By DAVE BLOWER JR.
Farm World Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Even though the Indiana Agriculture Regulatory Structure Task Force recommended many changes, Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman said the 36-page report offered many signs that the state’s government is doing many tasks well for Hoosier farmers.

The task force was formed to study the governmental structure of the 13 agencies, organizations and other government-related functions that regulate Indiana agriculture. The goal was to discover what was working efficiently and effectively, and to find structural gaps, overlaps or inadequacies that should be fixed.

The report, which was delivered to Skillman on Jan. 7, said most agencies work well most of the time.

“At first glance, it appears that we can administratively address disconnect in the relationships between the agencies,” Skillman explained. “No major statutory change is proposed for this legislative session. This is a thought-provoking document. The report is comprehensive and provides good direction for the future.”
In August 2007, Skillman established the task force and accepted an offer by the Indiana Farm Bureau to coordinate the task force. Skillman named Ted McKinney, leader of U.S. Food Chain and State Affairs for Dow AgroSciences, to chair the group which brought members of agribusiness, General Assembly, conservation groups and farmers together to study the state’s regulatory structure.

McKinney reported that the task force had 18 meetings between December 2007 and December 2008 in addition to small-group meetings that allowed members to study specific tasks.
The task force separated its recommendations into two categories:
Those which need immediate attention, and those that are less urgent. Topping the urgent list was improving the efficiency and removing as much duplicity as possible while regulating confined feeding operations (CFO) and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO). The task force advised the state government to keep CFO and CAFO regulations under the regulatory umbrella of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), but there should be changes to the rulemaking efforts.

The task force said an IDEM Agriculture Advisory Board should be created to inform IDEM on policy, agency operating procedure and education. In addition, an Assistant Commissioner of Agricultural Regulation position should be added to the IDEM staff to coordinate agency regulatory activities.

The task force wants IDEM to develop a structure for inspection rotations to improve efficiency and effectiveness of CFO and CAFO programs. And finally, the General Assembly should clearly define the roles of the state agencies and local governments to eliminate duplication and to reduce conflicts.

McKinney reported that the task force divided its studies into three categories: Regulations of the food-growing industry, regulations of the distribution of food, and environmental and public health regulations.

Of the three, the environmental and public health agencies and regulations face the most structural challenges, the task force claimed. These agencies and rules received the lowest scores from both the general public and the farmers who are regulated by them. The task force said the current regulations assume that farms that experience a spill or an accident are assumed to have done it intentionally.

The report also offered some direction for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).

“After much deliberation, the task force concluded that combining agency regulatory functions would create more inefficiencies than would be reduced,” the report explained. “In particular making the (ISDA) into a regulatory agency (or into a function of authority to coordinate policies of any regulatory agency) would compromise its critical role to be an advocate for the agriculture industry.”

The task force recommended removing some of the regulatory authority that it is currently responsible to oversee. McKinney believes there is strong information to help the state’s government and Hoosier farmers in the task force’s recommendations.
“From this effort, we provide what we hope are helpful recommendations that will benefit the state now and for many years to come,” McKinney remarked. “We tore up and reassembled the current structure many times and on each occasion, came to the conclusion that while there are several changes that should be made, the structure is, for the most part, quite sound.”

A complete copy of the Indiana Agriculture Regulatory Structure Task Force’s final report can be found on the Lt. Governor’s website at www.in.gov/lg