Oregon IP 25: Protecting the Right to Farm, Ranch, Hunt and Fish
Initiative Petition 25, known as the Oregon Freedom Amendment, offers Oregonians an opportunity to respond to threats like Oregon IP 28, which aimed to make hunting, fishing, and processing livestock illegal. It places fundamental protections for agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, fishing, trapping, and wildlife management directly into the Oregon Constitution.
What Would Oregon IP 25 Protect?
IP 25 would add Section 44 to Article I of the Oregon Constitution, establishing fundamental rights to hunt, fish, trap, farm, ranch, raise livestock, cultivate crops, harvest natural resources, and practice accepted agriculture, animal husbandry, and science-based wildlife management. Beyond a general “right to farm,” it expressly protects the lawful possession, processing, transportation, sale, and use of livestock, poultry, crops, fish, wildlife, and other agricultural and natural resources - a significant provision for Oregon livestock producers.
The amendment recognizes that protecting the right to farm means safeguarding the practices needed to produce food: animal husbandry, crop planting and harvesting, and livestock and natural-resource management. Constitutional protection means little if future laws can prohibit the practices that make farming possible. IP 25 would bar state and local governments from substantially burdening these constitutional rights, redefining accepted farming, ranching, hunting, fishing, trapping, or agricultural practices as animal abuse, neglect, or cruelty, or imposing excessive fees, permits, or regulations disproportionately targeting traditional agriculture, rural life, or wildlife management.
IP 25 does not bar reasonable regulation. Government may impose narrowly tailored, necessary rules to protect wildlife, public safety, health, or property. Wildlife agencies retain authority over seasons, bag limits, and conservation measures, while laws against intentional animal torture outside lawful regulated activities remain enforceable. IP 25 protects constitutional rights without licensing irresponsible conduct.
Why IP 28 Demonstrated the Need for Constitutional Protection
The case for IP 25 becomes especially clear when viewed against the attempts of Oregon Initiative Petition 28, IP 13, and IP 3. Oregon IP 28 sought a dramatic expansion of Oregon's animal-cruelty laws. Although the measure failed to collect enough valid signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot, it would have made hunting, fishing, processing livestock, and other animal husbandry practices criminal offenses.
IP 28 may have failed to reach the 2026 ballot, but the ideology behind it did not disappear. The initiative showed how Oregon's ballot process could be used to fundamentally redefine accepted relationships among people, animals, agriculture, and food production. Even more revealing was the response from IP 28 organizer David Michelson after IP 25 emerged. He acknowledged that IP 28 would have shut down all slaughterhouses statewide and indicated that supporters hope to launch another initiative. That statement should get every Oregon livestock producer's attention.
Oregon Has an Opportunity to Act Before the Next Threat
Oregonians need not wait for another initiative to threaten ranching, livestock production, hunting or fishing before protecting these practices. IP 25 offers a proactive solution, recognizing that food production, livestock raising, wildlife management, and renewable resource harvesting are essential to Oregon's future.
For farmers, ranchers, and rural communities, the issue is whether future generations will retain the freedom to farm, ranch, raise livestock, hunt, fish, and responsibly manage Oregon’s land and wildlife. IP 25 offers a chance to protect these rights in the state constitution.
IP 25 has advanced toward the November 2028 ballot. On September 25, the Oregon Attorney General certified its ballot title: “Amends Constitution: Creates right to hunt, fish, trap, farm, ranch, and harvest resources…” The measure has not qualified yet; supporters must still gather signatures.
AGPROfessionals supports protecting agriculture, food production, property rights, and livestock producers’ ability to use lawful, generally accepted husbandry practices. We believe Oregon IP 25’s Right to Farm deserves serious support.
Visit the Oregon IP 25 website HERE