From time to time people ask me where I come up with the topics for this column. This one came to me while sitting in the basement of the Indiana Statehouse attending a House Ag Committee hearing on livestock legislation.

Yes, I admit my mind was wandering and my attention had slipped away from the testimony that was taking place. That was because I had heard it all before. Not just the same arguments, but the exact same words - delivered by the exact same people. Just a week earlier, I was in another room in the same building as the Senate Environmental Committee took testimony on different livestock bills.

As I considered this, my mind drifted back to 2008 when I, again, was sitting in a committee room and the same people were telling the same stories to many of the same legislators.

If they ever decide to make a sequel to the movie Ground Hog Day, I have the perfect script.

While the issue of how we regulate Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) is a very serious one, the way we debate and legislate the issue does not do it justice.

For example, if you hold a hearing about CAFOs in Indiana, I can tell you ahead of time with 80 percent accuracy who will show up to speak against CAFOs.

Furthermore, I can tell you what they are going to say, almost word for word.

That is because these same people show up time after time reciting the same stories.

Likewise, I can predict with almost unerring certainty who will show up to defend the livestock industry.

They are the staff and professional lobbyists hired by livestock farmers, who do not have the time to come to Indianapolis time after time after time.

Isn’t there a better way to deal with this issue?

The stories of environmental damage done by certain livestock farmers in Indiana are legendary.

These isolated incidents have been repeated so often by opponents of CAFOs that they have become rural legends.
The abandoned hog lagoon in Delaware County, the manure spray in the wind storm in Randolph County, and the nutrient application on frozen ground in Carroll County are trotted out time after time - even when they do not apply to the situation at hand.

Are the stories true? I am sure they are. Are they terrible examples of bad management and environmental irresponsibility? Yes. Are they the norm? No!

The fact is that CAFOs represent an extremely small percentage of the environmental damage that takes place each year, a fact conveniently overlooked by those who oppose CAFOs.

The livestock industry has some soul searching to do as well. They need to realize that many local residents are scared of CAFOs and scared of what they do not understand. They need to come to grips with the fact that there are “bad actors” out there that ruin it for all the good producers. The industry must do more to weed them out and keep them out.

Elected officials can also play a role here. They can stop introducing legislation that keeps getting defeated year after year.

Instead, work with both sides to craft policy that protects the environment, protects the interests of rural residents, and promotes growth and profitability for the livestock producer. Enact legislation that allows for quick and severe action against those who willfully damage our environment.

Not all livestock producers are good, not all CAFOs are bad, not all environmentalists are nut cases, and not all legislation is good policy.

Our livestock industry and our environment are both too important to let the bad actors on both sides to cloud the issue.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World.