This guide covers the law that governs a livestock operation from siting through marketing. It begins with the right-to-farm statute, because in most states that statute decides whether a nuisance claim can be brought at all, and works through each element courts actually litigate: establishment date, changed operation, generally accepted practices, standing limits, damages caps, and fee-shifting. It then addresses the environmental layer the statute does not reach, including when a permit is required, why so many large operations hold none, and how the agricultural stormwater exclusion makes the nutrient management plan the operative legal document. It covers siting and local control, air and reporting obligations, animal disease and movement authority, and the contract structures that determine who is actually liable. It closes with the marketing statutes that give producers a priority claim most of them do not know they have, the preemption rules that govern slaughter, and a practical program for defending or challenging an operation.