Successful Farming reports that a $50 million federal jury verdict against Smithfield Foods in North Carolina last week in a hog-farm nuisance case raises questions about similar lawsuits in Iowa and other states. Iowa is the nation’s top hog producer, but farmers here generally knife in manure, rather than spray it with irrigation equipment and other devices as North Carolina operations do. That reduces drift. Still, complaints about hog manure odors and allegations of related illnesses among neighbors are common. There have been efforts to protect farmers against nuisance lawsuits in Iowa, but industry lawyers say the facts of each case vary, as do some of the outcomes. Read about pending lawsuits in Iowa, and the fallout from the North Carolina case here.