Ruling Limits Counties' Ability to Regulate CAFOs

Ruling limits counties' ability to regulate CAFOs By Sara Rooney News-Press NOW APR 5, 2023 Updated 9 HRS AGO 0 Facebook Twitter Email Missouri Supreme Court ruling receives positive feedback from the agriculture communityVideo play button Read more: https://newspressnow.com

Missouri Supreme Court ruling receives positive feedback from the agriculture community Placeholder hogs (copy) Missouri Supreme Court rules in support of Missouri Agriculture Farm photo (copy)

Facebook Twitter Email PrintCopy article link Save The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the constitutionality of a law limiting local regulations on concentrated animal feeding operations in what state farming officials are calling a “big win.”

Senate Bill 391 states that regulations from county commissions or county health center boards should not be inconsistent with or more strict than laws relating to the Department of Health and Senior Services, the Department of Natural Resources, environment control, air conservation and water pollution.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said the court ruling was a huge win for farmers in Missouri.

“No one knows how to protect Missouri farmland better than Missouri farmers,” Bailey said. “We’re always going to stand up and fight for agriculture. That is one of the most important industries in the state of Missouri.”

Bailey emphasized the family tradition engraved within farming.

“I’m raising a family in rural Missouri, and so understanding that farmers’ lives, livelihoods and legacies are tied to their land was important for us to protect that land,” Bailey said. “Certainly, the General Assembly took that position and then that that legislation was attacked. We were happy to defend it and bring home a win from the Missouri Supreme Court.”

Dan Engemann, director of regulatory affairs for the Missouri Farm Bureau, said this ruling has a real impact on real people.

“We have Missouri Farm Bureau members out there that have not been able to grow their operations because of existing county health ordinances,” Engemann said. “A lot of these have been on the books and started coming into place in the late ‘90s in response to, at that time, premium standard farms.”

Some challenges of the bill included the health and environmental impacts of concentrated animal feeding operations farms. Engemann said that farmers have worked to clean up production processes.

“Production practices have gotten so much better since the late ‘90s,” Engemann said. “You know hog manure is largely stored in deep pits or concrete basins,” Engemann said. “We’ve largely gotten away from logging containment structures and open-weather-type structures. A lot of the manure is being knifed in these days, limiting odor concerns out there. So, this is just a big win for Missouri agriculture.”


Source: newspressnow.com

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