Cooperatives and Corporate Farming Laws

Abstract

<p>In 1982, Nebraska voters approved Proposition 300, Nebraska’s anti-corporate farming law. The Nebraska provision has been criticized for its detailed, complex and not completely consistent approach to limiting corporations. The constitutional measure bars corporations or syndicates from acquiring real estate in the state except for family farm or ranch corporations; nonprofit corporations; Indian tribal corporations; and several other categories of corporate enterprises. The Nebraska Supreme Court has now ruled on whether a nonstock cooperative involved in hog production was exempt from the law as a “non-profit corporation.”</p>