"I don’t want that near my 67-acre farm, polluting my water. I’m hoping to pass our place on to our kids like other people here are.”
This is from Missouri resident Candy Larson Soete. “That” is a large-scale concentrated animal feeding operation— a CAFO.
In Missouri, CAFOs are defined as industrial-scale operations, with at least 700 cows or 2,500 pigs. With a new law that moves control from the local to state level, Missouri now allows a CAFO to hold up to 7,000 cattle, 70,000 swine, and 875,000 chickens within 3,000 feet of a residence (1). Manure dumping could be allowed only 50 feet from a residence (2) and 100ft from a public water supply line. Rural Missourians are worried about more and more of these operations popping up in their backyards.
The largest CAFOs create as much manure as a city of 70,000 people. This manure is kept in open-air lagoons, which means that nearby groundwater gets contaminated, surface water is polluted, air quality is affected— not to mention the smell. Rural communities are trying to enact common-sense protections around CAFOs, but are often running up against powerful agribusiness interests.
Dale Fischer, who lives next door the CAFO Pork Masters, drew a contrast: “Some of them are just farmers doing that to make ends meet, but these,” he said, gesturing to the CAFO across his pasture, “they’re just doing it to make more money.” (Columbia Missourian)
Farming is a treasured way of life for millions of Americans, and an essential provider of some of our most basic needs, down to the meals we eat every day. But industrial scale farms pollute the environment, overcrowd livestock, and hurt local economies.
Groups like the Missouri Rural Crisis Center have been longtime proponents of local control of our family farms. Their work is vital in protecting our environment and our local economy. If this is an issue you care about, we’re asking that you sign up to learn more about their good work in your region. You can do so here.
I support local safeguards that allow rural people to have a say in what kind of farms shape their communities. When our family farmers and local residents speak up about what they want in their backyard, we - and especially elected officials - should listen.
