Kansas Attorney General Opinion 1992-035

ROBERT T. STEPHAN
ATTORNEY GENERAL
March 9, 1992
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 92- 35
The Honorable Janis K. Lee
State Senator, Fifty-Sixth District
State Capitol, Room 402-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Re: Corporations--Agricultural Corporations--
Limitations; Exceptions, Penalties
Synopsis: K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 17-5904(a)(10) of the corporate
farming act allows the corporate acquisition of
farmland if the land will be used for bona fide
research or scientific or experimental farming.
The facts as presented herein come within this
exception. Cited herein: K.S.A. 1991 Supp.
17-5904.
Dear Senator Lee:
As senator for the thirty-sixth district you inquire whether
the following facts warrant application of exception number 10
to the prohibition against the corporate ownership of farmland
found in K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 17-5904(a). Exception number 10
allows a corporation to acquire agricultural land if the land
is to be used for bona fide research or scientific or
experimental farming. You indicate that Osborne Industries
Inc. (Osborne) proposes to establish a research farm for the
following purposes:
"(i) to demonstrate and test some advanced
electronic methods of livestock management
that have not been demonstrated and tested

except on a few farms in Europe, (ii) to
conduct research on other new products
that have not been studied owing to the
difficulty and the potential
disease-spreading liability involved with
using independently owned farms, and
(iii) to educate the public. The
Osborne Research Farm will be available
to, and will cooperate with, regional
universities which desire to extend their
courses of study in agriculture to include
research projects conducted at the farm.
In addition, the Osborne Research Farm
will be fully equipped with a
closed-circuit television which will allow
visitors, young and old, to view and
experience the full gamut of the farm's
operations from one convenient location.
"The Osborne Research Farm will be
comprised of approximately 10 buildings
and state-of-the-art three-stage waste
management system located on an
approximately 40 acre tract of land in
Osborne County, Kansas. The research
will be conducted by testing new methods
and products on a medium-sized herd of
hogs. The herd will be divided into the
following two groups, each comprised of
approximately 500 sows and 75 boars: (i)
a test group on which experimental methods
and products will be tested and, (ii) a
control group on which conventional
methods and products will be used. The
results obtained with each group will then
be compared to determine the degree of
success or failure of each method or
product. Offspring produced during the
course of operations of the Osborne
Research Farm will be fed at the farm and
sold for slaughter. No hogs will be bred
for sale prior to feeding and slaughter,
nor will hogs be bred for sale to farmers
as breeding stock (seed stock)."
Whether these facts constitute bona fide educational research
or scientific or experimental farming for the purpose of
allowing the acquisition of farmland depends on how the terms

are defined. Not otherwise defined by the act, words and
phrases used in a statute should be construed according to
context and the approved usage of the language. Words in
common use are to be given their natural and ordinary
meaning. State ex rel. Stephan v. Kansas Racing Commission,
246 Kan. 708, 719 (1990).
An experiment is defined commonly as a test made to
demonstrate a known truth, to examine the validity of a
hypotheses, or to determine the efficacy of something
previously untried. The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language 462 (1978). The experimental farming
described above comes within this definition. See Humane
Society of United States v. E.P.A., 790 F.2d 106 (D.C. Cir.
1986) (a broad and simple definition of experimentation
favored for the purpose of qualifying for an experimental use
permit for a pesticide).
In conclusion it is our opinion that the facts a presented
come within exception number 10 and thereby allow the
corporate acquisition of farmland.
Very truly yours,
ROBERT T. STEPHAN
Attorney General of Kansas
Guen Easley
Assistant Attorney General
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