Nine states place some sort of restriction on corporate-owned farms. Only two, however--Nebraska and South Dakota--have anti-corporate farming restrictions written into their State constitutions.

RULES

• Nebraska
  Initiative Number 300, the country's toughest anti-corporate farming law, was adopted in 1982 as part of the state's constitution--thus it cannot be changed by the legislature. Its reach is broad, covering not only land ownership but the operation of farms and ranches. Thus a corporation cannot even own livestock that are custom fed or contract-produced in another feedlot. The family farm corporation is exempt from the law, but it must meet certain conditions. More...
• South Dakota
  Amendment E was passed via referendum in November, 1998 with 59 percent of the vote. It was backed by more than two-thirds of farmers and received significant support from South Dakota's urban centers. Amendment E joins Nebraska's Initiative 300 as one of the strictest measures of its kind in the nation. Not only are corporations forbidden from owning or controlling farmland, but the practice of of companies paying farmers to raise crops or livestock on their behalf is also prohibited. This practice, known as "contract feeding," was permissible through a loophole in the old anti-corporate farming law, passed by the state legislature in 1988. Amendment E also disallows structures such as limited liability corporations and partnerships in which farmers join together to limit their financial liability. More...

Other Resources:

• Anti-Corporate Farming Laws Benefit Rural Communities - Friends of the Constitution, February 2002
  The results of this analysis indicate that, in general, agriculture dependent counties in states with anti-corporate farming laws fared better (less families in poverty, lower unemployment and higher percentages of farms realizing cash gains) than agriculture dependent counties in states without such laws.
• Anti-Corporate Farming Laws in the Heartland - the Law, History, and Facts on the Anti-Corporate Farming Laws in Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa, by Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, 1997
• Corporate Agribusiness Research Project
• Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
• Familyfarmer.org
• Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC)