 Lawyers for Smithfield argued that none of the farms in these five cases had ever been cited for violations of state laws regulation hog farms and that none of the plaintiffs in these cases had ever complained about the issues for which they brought suit.The state legislature passed the North Carolina Farm Act of 2018 to help reduce the exposure of farmers to unreasonable litigation and high punitive damage awards.Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the act, but the legislature overrode his veto.