[Scottopherson]

"Many farmers in North Dakota can't prevent drillers from drilling — even if they'd like to. Decades ago, the rights to the minerals below those farms were separated from the rights to the land itself — which is why today, energy companies can move in, create drilling pads where they please, move in trucks and workers, without the farmers' consent."

Am I reading this right? A company can just plop drilling operations on a farmer's land?

[ewhanley]

That's right. You can't prevent a mineral rights holder from accessing their resources - even if you hold the surface rights. The company developing the minerals has to compensate the surface owner for roads/pads/etc.