Monday, April 16, 2007
LTEs
Culver can prove himself with support for HF 873
Regarding House File 873 Factory Farm Accountability Bill: Factory-farm
interests are trying to kill this bill despite repeated statements of "being
good stewards of the land." This bill will strengthen the permitting process,
decrease the permit threshold to 1,250 hogs, increase separation distances and
give all counties the right to challenge construction permits.
Gov. Chet
Culver has failed to follow through with his promises of protecting the
environment. He fired Jeff Vonk and three strong environmental advocates on the
Environmental Protection Commission for protecting the environment. Some of us
knew the writing on the wall when he chose Patty Judge as his running mate that
"being good stewards of the land" in his book has nothing to do with protecting
our environment.
However, Culver can still do something to protect our
environment. He can support HF 873 without amendments to weaken it. Iowans sent
a loud message to legislators in the election. We want protection of our
environment from the pollution of industrial-sized farm operations.
-
Susan West,
Fairbank.
-----
Livestock bill regulates the wrong farmers
To answer the critics of the Farm Bureau and supporters of House File
873, [a bill that would increase separation distances between large-scale hog
confinements and residences and public places], I say that yes, Farm Bureau
should have a voice in agribusiness and agriculture. Lawmakers legislate, but
farmers provide the guidance through the grass-roots process that is Farm
Bureau.
HF 873 puts unrealistic restrictions on the livestock industry
that makes it impossible for family farmers to afford livestock. You would have
to own enough ground to provide a buffer, an amount only large-scale corporate
farms could afford. Is that what Iowa is begging for?
Farmers are willing
to take action to maintain water quality, but we must make sure we are using the
right tools in the right situations. With 150 new regulations placed on
livestock farmers in the past five years, Farm Bureau is trying to prevent the
American farmer from being regulated out of business.
- David Van
Rheenen,
president, Marion County Farm
Bureau,
Pleasantville.
-
I consider myself an everyday voter. I
am also a Farm Bureau member. My vote joins 156,000 others from everyday voting
Iowans who have the chance to set Farm Bureau policy each year from the
grass-roots level.
We have worked hard on developing sound, logical
policy that will allow farmers to function efficiently in an ever-changing
global business climate.
With 850 sows, I am by no means one of the large
farms that so many of your activist letter-writers complain about. However,
House File 873 could possibly put me out of business.
I am currently in
the process of taking over the family farm that my father started, and I want my
children to have the same opportunity to farm if they want it. We voluntarily
take steps to protect our environment and also abide by the many regulations
already in effect. But sometimes the current regulations are so difficult to
understand that we get different answers to our questions depending on the state
employee we ask.
Why would we want to add to the confusion and be
anti-small business by adding more regulations to the agriculture industry in
our state? Oppose HF 873 - the anti-small-business, anti-young-farmer
bill.
- Mike Ver Steeg,
Inwood.
-
If water quality is
the issue, let's stick to the issue of water quality! If House File 873 is
implemented, independent livestock farmers will no longer be able to stay
competitive. The only livestock business that will thrive will be the large,
mobile entities who can place their farm anywhere.
As an independent
family farmer, I am tied to my community and only have my land on which to grow
my operation. I am asking you not to take the punitive approach in achieving
water quality. In the past five years, farmers have seen 150 new rules and
regulations with respect to livestock. These regulations have already driven
many of the small independent producers out of the business.
- Gary
Zhorne,
Havelock.
----------
Grow prairie for biofuel
April 16, 2007
In all the ballyhoo about biofuels, why just the focus on corn, switchgrass
and wood chips?
What I propose is using an intact, biodiverse stand of
tallgrass prairie; an actual restoration of the many and various plots of the
Conservation Reserve Program that have been proposed for elimination to grow
more corn.
A prairie that is diverse provides many ecosystem functions
such as carbon sequestration and flood control, and draws wildlife such as
pheasant and deer. It needs no fertilizer input, making it much less expensive
to maintain and harvest than corn.
It can be mowed once a year and the
biomass collected used for biofuel, the same for a switchgrass monoculture. Some
of the prairies could be used by hunters and hikers.
Instead of
eliminating the CRP, expand it. This could be a win-win solution for
everyone.
- Stephen R. Johnson,
Pella.
Sunday, April 15
Doak: Reconnect with rivers, our great, untapped asset
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By RICHARD DOAK");
By
RICHARD DOAKSPECIAL TO THE REGISTER
Iowans are rediscovering their rivers. It might be one of the
best things to happen here in a long time.
The flowing waters of this
state are an extraordinary resource that has been too long overlooked. Now,
growing numbers of Iowans are taking up canoeing and kayaking and joining groups
that help clean trash from stretches of river. Other Iowans are signing up as
volunteer water monitors, meticulously providing the data that will be the first
step in mitigating pollution. Watershed by watershed, associations are being
formed to work for better water quality.