Midwest Pork Conference
Reports are starting to come in from yesterday’s annual Midwest Pork Conference in Indianapolis. The producers report that progress is being made on Gov. Daniels’ goal to double Indiana’s pork production by 2025:
So far this year, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has permitted construction of 92 confined feeding operations (CFOs) or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to house 502,782 swine.
Nearly 40 percent of those swine — 186,862 head — have been permitted in East Central Indiana’s Jay, Randolph and Wayne counties. . . .
However, the opposition generated by this push was also noted: "CAFO has almost become like a dirty word," said David Hardin, president of the Indiana Pork Advocacy Coalition from Hendricks County. IDEM was also on hand in the way of its senior environmental manager Mike Dunn who said CAFO review times have been cut from an average of 116 days to 71 days over 2005, in response to a 166% increase in CAFO applications during 2006.
Miller told the producers that they must work to combat the "myths" about the industrial farms:
"Right now there’s a perception out there that the bigger the operation the worse it is for the economy, the worse it is for the environment, and the worse it is for the animals," Miller said. "Everyone in this room knows those statements are. . .false. The other thing I know is, we have nothing to hide."
Well, if we have nothing to hide, then why does the state and the industry oppose permitting local counties to review and approve new CAFO construction? Surely, if the opposition is based on ignorance, then requiring more extensive public input into the approval process would lead to greater understanding of these operations by the myth believing public.
