Former Oklahoma state attorney general Drew Edmonson is leading a newly formed coalition of groups in opposition to a right-to-farm amendment to the state constitution. Voters will decide SQ 777 in a statewide referendum as part of the Nov. 8, 2016, general election. Two other states have approved right-to-farm amendments–North Dakota in 2012 and Missouri in 2014.
The Oklahoma Stewardship Council, chaired by Edmonson, says the amendment is poorly written and would give “industrial factory farms and foreign corporations” an advantage over lawmakers and local governments in regulating agricultural activities. The Oklahoma Farm Bureau supports SQ 777. The amendment says the rights of farmers and ranchers to engage in farming and ranching “shall forever be guaranteed” and the legislature “shall pass no law which abridges the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural technology and livestock production and ranching practices without a compelling state interest.”
Oklahoma Farm Bureau president Tom Buchanan says the amendment would be a barrier to Washington-based “anti-agriculture extremists and their anti-agriculture message.” In a statement earlier this year Buchanan said the right-to-farm amendment “would make it more difficult for outside interests to come into Oklahoma in an attempt to dictate agricultural production practices. This is not an issue of water use and regulation as certain urban and municipal interests claim.”
State Sen. Mike Schulz, the Republican floor leader, said in April that “agriculture in this country is under attack” and pointed to animal rights activists, according to the Tulsa World. National campaigns also would restrict the use of antibiotics in livestock and require special labels on GMO foods.