North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper recently vetoed a bill that would make it difficult to sue large livestock operations. A Farm Journal report says the bill would make it more difficult to sue those operations over odor, declining property values, and other nuisance issues. The North Carolina legislature overrode the governor’s veto of the bill, the 16th of 23 total vetoes the legislature has shot down. Brent Jackson, the bill’s primary sponsor, says overriding the veto tells family farmers and ranchers that they have a clear voice in the state legislature. “This general assembly intends to give them the respect they deserve,” Jackson says. Republican legislators introduced the nuisance language in Senate Bill 711 earlier this month despite opposition that included members of their own party. Backers said the language was necessary to fend off more lawsuits like the 26 cases filed against Murphy Brown, LLC, the hog farming operation of Smithfield Foods. Despite the passage of the law, it won’t affect the cases currently filed against Murphy Brown. As a side note, another provision in the bill prevents soy, almond, coconut, and other plant-based milk suppliers from labeling their products “milk” in North Carolina.