July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Link: Press IDEM to do better job (05/22/06)
Jay County Commissioners
By By JACK RONALD-
A longtime confined feeding operator urged Jay County Commissioners this morning to press the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to do a better job regulating large-scale livestock operations.
“People don’t have faith in IDEM,” said Carl Link of Cooper Farms, who is involved in CFOs in both Jay and Mercer counties. “My recommendation is to get IDEM to step up a little bit. The system we have in Ohio works pretty well.”
Link presented the commissioners with a copy of Ohio’s CFO regulations which were developed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency with involvement by both farmers and environmentalists.
“I think you can find a balance to win for both parties,” said Link.
Ohio’s regulations call for two inspections per year of all CFOs by agriculture department staff members.
“They’re not afraid to fine them,” Link said. “If a guy does it on purpose, they ought to be nailed to the wall ... If you do it right, they’ll work with you.”
Contrary to comments at some recent meetings, Link said Ohio has not implemented a ban on further CFO development. Instead, the reason for expansion into Indiana is the rising cost of Ohio farmland.
Merlyn Strohl, a rural Portland resident whose property is affected by a planned CFO, told commissioners she had taken a recent tour of CFOs in order to learn more about the issue.
“I was impressed and surprised how clean these barns are,” she said.
Commissioner Gary Theurer said a set of recommendations for local regulations and notification requirements is being sent to the Jay County Plan Commission for consideration at its June 8 meeting.
After the plan commission acts, the matter will return to the county commissioners for action.
Theurer said notification of nearby property owners has been a problem. “If they’d just be up front with people,” he said. “That’s what causes the hard feelings.”
Theurer also said many of the complaints about CFOs are provoked by the few farmers who don’t follow proper procedures.
“There shouldn’t be flies (as a problem near a CFO),” he said. “That’s just poor management. It’s not that costly to control flies anymore.”
In other business, the commissioners heard a request by Arts Place to increase county support for Arts in the Parks from $12,500 to $14,000 next year.
Arts Place executive director Eric Rogers noted the county has provided support for the program since 1988.
“We’re all about developing character in kids,” said Arts Place president Rob Weaver. “There’s just a lot of value to the program.”[[In-content Ad]]
“People don’t have faith in IDEM,” said Carl Link of Cooper Farms, who is involved in CFOs in both Jay and Mercer counties. “My recommendation is to get IDEM to step up a little bit. The system we have in Ohio works pretty well.”
Link presented the commissioners with a copy of Ohio’s CFO regulations which were developed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency with involvement by both farmers and environmentalists.
“I think you can find a balance to win for both parties,” said Link.
Ohio’s regulations call for two inspections per year of all CFOs by agriculture department staff members.
“They’re not afraid to fine them,” Link said. “If a guy does it on purpose, they ought to be nailed to the wall ... If you do it right, they’ll work with you.”
Contrary to comments at some recent meetings, Link said Ohio has not implemented a ban on further CFO development. Instead, the reason for expansion into Indiana is the rising cost of Ohio farmland.
Merlyn Strohl, a rural Portland resident whose property is affected by a planned CFO, told commissioners she had taken a recent tour of CFOs in order to learn more about the issue.
“I was impressed and surprised how clean these barns are,” she said.
Commissioner Gary Theurer said a set of recommendations for local regulations and notification requirements is being sent to the Jay County Plan Commission for consideration at its June 8 meeting.
After the plan commission acts, the matter will return to the county commissioners for action.
Theurer said notification of nearby property owners has been a problem. “If they’d just be up front with people,” he said. “That’s what causes the hard feelings.”
Theurer also said many of the complaints about CFOs are provoked by the few farmers who don’t follow proper procedures.
“There shouldn’t be flies (as a problem near a CFO),” he said. “That’s just poor management. It’s not that costly to control flies anymore.”
In other business, the commissioners heard a request by Arts Place to increase county support for Arts in the Parks from $12,500 to $14,000 next year.
Arts Place executive director Eric Rogers noted the county has provided support for the program since 1988.
“We’re all about developing character in kids,” said Arts Place president Rob Weaver. “There’s just a lot of value to the program.”[[In-content Ad]]
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