Editors Note: This is the second in a three-part series of how Confined Animal Feeding Opeartions (CAFOs) may or may not affect Kosciusko County. The series focuses on a person looking to bring a business into Kosciusko County, an activist looking for more CAFO regulation and a farmer of the county’s largest dairy barn.
The Activist
Those dealing with any vested interest in CAFOs may want to turn their attention toward Indianapolis this fall.
Many activists, including Barbara Sha Cox, are pushing for more legislation at the statehouse to create more regulation for CAFOs.
Farmers currently go through a lengthy process with IDEM to gain permitting. Permits routinely can take more than a year to get approved and require thousands of pages of paperwork and reports.
Cox has gained notoriety for being the most active of CAFO activists.
She has been fighting against CAFOS for about six years but gained notoriety when she was featured in a book called Animal Factory which takes aim at large farming operations.
Cox states that in no way is she pro-CAFO but at this point she has to be realisitc that they are here to stay.
With that said, she and other activists are pushing for more regulation.
Those proposed regulations include: – Increased setbacks from bodies of water – A move from using nitrogen to phosphorus needs of the expected crops
This was addressed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in public comments for a rule change with the Water Pollution Control Board.
One comment states that such a move would require the acreage of farms to increase by two to three times.
The response to the public comments state that in fact farmers have known about a possible switch to a phosphorous-based land application system and that “many CAFOs, as well as CFOs, have already proactively made this adjustment absent an explicit rule requirement.”
Concerning setbacks when it comes to manure application, in a report from The Ohio State University, it lays out minimum recommended setback distances from sensitive areas when it comes to manure application.
In terms of streams, ditches and surface inlets, it suggests at least a 35-foot vegetative barrier or 100-foot setback.
That is increased to 200-feet during winter application.
Public wells have a recommended constant setback of 300 feet.
Cox calls the setback rules in Indiana “horrible” and said that is one thing she is working toward.
“I’m pro-ag,” said Cox.”I grew up on a dairy farm. Cows had the best of everything.”
Cox is now convinced that CAFOs do away with that.
Whether that is the case, Cox said she knows that what she wants is an uphill battle.
“It’s such a political battle,” said Cox. “The governor said he’s going to double pork production.”
IDEM estimates that CAFOs produce 80 percent of the animals at regulated farms.
Cox said she sits in on every meeting concerning CAFOs and possible regulations and bills that may pass. She said has gotten into some heated discussions with legislators.
Cox said part of the reason she got involved was because of health concerns.
With her profession of nursing, she said she was troubled when people got sick when a dairy barn was put in.
She said that one person who lived near there had breathing problems that caused him to use four inhalers a day.
But Cox also said that person had a pre-exsisting condition and previously worked for the gas company.
In parts one and two of this series, Carol Cohee and Barbara Cox listed some of their concerns with CAFOS not located inside Kosciusko County. Part three will get the perspective of a farmer in Kosciusko County. Fred Beer operates the largest dairy barn in Kosciusko County.
