhaps the fact you are zoned AG and that he rarley "enjoys" his property sounds like he has a weak argument.

A excerpt from Wikipedia:

Under the common law, persons in possession of real property (either land owners or tenants) are entitled to the quiet enjoyment of their lands. If a neighbour interferes with that quiet enjoyment, either by creating smells, sounds, pollution or any other hazard that extends past the boundaries of the property, the affected party may make a claim in nuisance.

[PyroDon]

If your zoned for ag in most states there is no set back from the fence .
Im an evil person and would move the pen alright, right up to the property line
might even invest is some nice noisy donkey's ,peacocks and guineas along with a few more hogs .
either that or make my compost pile near the fence

[Bearfootfarm]

Tell him to have his lawyer send you copies of the restrictions

[wy_white_wolf]

I couldn't find Converse County zoning reg's online. I'd have to say he's bluffing or else you would have already had a call or visit for code inforcement.

He still could try the civil court thing though.

[foxtrapper]

Get thee to the local library, and read the laws, codes and ordinances of your area. Do not ever count on a verbal conversation with someone about the law, read the law yourself. It tends to be fascinating.

Then you will be properly armed with knowledge, and will know where you actually stand in the eye of the law, and the courts.

[ninny]

You need to buy more hogs and move them closer to this fellows property.

Then tell him to get stuffed...


.

[Old Vet]

Pigs should only be raised in an enclosed area so that the smell will not get into the air. Filters should be used to keep the smell from ever geting in the anr. There should be no reason to raise pigs since you can buy all the pork in the grocery department of a major retalier. The pigs grown in those don't smell or poluite anything. LOL!

If he doesn't like the smell then he realy needs to sell the land and move into an apartment.

If their is a polution control in the area it will be the one to call about pigs.

[tinknal]

I found this;

CHAPTER 44 - FARM AND RANCH OPERATIONS



11-44-101. Short title.



This chapter is known and may be cited as the "Wyoming Right to Farm and Ranch Act".



11-44-102. Definitions.



(a) As used in this act:



(i) "Farm and ranch" means the land, buildings, livestock and machinery used in the commercial production and sale of farm and ranch products;



(ii) "Farm or ranch operation" means the science and art of production of plants and animals useful to man except those listed under W.S. 23-1-101, including, but not limited to, the preparation of these products for man's use and their disposal by marketing or otherwise, and includes horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, silviculture, dairy, livestock, poultry, bee and any and all forms of farm and ranch products and farm and ranch production;



(iii) "This act" means W.S. 11-44-101 through 11-44-103.



11-44-103. Farm or ranch operations not considered a nuisance; conditions.





(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a farm or ranch operation shall not be found to be a public or private nuisance by reason of that operation if that farm or ranch operation:



(i) Conforms to generally accepted agricultural management practices; and



(ii) Existed before a change in the land use adjacent to the farm or ranch land and the farm or ranch operation would not have been a nuisance before the change in land use or occupancy occurred.

http://legisweb.state.wy.us/statutes...11/Title11.htm

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by tinknal

I found this;

CHAPTER 44 - FARM AND RANCH OPERATIONS



11-44-101. Short title.



This chapter is known and may be cited as the "Wyoming Right to Farm and Ranch Act".



11-44-102. Definitions.



(a) As used in this act:



(i) "Farm and ranch" means the land, buildings, livestock and machinery used in the commercial production and sale of farm and ranch products;



(ii) "Farm or ranch operation" means the science and art of production of plants and animals useful to man except those listed under W.S. 23-1-101, including, but not limited to, the preparation of these products for man's use and their disposal by marketing or otherwise, and includes horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, silviculture, dairy, livestock, poultry, bee and any and all forms of farm and ranch products and farm and ranch production;



(iii) "This act" means W.S. 11-44-101 through 11-44-103.



11-44-103. Farm or ranch operations not considered a nuisance; conditions.





(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a farm or ranch operation shall not be found to be a public or private nuisance by reason of that operation if that farm or ranch operation:



(i) Conforms to generally accepted agricultural management practices; and



(ii) Existed before a change in the land use adjacent to the farm or ranch land and the farm or ranch operation would not have been a nuisance before the change in land use or occupancy occurred.

http://legisweb.state.wy.us/statutes...11/Title11.htm

thats greatl now all he has to do is move all the property in question to Minisota

[wy_white_wolf]

Originally Posted by michiganfarmer

thats greatl now all he has to do is move all the property in question to Minisota

That's a Wyoming law. Check the link

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

That's a Wyoming law. Check the link

You would think the "Wyoming Right to Farm and Ranch Act" would have been a tip off.....

[Maura]

Why don't you approach him and ask if he would sell the acreage along the property line to you for $2K an acre. Or you could discuss putting up a tree barrier, half on his property, half on yours. I can understand his viewing your operation as a barrier to selling his land, but perhaps if you worked with him,...

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by Maura

Why don't you approach him and ask if he would sell the acreage along the property line to you for $2K an acre. Or you could discuss putting up a tree barrier, half on his property, half on yours. I can understand his viewing your operation as a barrier to selling his land, but perhaps if you worked with him,...

He doesn't have to. The law is on his side.

[tinknal]

This reminds me of a case of NIMBYism in MN. As the suburbs approached his land a farm owner wanted to subdivide his land. It was zoned ag and he petitioned for a zoning change. The neighbors (who of course had built on recently subdivides farmland) raised a stink and prevented the zoning change. The farmer then fenced the property and filled it with hogs (300 as I remember). Now the neighbors really raised a stink (about the stink). The state told the neighbors that MN law gave him the absolute right to raise hogs on his farm. This was about 10 years ago. As far as I know the hogs are still there.

[rambler]

If you do a web search for this:

Steer's owner ticketed for "Excessive Mooing"

It was reported by KARE 11 TV news a week ago. (Sorry, they want you to give age, gender, zip code to view a story free, so I can't do a direct link....)

Here in Minnesota, gal in an ag zoned area was given a ticket from the town because a neighbor complained her cow was mooing too much. The steer wasn't even mooing very much - obviously there is more to this 'neighbor issue' but anyhow, the ticket _was_ served. Now all sorts of folks are trying to decide if it is even close to enforcable.... It is unlikely - but there is the ticket, it will have to be dealt with, if just ignored then there will be problems.....

So, anyhow, anything _can_ happen.

In most areas zoned ag, you can do normal ag stuff and be ok.

There could be a minimum setback for fences, tho unlikely. There _is_ probably a setback for the 'feedlot' portion of your hog setup. This is an area with the barn & where the critters stomp down the ground so no vegitation grows. You will need a setback from wetlands, neighbors, houses, _any_ wells, tile intakes, etc. for that portion of your setup. Typically these setbacks are 300 feet or less 'here' in a pretty gegulated state - so if you are 500 feet away with the pasture area, you should be able to clear anything coming your way!

As I mentioned before, size will matter a lot in this. If you have less than 10 animal units, you likely will not have any laws to follow. If you have over 100 animal units, you likely have some setbacks & so forth to follow for the feedlot portion. If you have a big operation, the rules change & you need to get a permit renewal/review every 5 years. First permit will have all sorts of regulations, including setbacks from neighbor's houses.

Only your local state & county (and township & city, if any) laws apply. My info is based on my rather regulated state..... At this time there is national grumblings about these things, but they are suggestions for the states. At this time. I expect that to change over the next 5 years.....

--->Paul