Complications abound for CAFOs (03/26/2009)

Strangely enough, CAFO growth in Indiana has been extremely localized. Jay and Randolph have seen the greatest growth, but most of the state has seen nothing.

That's one of the problems in raising the policy discussion to a statewide level.

Both State Rep. Bill Davis and State Sen. Allen Paul will tell you that concern about CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) is pretty much a hot button issue with their constituents. But both have found that it's difficult to generate a state-level discussion of the issue.

That's an interesting paradox: A state-level issue with only localized concern.

And the legislature does not deal with subtleties or paradoxes well. Indiana lawmakers like their issues straightforward and clear-cut, hopefully black and white.

CAFOs don't fit that model, and because it has not been viewed as a statewide issue, there's been no traction in the General Assembly.

Both Davis and Paul are problem-solving pragmatists. While both are pretty much conservative Republicans, they're also interested in solving problems for their constituents.

What they have run into is apathy and indifference at the General Assembly level. They hear concerns from their constituents, but their peers aren't hearing anything similar from their own constituents.

It's an odd dynamic.

And then there is the international element. Why do we have dairy farmers coming to the Midwest from The Netherlands to set up shop? This is important to understand before going further.

Both the U.S. and the European Union have issues dealing with milk prices. It's a sensitive commodity, and governments want to make sure there is both adequate supply and that dairy farmers are making enough money to stay in business for the future.

In the U.S., our approach has involved price supports.

In Europe, the emphasis has been on limiting supply. As we understand it, in The Netherlands, every milk-producing farm must have a license or number. The government has a program that provides financial inducements to sell a farm's number, which would then be retired.

So, you are now a Dutch dairy farmer in The Netherlands. You have a number/license which has been passed down from your forebears. You may be making money as a dairy farmer, but there are real incentives to get out of the business, taking the money so the government can retire your number.

You go to a trade show, one of those ag exhibitions, and you encounter an exhibit from a company with an interesting suggestion: Sell your number to the Dutch government, take the incentive, then emigrate to America, which has an entirely different approach to milk based upon price supports.

There, you can do what your forefathers have done, run a dairy operation. And, with the help of the consulting company, you can run a more efficient dairy operation than ever before, with controlled environments and thousands of cows.

Looks like a pretty good deal.

But to folks in Indiana and Ohio, it looks like yet another complication in an already complicated mess. - J.R.

Friday, an overall perspective on the CAFO issue.[[In-content Ad]]