Its assault on a bill that would protect the environment but not ask too much of the livestock industry fails to recognize any interest in this state other than its own.
The bill is progressive. Its strength lies in recognizing that Iowa must do more to safeguard air and water if it is to be both a good place to live and good for agriculture. The bill is a response to public outrage that will intensify if it is not addressed.
Neighbors are sick of the stink of big hog lots and worried about risks to their health. Proposals for new livestock facilities are fought tooth and nail in some communities because of fears that property values will fall or that tourism will be driven away. Fish kills from manure spills are too frequent. Routine runoff from fields steadily poisons rivers and lakes.
Meanwhile, state laws for dealing with polluters are weak. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources lacks the staff and other tools it needs to do its job well. Indeed, this state has the embarrassing distinction of being last in the nation in spending on environmental protection.
Yet the Farm Bureau likes things just the way they are.
Things got the way they are because of a favoritism in the Legislature toward farming so out of whack with what's sensible that a confinement can be built in a 100-year floodplain, not to mention that local governments aren't even allowed a say in where livestock operations may be set up. No other industry is treated with such deference, largely because the Farm Bureau usually gets its way.
So now the Farm Bureau is fighting the bill that would better care for natural resources and respect the quality of life of Iowans by reasonably regulating animal-feeding operations.
The Farm Bureau counts 155,000 Iowa members, including nearly 40 percent of the Legislature. The organization represents active farmers, often the most prominent farmers in each county. Affilitated companies offer insurance and other financial services.
It is perhaps the most politically powerful organization in Iowa.
More than 300 Iowa Farm Bureau members hit the Statehouse last week to let lawmakers know of their displeasure with the proposed livestock legislation. Hog and cattle producers wore "We're good for Iowa" stickers. They warned that the bill threatens to put family farmers out of business. But that's not really the issue.
The issue is that a commitment to sound environmental practices must be accepted by agriculture as part of the cost of doing business, just as it is by every other industry. Livestock producers may bristle at the thought of more government interference in their operations, as well as higher costs of regulation. That doesn't relieve them of their responsibility for the damage done beyond their property lines.
This has become more apparent as livestock production has shifted toward larger operations.
A few highlights of the bill:
* Air-borne pollutants from animal-feeding operations would be studied by the DNR as a step toward establishing air-quality standards.
* Phosphorus levels as well as nitrogen levels would have to be considered when manure is put on fields. Both are important crop nutrients, but an overload in the soil can pollute streams, lakes and rivers. Adoption of a phosphorus index would require manure to be spread over more land than it is now.
* Confinement operators large enough to have to file a manure-management plan would pay fees to help cover the cost of DNR inspections.
The bill includes greater separation distances between confinements and neighbors, schools, etc. It bans new livestock facilities in floodplains. It lowers the size threshold for determining which operations need construction permits, among other proposals.
It would acknowlege that Iowa's valuable livestock industry cannot prosper in the long run at the expense of the environment and people. Many legislators finally seem to understand this. But the Iowa Farm Bureau doesn't.
The organization is behaving like a bully who thinks his friends have turned on him, when in fact all they're trying to do is be fair to everyone.
This is one time the Farm Bureau shouldn't get its way. The legislation should be passed.
The best response for those who want a cleaner environment in Iowa: Buttonhole legislators with just as much determination as the opposition has.