Extension Webinar to Explore Livestock Nuisance, Odor Footprints

LINCOLN — An upcoming Nebraska Extension webinar will examine recent livestock facility nuisance litigation and look at a tool from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for assessing the odor footprints of these facilities.

The webinar will be presented on Jan. 21, from noon to 1 p.m., by Dave Aiken, professor and agricultural law and water law specialist in the university’s Department of Agricultural Economics.

In its recent decision in the case of Egan v. County of Lancaster, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the rulings of lower courts that a county zoning permit for three poultry barns was justified, in part, because neighbors of the facility would be “free of odor 94% of the time.” The webinar will explore this decision and the potential role of the Odor Footprint Tool in future livestock nuisance litigation.

The Odor Footprint Tool was developed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Biological Systems Engineering Department to increase the use of objective, science-based information in decision-making related to livestock odor and setback distances.

The webinar is presented as part of the Agricultural Economics Extension Farm and Ranch Management weekly series.

Registration is free at farm.unl.edu/webinars.