Austin (KXAN) — A Texas constitutional amendment on the ballot this November will decide how much say local governments have over agribusiness operations in the state.
Proposition 1 seeks to establish a right to farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management on owned or leased personal property in Texas.
The Texas Farm Bureau has backed the constitutional amendment ahead of the election. The group’s president, Russell Boening, said it would bolster protections for producers as more rural parts of the state are developed.
“We’re just hoping to kind of stop some of these cities from making some of these city ordinances that really do not have anything to do with public health or public safety,” Boening said.
Doug Havemann, chair of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, said the group is opposed to the constitutional amendment.
Havemann said the language of the proposition is too broad and needs to be rewritten to exclude large corporate agribusinesses.
“This leaves it wide open for multinational corporations and agribusiness to come in and benefit from from the good heartedness of the Texas people,” Havemann said.
Similar amendments exist in Missouri and North Dakota, while Oklahoma voters declined a similar proposal in 2016.
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