Texans will not be electing state lawmakers when they hit the polls next month, but they will be deciding on 14 amendments — the highest number of propositions to appear on the ballot since 2007.
Among the broad array of amendments voters will find is Proposition 1, also known as the “Right to Farm Act,” which supporters say is necessary for food security.
“There is a need to protect the right to farm and ranch in Texas in order to ensure our food security,” reads the author’s bill analysis.
Proposition 1 is intended to enshrine the right to farm, protecting farmers and ranchers from regulations or “nuisance ordinances” imposed by neighboring municipalities, according to Mr. Burns.
“Farmers who engage in production agriculture within municipal boundaries are being subjected to broad overregulation by municipal ordinances that prohibit and greatly restrict normal practices of agricultural operations, such as the raising and keeping of livestock, the production of hay, and cultivation of certain row crops,” the analysis continues.
It also states that landowners would be protected and empowered under the state Constitution to “engage in certain generally accepted agricultural practices on their own property.”
Supporters of the Measure
Proposition 1 has received a lot of support from various agencies and associations across the state.“Farming is at the heart of our Texas culture, economy, and history. We must pass Prop. 1, the Right to Farm Act, and we must support our farmers and ranchers,” Mr. Miller wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “A generation of Texas farmers are retiring. It’s not clear who will replace them.”
Other supporters of the proposition include the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB), Independent Cattlemen’s Association, and Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
“Texas Farm Bureau strongly supports the constitutional amendment,” TFB President Russell Boening told The Epoch Times in an email, adding that the proposition is a “monumental opportunity for Texas farmers and ranchers and for Texas agriculture.”
“Proposition 1 maintains the legacy of agriculture in our state by protecting the right to farm and ranch,” Mr. Boening said. “It is critical that farmers and ranchers be able to grow food, fiber, and fuel for our state and nation as more and more agricultural areas are impacted by development and population growth.”
‘Right to Farm’ or ‘Right to Harm?’
Even with strong backing for this amendment, there are some critics who believe more work needs to be done to ensure the proposition would not have unintended consequences.True Texas Project, a conservative PAC, says it opposes Proposition 1, citing the language as “overly broad” and that further study is needed to understand the impact of the measure.
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) says it fully supports the “right to farm,” but it claims the issue is tricky because local governments often “weaponize zoning laws to drive out small farms because they don’t think agriculture belongs” in their community.
FARFA says the amendment’s language is too broad, and while it would provide protection for farms that are being harmed, it could also pave the way for big businesses to take advantage of the protections afforded by the provision.
Texas Agriculture: Multi-billion Dollar Industry
Texas tops the nation with more than 248,000 farms and ranches covering 127 million acres, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture.Cattle is the state’s top agricultural commodity at $12.3 billion, followed by broiler chickens at $2.9 billion, with cotton coming in third at $2.6 billion.
Texas’ agriculture industry also produces billions in corn, greenhouse, forestry, eggs, sorghum, fruits, vegetables, and wheat.
Ballot Language
On the ballot, Proposition 1 will read as follows:“The constitutional amendment protecting the right to engage in farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management.”
A vote “for” would support establishing the right to farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management in the Texas Constitution.
‘America the Beautiful’ Threat to Agriculture
Last month, The Epoch Times’ Roman Balmakov exposed how the Biden administration and governments across the globe are using the so-called climate crisis to take control of private farmlands.In the exclusive documentary, “No Farmers No Food: Will You Eat the Bugs?” Mr. Balmakov showed how the decades-old master plan is being implemented and threatens to disrupt the U.S. and world food supply.
In June 1992, shortly after the Cold War ended, world leaders gathered for the United Nations Conferences on Environment and Development, where they created Agenda 21, later renamed Agenda 30.
The U.N. set forth these global policies with the goal of ending private farming to create dependence on a one-world government that will control the food supply.
As food prices climb, world leaders place blame on climate change.
“And their solution might surprise you,” Mr. Balmakov says in the film. “According to the United Nations, [bugs] might actually be your future dinner.”
But one of the biggest surprises to Mr. Balmakov was how far the agenda has taken hold in the U.S. under the guise of conservation and stewardship.
The act is implemented through federal easement programs and acquisitions and the Endangered Species Act.
Last year, California’s water board introduced emergency drought regulations, citing protection for the Coho salmon, which it claims is endangered.
Cattle rancher Theodora Johnson of Scott Valley says the drought regulations prevent property owners from accessing their own groundwater, which makes ranching unsustainable.
States with Similar Provisions
Missouri and North Dakota adopted right-to-farm amendments in 2014 and 2012, respectively.In 2016, a similar amendment failed in Oklahoma before it could be placed on the ballot.
