Fruit of the Vine: Understanding the Need to Establish Wineries’ Rights Under the Right to Farm Law
By Katherine Pohl.
In the age of the Slow Food Movement, Americans are increasingly embracing a farm-to-table philosophy. People are generating an awareness of where their food comes from and are becoming active participants in the growing process. This philosophical shift opens the door to new opportunities. Particularly, it creates a new market for traditional farmers struggling to stay in business. As a result, more and more farmers are seeking creative ways to diversify their family farms and align their production to suit this new market, offering products that entice American families back to the family farm. For example, one Maryland cow farmer is considering opening a winery on his land to stabilize his annual revenue and bring people to his farm.
A winery is a perfect example of an agricultural operation that provides diversification and stability to farm incomes while bringing people to share in the bounty of the land. Because wineries create an idyllic expression of vitality and beauty, and often marry the pastoral, agrarian lifestyle with notes of luxury, they provide the perfect forum to view the full-circle process from vine-to-bottle, exposing generations far removed from the labors of the land to a newfound understanding of experiencing and tasting the notes of the soil and the expression of the sun.
Unfortunately, these innovative solutions, such as wineries, are often not met with open arms by surrounding communities or local municipalities and face severe legal impediments to their upstart and expansion. Because wineries and other new forms of agritourism do not fall within the traditional ambit of a “farm” or an “agricultural use,” legal questions arise as to whether these activities are “agricultural” and thereby protected from local regulations under the state’s Right to Farm law (RTF), or other agricultural legislation. In a recent case, Terry v. Sperry, the Ohio Court of Appeals addressed this very issue.