Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New By COOKSON BEECHER Capital Press Staff Writer, The Capital Press , 12/11/98
SEATTLE, Wash. - The most aggressive strategy ever proposed to address water pollution caused by animal wastes had its turn in the regional spotlight last week during a public forum hosted by two federal agencies
In September, the USDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations with the goal of reducing water pollution and public health risks associated with animal feeding operations
During the recent public forum, industry representatives from Washington state, Oregon and Idaho shared their concerns about the proposed plan with federal decisionmakers
The session was one of 10 scheduled in various cities across the nation
The prognosis offered by the industry representatives came down to this:
Livestock owners in the Northwest states are ahead of the rest of the nation in improving water quality, and the agencies need to be extremely careful they don't hinder efforts already under way
They also urged the federal officials not to focus only on livestock operations of 1,000 animal units or larger
Bub Loiselle, EPA water-quality official for Region 10 - Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska - told federal agency officials prior to the public forum that he shares those views and urged that the strategy be overhauled
"The Achilles heel of the draft strategy is that it puts too much emphasis on large operations," he said. "Focusing primarily on them doesn't level the playing field. Here in this region, we have a pretty good grip on programs designed to improve water quality. We don't want to interrupt them or run the risk of having the goals of different agencies be in opposition with one another." He also called for a clearer approach to enforcement than that outlined in the strategy
"To do less would be misleading to the regulated community," he said
The driving force behind the unified approach to confined animal feeding operations comes from public concerns about the the extremely large operations springing up in other parts of the nation
But the Pacific Northwest doesn't share that profile, either in size of agricultural operations or approach taken toward water-quality issues
Debbie Becker, executive director of Washington state's Dairy Federation, made that clear when she told the panel that the "Dairy industry is light years ahead of the national strategy." She also questioned the draft plan's attempt to adjust feed intake in order to control components in manure
"You can't put the health and welfare of animals at risk," she warned them
"Leave the nutrition of animals to the nutritionists." As for the strategy's focus on the larger operations, she told the federal officials that they shouldn't divide an industry based on size or location
"Everyone's got to be involved," she said
After the meeting, she said she was pleased that "the folks on the other side of the Rocky Mountains" ventured into this territory and saw how progressive and forward thinking the farmers here are
"I think they found we are by and large in much better shape on environmental issues than the rest of the country," she said. "They saw we are interested in participating in a good process, but that we don't want the strategy to hurt the progress we've already made." Mark Street, a pork producer from Ephrata, Wash., and an industry representative both on the state and national level, agreed with Becker and Loiselle that the federal strategy's focus on the large feeding operations is not the way to go
""If you're going to regulate, it should be the same across the board," he said. "Small- and moderate-sized operations can have worse pollution problems than larger ones. It's not realistic to exclude them and only look at the larger ones." Rick Nelson, newly elected president of the Washington state Cattlemen's Association, took a different tack. He's concerned how this new strategy will affect the smaller feedlots and producers who winter their livestock in confined areas
He pointed out that for the past 25 years, feedlots with 1,000 head or more have had to meet EPA guidelines
"It appears to me as though EPA is trying to tighten regulations. Now they want to lower the guidelines and go after the smaller operations - any that could contribute to the pollutant load. That could include someone with two horses. That's quite a jump." He, too, pointed to the progress made in this region. "Everywhere you go people are talking about the steps they're taking to meet the Clean Water Act," he said. "I'm worried that with this new strategy suddenly those steps won't be good enough." John Fawcett-Long, coordinator of the Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, told panel members his group is extremely concerned about large-scale factory farm livestock operations
"The draft strategy is a good start," he said, "but it doesn't hold factory farms accountable for the environmental and community effects of their operations. The draft strategy contains too much public support for that kind of operation instead of supporting preventative, sustainable livestock operations."
Send in your comments The USDA-EPA draft strategy can be reviewed on the Internet at A copy can also be obtained by calling EPA official Joe Roberto at 206-553-1660 or EPA at 509-323-2900
Written comments can be submitted through Jan. 19, 1999. Comments should be sent to Denise C. Coleman, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C. 20013-2890
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New By COOKSON BEECHER Capital Press Staff Writer
When President Clinton released his Clean Water Action Plan in February, the spotlight was on agriculture
While noting that the United States has made tremendous progress in cleaning up its rivers, lakes and coastal waters, the plan pointed to polluted runoff from agricultural operations as one of the most important remaining sources of water pollution
Responding to that concern and the President's call to finish the job of cleaning up the nation's waterways, USDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency joined forces to come up with a proposed unified national strategy for animal feeding operations
The draft plan was the first key action item under the President's Clean Water Action Plan and one of more than 100 actions President Clinton directed as part of his plan
The focus in this proposed unified strategy is on the largest concentrated animal feeding operations, referred to as Confined Animal Feeding Operations, CAFOs - those with 1,000 animal units or more
Animal units are based on beef cows, with one cow equivalent to one animal unit
Under the proposed strategy, all animal feeding operations will develop and implement comprehensive nutrient management plans by the year 2008
Essential to these plans will be the way manure is handled and stored, how and when it is applied to the land, record keeping to track the amount of manure produced at the operation and what is done with it, feed management designed to control the components in the manure, and integrating those with other conservation measures
"This draft plan is the most aggressive strategy ever proposed to address this problem and protect our nation's rivers, lakes and streams," said Carol M. Browner, EPA administrator
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman emphasized, however, that it is a "customer-driven" strategy and that public input is essential in forging a plan that will meet the goals of the federal Clean Water Act and at the same time keep the livestock industry strong and protect the quality of life in rural communities
The draft strategy is available from USDA and EPA, and written comments will be accepted until Jan. 19, 1999
Animal feeding operations, or AFOs, are livestock-raising operations - including hog, cattle, dairy and poultry farms - where animals are kept and raised in confined situations for certain lengths of time
Due to improved technology and a push for cost efficiency, farms have become increasingly larger, and in some parts of the country so large that the term "factory farm" is used to describe them
This, in turn, has heightened public awareness - especially east of the Rocky Mountains - that something needs to be done about controlling the large amount of agricultural waste these farms produce
When looking at water quality issues, USDA and EPA officials point out that of 694,000 miles of rivers surveyed, 35,000 of those miles are adversely affected by animal feeding operations
It is estimated that approximately 450,000 animal feeding operations in the United States concentrate animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals and production operations on a small amount of land
USDA data indicates that the vast majority of livestock farms are small, with about 85 percent of them having fewer than 250 animal units
But according to USDA figures from 1992, 6,600 animal feeding operations had more than 1,000 animal units
USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service estimates that 300,000 feeding operations will need to develop or revise comprehensive nutrient management plans to meet the goals of the proposed strategy
And while voluntary efforts will be the main approach to achieving comprehensive nutrient management plans for most animal feeding operations, high-risk operations will be required to develop comprehensive nutrient management plans under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits
EPA official David Ragsdale said the proposed strategy is driven by serious water problems in states and regions of this country where agriculture has not a done a good job at working toward meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act
And while large confined feeding operations are not as prevalent in the Pacific Northwest as they are in other parts of the country, there are some in the region. In Eastern Washington, for example, three contiguous dairies are milking 20,000 cows
But he doubts that the national requirements under the draft strategy will be stricter than those already imposed by the states in this region on animal feeding operations
"Farm plans in most cases should keep farmers out of problems," he said
"We haven't found anyone with a fully implemented farm plan with any issues we'd take enforcement on," he said. "But having a farm plan is only the first step. Implementation is the key." When looking at EPA's efforts in Region 10, which is made up of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, he pointed out that the agency has tried to establish a level playing field so that those who are complying with the Clean Water Act aren't at an economic disadvantage compared to those who aren't complying
"Now that's beginning to happen on a national level," he said
Send in your comments The USDA-EPA draft strategy can be reviewed on the Internet at A copy can also be obtained by calling EPA official Joe Roberto at 206-553-1660 or EPA at 509-323-2900
Written comments can be submitted through Jan. 19, 1999. Comments should be sent to Denise C. Coleman, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C. 20013-2890
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National animal waste plan draws concerns
Critics fear strategy may interfere with existing water quality efforts
Proposed unified strategy focuses on confined animal feeding operations
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