Fall often brings us questions about what a landowner can do when someone harms their crops, fields, and trees.  We’ve heard many stories of hunters, four-wheelers, snowmobilers, timber harvesters and others tearing up hayfields, causing corn and bean losses, harming trees, or taking timber.  Unfortunately, those incidents are not new to Ohio.  Back in 1953, the Ohio legislature enacted a law that addressed these types of problems.  In 1974, legislators revised the law to strengthen its penalty provisions, part of an effort to reform Ohio’s criminal laws.  That law still offers remedies that can help a landowner today.

The reckless destruction of vegetation law.  Ohio Revised Code (ORC) Section 901.51, the “reckless destruction of vegetation law,” is simple and straightforward.  It states that:

“No person, without privilege to do so, shall recklessly cut down, destroy, girdle, or otherwise injure a vine, bush, shrub, sapling, tree or crop standing and growing on the land of another or upon public land.”

Note the word “recklessly,” as that’s important to the statute.  Under Ohio law, a person  behaves recklessly if he disregards the risk that his actions are likely to cause certain results, such as harm or injury.  “Heedless indifference to the consequences” is another way to explain the term.  A person who flies through a hayfield on a four-wheeler, taking no precautions to avoid harming the crop, would likely fit this definition of behaving recklessly.  A timber harvester who ignores the marked property line and takes trees on the other side of it could also be behaving recklessly.

Criminal and civil options.  The recklessness element of a person’s behavior is why the law incorporates criminal charges.  A violation of ORC 901.51 is a fourth-degree criminal misdemeanor and could result in a fine of $250 and up to 30 days in jail.  What is useful to landowners, however, is that when legislators amended the law in 1974, they added “treble damages” to allow a harmed party to collect three times the value of the property destroyed.  If the value of hay lost to the four-wheeler was $500, for example, the treble damages provision allows the landowner to collect three times that amount, or $1,500.  Many court cases involve tree situations, and three times the value of a tree can result in a hefty award for the harmed landowner.

Another benefit of the reckless destruction of vegetation law is that a landowner doesn’t have to rely on a criminal charge being brought by local law enforcement.   While local law enforcement could bring a criminal charge against an offender and if successful, could request the treble damages for the landowner.  But if law enforcement does not bring a criminal charge, Ohio courts have held that a harmed party may bring a civil action against the offender and utilize the law’s treble damages provision.  Those treble damages can make it worthwhile to litigate the issue as a civil action.

The next time you’re frustrated by someone destroying your crops, trees and vegetation, the reckless destruction of vegetation law might be helpful.  If you can prove that the person was reckless and indifferent to causing the harm, consider using this powerful little law to remedy the situation.

Like the farm fields across Ohio lately, a little dust has been flying down at the Statehouse in Columbus.  Our legislators are back to work and considering several bills that could affect agriculture.  A few bills aren’t seeing much action, though.  Here’s a summary of recent activity and inactivity at the Statehouse.

Newly introduced bills

H.B. 440 and S.B.241 – Agricultural Linked Deposit Program.  This pair of bills introduced on September 30, 2021 by Representatives Swearingen (R-Huron) and White (R-Kettering) and Senators Cirino (R-Kirtland) and Rulli (R-Salem) is one of three bills in the “Ohio Gains Initiative” offered in partnership with Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague.  The Initiative proposes three new investment reforms affecting agriculture, health systems, and higher education.  The agricultural proposal in H.B. 440 and S.B. 241 would expand the current Ag-LINK loan program that provides interest rate reductions of up to 3% on operating loans.  The bill would make the loans available to cooperatives in addition to farm operators and agribusinesses and would also remove the $150,000 cap on Ag-LINK loans.  It’s been referred to the House Financial Institutions Committee and the Senate Financial Institutions & Technology Committee.

Bills on the move

H.B. 175 – Deregulate certain ephemeral water features.  The bill addresses “ephemeral features”—surface water that flows or pools only in direct response to precipitation but that is not a wetland.  Under the proposal, ephemeral features would be exempt from water pollution control programs in Ohio, including the  Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Program, as proposed in the federal 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule now on hold.  The bill would also eliminate the certification review fee for ephemeral streams.  H.B. 175 passed the House on September 30, 2021, amidst strong opposition.  It awaits review before the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

H.B. 397 – Agricultural lease law.  A proposal to address termination dates and notice provisions for crop leases received its second hearing before the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee on October 12.  H.B. 397 would require a landowner who wants to terminate a crop lease that doesn’t address termination to do so by providing a written notice of termination to the tenant by September 1 of the year the termination would be effective.  Discussion at the committee hearing could result in a broadening of the bill to include pasture leases.

S.B. 47 – Overtime pay.  The Senate passed this bill on September 22, and it has since been referred to the House Commerce and Labor Committee.  The bill exempts certain activities from the requirement for an employer to pay overtime wages.  Under the proposal, traveling to and from a worksite would be exempt from overtime.  Performing preliminary or postliminary tasks and activities outside of work hours that require insubstantial periods of time, such as checking email or voice mail, would also be exempt.  The bill now moves to the House Commerce and Labor Committee.

Bills not moving

Several bills we’ve been watching have not generated continued interest at the Statehouse, including:

• H.B. 95, the Beginning Farmers bill that would provide income tax credits for beginning farmers who attend approved financial management programs and for owners who sell land and agricultural assets to certified beginning farmers.  It passed the House in late June but was removed from the agenda when first scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Ways and Means Committee on September 28, 2021.
• H.B. 30, the bill adding marking and lighting requirements to animal-drawn vehicles, also passed the House in late June but has not seen action since its second hearing before the Senate Transportation Committee on September 22, 2021.
• H.B. 385, which would prohibit municipalities in the Western Basin of Lake Erie from discharging waste into those waters, fine those who do, and revoke NPDES permits for municipalities owning treatment works or sewerage systems within the Western Basin.  The bill received one hearing before the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee on September 28.
• H.B. 349, which would place a moratorium on granting permits for a new construction or expansion of a regulated animal feeding facility in the Maumee watershed if the Ohio Department of Agriculture has determined that the phosphorus load in the Maumee River exceeded a specified number.  The House Agriculture and Conservation Committee has not scheduled the bill for a hearing since it was referred to the committee on June 16, 2021.

Bills now effective

S.B. 52, the bill addressing large-scale wind and solar facility development in Ohio, became effective on October 11, 2021.  The bill allows county commissioners to prohibit wind and solar developments and to establish restricted areas in the county that are off limit to the developments, gives county citizens an opportunity to place a restricted area designation on the ballot, increases local awareness and engagement in review of a proposed facility, and requires decommissioning plans and bonds for approved developments.  Learn more about S.B. 52 with our law bulletins and videos on the new laws, available in our energy law library.

Hear our next review of state and federal legislation in Farm Office Live on November 17 and 19, 2021.  More information is available here.