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More than 120 people attended two conferences in mid-January to learn more about legal issues faced by farmers and their nonfarm neighbors.

With about 80 people at a session in Waynesville and another 40 attending the seminar near Clayton, attendance was higher than expected and confirmed what program officials feared – that legal questions are becoming more numerous for farmers throughout Ohio.

In response, Buckeye Farm News is creating a series on agricultural legal issues; the series will begin with the Feb. 16 issue of the newspaper.

The seminars, titled "Farmers and Neighbors: Legal Issues," were organized by Peggy Kirk Hall, director of the OSU’s agricultural and rural law program, and Robert Moore, the program’s Extension associate. Other speakers were Ohio Farm Bureau’s Director of Local Affairs Larry Gearhardt, and Paul Wright and Kimberly Cutler of the Wright Law Company, a firm in Dublin that specializes in agricultural legal issues.

Moore introduced attendees to the local, state and federal judicial systems, while Gearhardt and Hall gave an overview of Ohio’s nuisance laws and how they impact farming operations. A panel discussion on how to handle farmer-neighbor issues followed. Wright and Cutler presented information on Ohio’s line fence and noxious weed laws, and Hall rounded out each seminar with a session on civil liability concerns for rural landowners – including levels of liability landowners owe to people who visit farms by invitation or as trespassers.

The concerns on each of the areas addressed are numerous, according to Gearhardt.

Farmers have seen increased "urbanization of Ohio," Gearhardt said during a recent radio interview on the subject of increasing nuisance lawsuits. "The people coming to the countryside are more sensitive to odors and noises and things of that nature. They may feel entirely different about what constitutes a nuisance than you or I."

Gearhardt commented on the attendance at the mid-January conferences. "I was surprised at the level of attendance," he said. "The number of people (concerned) about legal issues surrounding agricultural operations is becoming more intertwined with what we do on our farms."

Caption: OFBF Director of Local Affairs Larry Gearhardt and OSU agricultural law specialist Peggy Kirk Hall discuss nuisance issues with those attending a seminar on legal concerns faced by farmers and their neighbors at the Der Dutchman in Waynesville.