The Iowa Senate has voted to expand a 2024 law that made it a crime to fly drones over animal feeding operations.
The bill seeks to prohibit drones from being flown without permission over a farmstead that covers at least 40 acres and generates at least 15-thousand dollars in annual sales from livestock or other commodities. The bill also would prohibit drones from flying within 400 feet of farm animals, farm equipment, barns and a farmer’s home.
“Individuals operating a drone that are caught in violation would face a simple misdemeanor for intrusion,” Senator Dan Zumbach, a farmer from Ryan, said. “An individual is subject to a serious misdemeanor if the drone is equipped with a surveillance device that record images, sounds, the species of farm animals and the type and use of farm equipment and structures.”
Zumbach said drones scare livestock in outdoor pens or pastures. “Farmers don’t want their privacy invaded any more than you or I…don’t want someone else’s drone in our backyards,” Zumbach said.
The bill passed the Senate on a 43-3 vote and goes to the House for consideration.