The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that undercover videotaping inside ag facilities is constitutional. Hannah Thompson Weeman with the Animal Ag Alliance says that is a concern. She says there has been an increase in animal activist groups challenging various state’s farm protection laws and her group continues to monitor those.

The Federal Appeals Court ruled that an Idaho “Ag-gag” law, which makes undercover videotaping a crime, is unconstitutional because it violates the free speech under the first amendment. Weeman says despite the ruling, there are legal steps farmers and ranchers can take to protect themselves and the first is to check the references of their employees.

She says employee proper training is another step livestock producers can and should take.

Weeman says one positive that came out of recent ruling is ag employees cannot misrepresent themselves by falsifying records to their employers.