New state laws make undercover probes of farm operations risky

McClatchy reports:

The undercover investigator who secretly videotaped alleged animal abuses at a meat processing plant in California’s San Joaquin Valley would have been a criminal for doing the same thing in Utah, potentially subject to a year in jail.

Since March, it’s been a misdemeanor in Utah to videotape an agricultural operation without the owner’s approval.

Nor is Utah alone in trying to shield farms from private investigators and prying media. Kansas, Iowa and North Dakota have all tightened access.