Members of the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission sat through a two-hour-plus informational meeting to better get a handle on the issue of confined animal feeding operations Wednesday.
The meeting was set up by County Commissioner Ron Truex.
Truex also serves as president and general manager for Creighton Brothers. Creighton Brothers operates several CAFOs throughout the county.
The plan commission met in session but with no business on the agenda, adjourned and traveled to Creighton Brothers’ main office, west of Warsaw.
Representatives from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management were on hand and, with Creighton Brothers employees, went over how many rules and regulations are in place for CAFOs.
While still at the courthouse, before the commission adjourned, local resident Sharon Vance asked the commission to ask how waste is disposed of and how it will affect water.
“Being a person responsible for building and maintaining CAFOs, I’m concerned on how people view IDEM and how they regulate CAFOs,” said Truex.
Creighton Brothers employees Cal Jackson and Steve Miller went over the lengthy process to not only open a CAFO but to maintain one.
Jackson said that in his 30 years with Creighton Brothers he has always dealt with constantly evolving rules from IDEM.
As for Vance’s concerns, Jackson said that many of IDEM’s regulations for water safety go above and beyond federal regulations mandated by the Clean Water Act.
“Our charge is to protect the water in the state of Indiana,” said IDEM representative Michael Aylesworth.
Jackson said that besides plans to account for runoff, CAFO approval requires a manure management plan.
Jackson said that maps have to be provided for areas that manure will be applied on.
Soil testing is also done every three years.
And while IDEM doesn’t have odor or location requirements, setbacks and criteria limit the areas where a CAFO can be built.
The topic of antibiotics was brought up and whether or not they can get in the general water supply.
Truex said the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture all have regulations to even use antibiotics and that some animals aren’t even allowed to receive antibiotics.
Kevin McSherry, a plan commission member and employee of Creighton Brothers, said that applying antibiotics to an animal like a hog is expensive thus making it cost-prohibitive to overuse them.
“If you walk into a first-grade classroom and you hear a kid coughing, are you going to give the whole class medicine or the kid who is sick?” asked McSherry.
Plan commission members learned how different sorts of manure are applied and the massive amounts of records and data CAFOs are required to keep.
Truex assured the plan commission members that non-compliance will result in CAFOs receiving punishment and his employees losing their jobs.
IDEM’s Mike Dunn said that since CAFOs are so highly regulated, it’s more often smaller farms that are found to have issues with runoff and waste.
As for small farms, Truex said that one myth is that CAFOs are putting family farms out of business.
“(CAFOs) are a way for third-, fourth-generation farmers to stay open,” said Truex.
“The concentration of livestock is inevitable,” said Truex. “This isn’t putting the little guy out of business. The little guy is quitting.”
Truex also said that, especially in Kosciusko County, farmers keep a close eye on what other farms are doing.
“We know that one bad one will spoil it for the rest of us,” said Truex.
Truex said he was compelled to organize Wednesday’s meeting to help the plan commission get accurate information on how much CAFOs are regulated.
Truex and Jackson both said that letters to the editor sent to newspapers regarding CAFOs have troubled them because they contain lots of misinformation.
Amy Cornell, from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, also spoke during Wednesday’s meeting and said that her agency works with counties to develop ordinances above and beyond those already set up by IDEM.
Everyone at the meeting also said that while CAFOs are bigger farms, that doesn’t mean the amount of agriculture is increasing, just being concentrated.
“We have 1.5 percent of people feeding the rest of the world,” said Truex.
It was also noted during Wednesday’s meeting that Kosciusko County leads the state in the most certified livestock producers distinction.
During the plan commission’s meeting, Marjorie Vance said a group of citizens in the county are still working on ordinances for the county to adopt.
She said she’s been harassed since taking up the CAFO cause and has been misrepresented in the Times-Union.
