LINCOLN, Neb. - The owner of farms housing thousands of hogs must pay damages to 11 neighbors who said the stench forced them indoors, the state Court of Appeals said Tuesday.

A trial court will determine the amount owed to the residents, who live within two miles of farms owned by Progressive Swine Technologies.

One neighbor said the smell was so overpowering that it affected the taste of the food in her garden. Others compared it to sewage, saying the smell forced them to keep windows closed and not hang clothes out to dry.

The decision reversed a 2002 ruling that Progressive Swine did not owe damages, even though its four farms were a nuisance. As part of that ruling, the farms were told to reduce the smell.

Pat Knapp, the landowners' attorney, said that has not been done.

"It still stinks," she said. Knapp said she plans to file a motion to enforce that judgment or find the hog farm operators in contempt.

The farms are about 100 miles northwest of Lincoln in Boone and Nance counties. Each of the four farms has 5,000 hogs.

David Domina, an attorney for Progressive Swine owner Jim Pillen, did not immediately return a call for comment.