Regarding “Saving our Water,” (Globe, March 29), once again, “Doyle Childers, the corporate ag champion” appears to think the rest of us are lowly chumps. He talks of water quality, yet allows unfettered CAFO expansion and hides behind “private land rights.” I too grew up on a family farm, and yes, Mr. Childers, farming is not as it used to be. But, that does still not give one a “right” to just do whatever without regard to his neighbors, the surrounding environment, and future economic impact on tourism that affects many, many more Missourians than a few self-interested landowners.

If you have thistles appear in a pasture, a good neighbor eradicates them to keep them from spreading to other fields he doesn’t own. Same goes for cheat and rye in wheat fields. We all have the “right” of freedom of speech, but that right is limited by not yelling fire in a crowded theater or inciting violence. The problem with Childers and the current DNR makeup is that the only “right” they recognize is the landowner who wants to do whatever, whenever without regard to anyone but themselves.

If the DNR won’t do its duty, perhaps it’s time for the counties to start applying permit fees or tax levies that make it so unprofitable that rogue landowners will be forced economically to do what they should already be doing ethically.

Geoff Caldwell

Joplin