Since the organization’s founding in 1942, private property rights have been a cornerstone issue for Oklahoma Farm Bureau members.
Private property rights are fundamental to every American, especially the farmer, allowing agriculturalists to produce a high quality, affordable and dependable food supply of which we can all be proud.
Because farmers and ranchers know best when it comes to making decisions on how to best care for their land, they must always be entrusted with the ability to choose production practices as they see fit.
We strongly support the principle of private property rights as granted to the people by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”
OKFB Policy Book
Annexation
Many Oklahoma farmers and ranchers work and care for the same land that has been in their families for decades when the next town was miles and miles away. But as suburban and urban areas have slowly crept into rural areas over the years, farmland increasingly is subject to municipal annexation.
When city limits are expanded to include farmland, agricultural producers can be forced to follow additional regulations and ordinances that restrict their right to use their property to grow and raise food and fiber.
We oppose involuntary annexation, fence and strip annexation, and any other type of annexation that gives cities control of all the land that joins them.”
OKFB Policy Book
Land use
For decades, farm and ranch families have tended their land, growing crops and raising animals. Each generation has been instilled with the best knowledge and skills to enhance the water, the soil and the environment in their care. They understand the work they do today will impact their children and grandchildren for decades to come.
Acre by acre, farmers and ranchers know their land better than the back of their hands. Because agricultural producers are best suited to choose the production practices that will work best for their land, they must be free to use their land as they please.
Any regulation that restricts a landowner from using property is a taking of private property rights.
We are opposed to any regulation that limits a person’s right to use their property as they see fit.”
OKFB Policy Book
Easements and rights-of-way
Farmers and ranchers who own large tracts of land often must share private property with government entities and utility companies. Easements are used for oil and gas pipelines, power lines and telephone lines on private property.
Being a good neighbor is engrained in the day-to-day life of rural Oklahoma. Farmers and ranchers are happy to work with utility companies and others, but want to ensure their private property is well cared for. Because land is the most crucial resource to the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers, entities using property on or along farmland must care for and protect the land just as the agricultural producers.
