Sun, Nov 22 2009
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Dade County passes CAFO ordinance Patton doesn’t think passing a health ordinance for the purpose of keeping out large farms is an appropriate use of the ordinance. He thinks health ordinances should be for the express purpose of protecting public health, not regulating farming.
He also said his dairy operation houses about 650 cows and is considered a class 4 CAFO. According to Patton, his operation is in compliance with the new ordinance and grandfathered in under the law, but he worries about the future of his farm if his children want to expand the business someday. “I’ve not heard a lot of good stuff about (health ordinances) for the practical side of farming,” he said. “We already have a structure in place with (the Missouri Department of Natural Resources) on the state level.” But Mike Theurer, who lives near Lockwood, said the ordinance will help preserve the community he loves and the place where he is raising his children. “I was concerned about my whole community and how it would change the town and the schools,” Theurer said of any large hog farm or other CAFO that might come to the area. Pam Allen, administrator of the Dade County Health Department, said the health board approved the ordinance with a unanimous vote and that no one showed up at the Nov. 15 meeting to oppose the issue. Allen said the board passed the ordinance to support the commissioners. Had to hurry Theurer said despite some concerns from local farmers, 90 percent of the people who filled the court room on Nov. 17 and spilled out into the lawn, were in favor of passing the health ordinance. The expedited schedule of events was necessary, Beerly said, to make sure work wouldn’t start on any hog farm before the ordinance was passed. “It’s not like we were trying to push anything past people, we just had to get it done in a hurry because once they start, it’s too late,” Beerly said. Patton thinks the ordinance will only hurt farmers already trying to make a living in Dade County, and said there isn’t a way to stop corporate farming no matter how many ordinances an area passes. “I’ll be the first to admit if I had my choice the farms would be put in by somebody local, not a corporation, but they’re going to come regardless of what we do. This is America,” he said. Patton, who also is a member of the Dade County University of Missouri Extension office, said the MU Extension Council had a meeting last week and decided to take a closer look at the new ordinance and its impact on local farmers. If the panel thinks it causes more harm than good, Patton said the group will work to get the new ordinance rescinded. 
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