by Carla Klein, Ozark Chapter Program Director
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are operations with over one thousand “animal units” concentrated at one place at one time.
The following are CAFO size definitions:
Livestock | Class 1A | Class 1B | Class 1C |
Beef Cows | 7,000 + | 3,000-6,999 | 1,000-2,999 |
Hogs | 17,500 + | 7,500-17,499 | 2,500-7,499 |
Broiler Chickens | 700,000+ | 300,000-699,999 | 100,000-299,999 |
Current state standards allow up to 17,499 hogs, 7,000 beef cattle, or 700,000 chickens within 2000 feet of a residence. Standards allow an unlimited number of animals to be located 3000 feet from a residence. This means that an industrial livestock operation that generates as much waste as the city of St. Louis can be located within 3,000 feet of a residence in your county.
Enacting county health ordinances is currently the only mechanism for protecting citizens from the potential negative impacts associated with CAFOs.
Missouri courts have upheld a county’s authority to enact these health ordinances.
Twelve Missouri counties have enacted health ordinances since 1997. Three additional counties are in the process of enacting similar ordinances.
According to the Missouri Supreme Court, CAFO buildings and farm structures, including lagoons, are exempt from planning and zoning.
Any class of county can put a health ordinance in place (planning and zoning is not required.)
A Class 1A CAFO creates as much manure as a city of more than 70,000 people, which is then kept in open-pit lagoons.
According to The University of Missouri, CAFOs can decrease property values up to 50 percent for neighboring property owners.
Of Missouri’s 106,000 farming operations, only 451 (less than 0.5 percent) are CAFOs.
Some legislators and industry lobbyists have pledged, once again, to propose legislation in the 2006 session that would weaken local control for counties. Missouri’s legislative session begins January 4, 2006. With Cargill planning a major CAFO expansion into Missouri, now is the time to act! Please sign up for the legislative LISTSERV today and help protect Missouri’s rural communities.