Successful farmers have always been concerned about soil and water quality. Today more than ever, achieving this goal requires not only commitment but hard work.
It may be true that farmers, growers, and other producers would not usually call government regulations “helpful.” However, the federal, state, and local regulations that apply to poultry and other livestock operations contain useful guidance for siting the facility and managing it properly.
Regulations can include zoning rules, requirements for construction permits, site inspections by certified engineers, and filing for public notice and approval before beginning or modifying livestock facilities, particularly for large units.
In December 2002 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revised its Clean Water Act regulation for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). These new requirements can affect all poultry producers. See the next fact sheet for details. In addition, states and counties are adding a variety of size and class distinctions to their regulations, based on local perceptions about the facility’s potentially harmful effects on the environment.
Other regulations usually deemed “limiting” apply to the site once operating permits have been granted. These regulations may include
- restrictions on manure applications,
- separation and setback distances,
- recordkeeping,
- operating procedures for dry and liquid waste management facilities, and
- agreements establishing the conditions for transferring or decommissioning the facility.
But are these rules only limitations? Most environmental regulations are a response to the public’s demand for clean water and its fear that growers are not sufficiently concerned about the risks inherent in livestock concentrations. Growers are not unaware of these risks, but they also know that if their sites are properly managed, the risks are far less than perceived. Looked at proactively, zoning and permit regulations can help growers break down the public’s misconceptions and fear of modern animal agriculture.
Zoning can establish the right of poultry facilities to exist without resorting to public hearings for special use permits. Zoning also helps control urban sprawl; that is, it reduces the sudden appearance of highway businesses that often complain about farms that were established long before the highway was developed.
Separation and setback distances may also be beneficial. They ensure a large land area for manure utilization and management, thus helping with fly and odor problems and contributing to the farm’s ultimate sustainability. Deep setbacks, however, encourage livestock concentration. Once a site is found that meets setback requirements, the incentive is to put as many animals as possible on that piece of property.
It is a given that as livestock facilities grow in size and concentration, so does the size of the waste stream and the number of environmental regulations. Growers will get the full benefit of the regulations’ protections by participating in the rulemaking and by perceiving compliance not as interference but as an opportunity to demonstrate their management skills to the community as well as to the regulating agencies.
Thus, for example, growers required to have a written manure management plan can use the planning process to get more control over when and how they manage this product — and the more control they have, the more likely they are to use manure as an asset rather than a liability. They will, in all likelihood, review conditions in the houses that may be affecting the quality of the manure, making storage difficult, and leading to complaints about odors and flies — and even, perhaps, to bad feelings about massive land applications. Once satisfactory storage arrangements have been made, land applications can be responsibly and timely planned to achieve crop nutrient requirements.
Using the Market to Replace Regulations
Environmental regulations, their benefits not- withstanding, also have some unintended consequences. For example, statutes based on approved practices limit the growers’ incentive to innovate. The cost associated with compliance (and the criminalizing of environmental neglect) actually leads to larger facilities as growers attempt to bring down their per unit costs. Even more important from this standpoint, however, is the very foundation of environmental law: the “no discharge” rule.
Environmental law evolves from waste treatment theory that seeks to limit inputs. An alternative approach based on output standards would develop the waste as useful products and allow its movement out of the production area. The marketed “co-products” of the poultry operation would then be available for application or other use as needed.
The traditional uses of manure as fertilizer, feed, and energy point to the markets as a supplement, if not a substitution, for environmental regulation. As alternative waste management practices develop, growers who know the market can develop these traditional and new uses of manure, and deliver their “products” to the market biologically secure and environmentally safe. Recent law in Iowa and some other states permits manure application laws to be relaxed if the growers’ manure management plan can show that the excess has been sold and is being used responsibly. Such provisions are an indication of where management and regulations may be heading for the future.
At their best, regulations are a reminder that all of us must work to prevent the unintended consequences of our activities (i.e., nonpoint source pollution) from impairing the earth’s resources or putting animal and public health at risk.
Definition of Farming Is Important
It is essential that growers participate in regional and state legislative, civic, and ad hoc environmental groups. It can remind those who make regulations that “feeding, breeding, and managing livestock, including to a variable extent the preparation of these products for human use,” is part of the enterprise that Webster’s dictionary identifies as farming.
Although commercial and industrial facilities face stricter restraints, such enterprises are usually larger and can often pass the cost of pollution prevention on to third-party customers or end users. This privilege is denied the farmer. Spotty regulations will play havoc in the market place. When compliance with regulations becomes costly in some localities, farmers are forced out of business because they cannot afford the extra expense that their competitors in less regulated areas do not incur.
Again, it is essential that growers participate as environmental regulations are being promulgated.
References
Brake, J.D. 1996. Zoning for Animal Agriculture: A Proactive Stance. In Proceedings National Poultry Waste Management Symposium, P.H. Patterson and J.O. Blake, eds. National Poultry Waste Management Symposium, Auburn University Printing Service, Auburn University, AL.
Carpenter, G.H. 2002. Cost of a Clean Environment and Who Pays. Pages 21-25 in Proceedings National Poultry Waste Management Symposium. P.H. Patterson, J.P. Blake, and K.D. Roberson, eds. National Poultry Waste Management Symposium Committee, Auburn University Press, Auburn, AL.
Daniel, C. 1996. Interacting with Local Communities and Neighbors. In Proceedings National Poultry Waste Management Symposium, P.H. Patterson and J.O. Blake, editors. National Poultry Waste Management Symposium, Auburn University Printing Service, Auburn, AL.
Angela DeGooyer. 1996. Personal Communication. Confinement Feeding Operations Rules Summary. Prepared as a Member File Folder. Iowa Poultry Association, Ames, Iowa.
Van Kley, J.A. 2002. Air Pollution Issues for Animal Feeding Operations. Pages 89-97 in Proceedings of the National Poultry Waste Management Symposium. P.H. Patterson, J.P. Blake and, K.D. Roberson, eds. National Poultry Waste Management Symposium Committee, Auburn Printing Service, Auburn University, AL.
Wheeler, E.F. 2002. Overview of Strategies to Reduce Emissions. Pages 99-104 in Proceedings National Poultry Waste Management Symposium. P.H. Patterson, J.P. Blake, and K.D. Roberson, eds. National Poultry Waste Management Symposium Committee, Auburn University Press, Auburn, AL.
Wicker, D.L. 2002. Successful Nutrient Management Programs. Presented at the National Poultry Waste Management Symposium. Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, Birmingham, AL.