The Texas State Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment establishing a right to farm, ranch, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management on a person’s owned or leased property to the Nov. 2023 ballot. The amendment states that the right does not preclude the state legislature from passing laws to regulate farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, or wildlife management practices to protect public health and safety, prevent danger to animals or crop production, or preserve the natural resources of the state.
The amendment was proposed as House Joint Resolution 126 on Feb. 24, 2023. The amendment received no opposition votes in the legislature. The state House passed HJR 126 by a vote of 144-0 with six not voting on April 10. The state Senate passed HJR 126 by a vote of 31-0 on May 4.
The amendment was authored by Reps. DeWayne Burns (R-58), Dustin Burrows (R-83), Mary Gonzalez (D-75), Trent Ashby (R-9), and Diego Bernal (D-123). In the authors’ statement of intent included with the amendment, they wrote, “Farmers and ranchers who engage in production agriculture within municipal boundaries are being subjected to broad overregulation by municipal ordinances that prohibit and greatly restrict normal practices of agricultural operations, such as the raising and keeping of livestock, the production of hay, and the cultivation of certain row crops. H.J.R. 126 seeks to address this issue and empower landowners in the state by constitutionally protecting their right to engage in certain generally accepted agricultural practices on their own property.”
