Environmental Resource Management

Breaking News: EPA Backs Existing Wastewater Regulations, Prevents Catastrophe for Processors and Producers

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 13:46:00 GMT

The longstanding Meat and Poultry (MPP) Effluent Guidelines and Standards will stand, announced Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin on Aug. 30. He says the proposed changes to the regulation are unnecessary.

EPA determined existing federal wastewater regulations under the Clean Water Act are effective and the burdens proposed changes would inflict on meat and poultry processors are unwarranted.

“The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) applauds the Trump administration and EPA Administrator Zeldin for taking a common sense approach on the Meat & Poultry Processing Rule,” says Duane Stateler, NPPC president and pork producer from McComb, Ohio. “As proposed by the previous administration, this rule—which provides no environmental benefits—would have been devastating to small- and medium-sized meat processors across the country and the livestock farmers who rely on them as markets for their animals.”

EPA’s action will save not only the nearly 100 local meat processors that EPA itself identified would have to close down but also the thousands of family farmers who rely on them to stay in livestock production, Stateler points out.

“It will help ensure affordable, nutritious American-grown pork can continue to be served on dinner tables across the country,” Stateler says.

Moving Forward
The decision closes the book on a nearly two-year comment and consideration process in which NPPC and other stakeholders have worked with EPA to better inform the agency’s decision and preempt unnecessary harm.

“Under the prior proposal, if it were finalized, major pork processors would have faced significant costs to install new waste water management systems,” explains Michael Formica, NPPC chief legal strategist. “During that period of construction, some plants would likely have needed to temporarily shut down. Others might have had to cut back on how many shifts they run.”

EPA’s internal analysis showed that dozens of facilities, likely small and medium-sized, would be forced to shut down because they would be unable to afford the cost of the technology required to comply, Formica says. Overall, the industry would have realized additional costs estimated at greater than $1 billion a year.

“Producers who rely on those processors would have then been without a market for their livestock,” Formica adds.

Unnecessary Expansions
The Meat and Poultry Products Effluent Guidelines and Standards was enacted in 1974 by the EPA and amended in 2004 to cover wastewater directly discharged by processing facilities. NPPC says the proposed amendment would have established more stringent technological requirements for controlling discharges from processors and significantly increased the scope of plants that were covered by the rules.

While the agricultural industry and the meat and poultry processing sectors support clean water efforts, EPA found these expansions were unnecessary.

NPPC says it appreciates EPA taking no action on the proposal, which would have disrupted packing capacity and livestock markets, in turn inflicting additional financial harm on producers and leading to further industry concentration and the loss of independent farmers.

The Meat Institute says the proposed rule would have also harmed the relationship between meat and poultry processing (MPP) facilities and publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs).

“Indirect discharging MPP facilities often make significant financial investments in maintaining and upgrading the POTW or shouldering major surcharges for the POTW’s continued operation and maintenance, which reduce public treatment costs for residential ratepayers and improve the quality of local and downstream waters,” the Meat Institute wrote in a statement.

Avoid Confusion: Clear the Air on CAFOs

Mon, 05 May 2025 20:23:38 GMT

Concentrated animal feeding operations have continued to sustain meat and dairy industries since their implementation many decades ago by providing a steady flow of livestock for food chains for home and consumers abroad.

Contrary to popular belief, Kansas State University extension livestock specialist Joel DeRouchey says CAFOs present a more efficient opportunity to raise livestock with less stress on the environment.

“While CAFOs can get a bad rap due to their ability to house many animals in one location, they face some of the most stringent regulations for environmental protection, which is good for surrounding land and water quality,” he points out on Agriculture Today with the K-State Radio Network .

After considering what’s regulated, how CAFOs handle manure, how it’s applied and the regulations and inspections involved from both the state and potentially the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), DeRouchey says these operations are in business for a reason.

“They’re doing a very good stewardship for both for the land and water quality,” he adds.

Feedlot

(Shelby Chesnut)

But Josh McCann, associate professor of animal science at the University of Illinois, says it’s understandable people may have questions about CAFOs.

“I think it’s easy to get nervous or ask questions about things that we’re not exposed to, that we aren’t very familiar with,” McCann says.

CAFOs are highly professional environments led by teams of experts who help those animals remain healthy, grow in a productive way and provide an extremely affordable protein for Americans and people around the world, he adds.

“We have some of the very best nutritionists, the very best veterinarians, the very best management experts working at these facilities to help those animals actually grow and prosper,” McCann says. “I don’t think people truly appreciate the amount of effort, investment of time and people and science that goes into this.”

Is Your Operation a CAFO?
CAFOs include cattle and small ruminant feedlots, confined large indoor and outdoor swine and poultry operations and dairy facilities that meet the criteria as a CAFO. Once a CAFO is designated for a site, it has both state and federal requirements under which it must operate.

The challenge is every state is different when it comes to its respective state regulations, he says.

“Permitting of different livestock species could be different within a state and certainly is across states,” DeRouchey says. “But the bigger pictures items are the same.”

To be a CAFO, EPA explains that farms must first be an Animal Feeding Operation (AFO). If a farm does not meet the definition of an AFO, the EPA rules do not apply to it.

The AFO definition has two parts: Part 1 - A lot or facility where animals have been, are, or will be confined and fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period. Part 2 - Where vegetation (crops, forage, post-harvest residues) is not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility.

“There are many factors to consider when determining if your farm is a CAFO. Bottom line: Manage your farm in a way that ensures no discharges to WOTUS,” the Illinois Pork Producers Association says on its website .

For example, in Kansas, any facility with an animal unit capacity of 300 or greater must register with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). Additionally – regardless of size – any facility that presents a significant water pollution potential must obtain a permit as determined by KDHE.

“Feedlot cattle over 700 pounds would be considered a single animal unit, 700 lb. and less is a half and cattle such as a lactating dairy cow would be considered 1.4,” DeRouchey says. “These figures relate to their feed intakes and the amount of manure produced per body weight.”

Another factor to consider when determining the size of your CAFO is if a farmer has multiple sites where animals are confined, they must determine if those sites are separate AFOs or should be combined. In Illinois, under the IL EPA Livestock Rules, two or more AFOs under common ownership would be a single AFO if the AFOs are adjacent to each other or the AFOs utilize a common area or system for handling or disposing of manure.

“Most situations in which pigs are raised will likely be defined as an AFO,” IPPA says. “If your farm is an AFO, then you must determine if you are a small, medium or large CAFO, which factors in the number of animals that are confined on the farm and whether pollutants are being discharged into Waters of the U.S (WOTUS).”

When determining if the operation has any discharges, a farmer must look at the entire production area including manure storage, feed storage and dead animal composting to determine if there is a discharge.

“CAFOs are strictly permitted to have full containment of all rainwater and runoff that reaches a pen surface, and the same goes for cleaning pen surfaces,” DeRouchey explains. “Manure must be stored in a contained area until it’s moved out to fields for spreading.”

Compliance is Key
Many regulations like these are in place to help keep the environment, water and land safe for multiple generations, McCann says.

Dairy

(Jim Dickrell)

To ensure compliance with these regulations, CAFOs undergo periodic on-site state inspections and a permit renewal where producers update their paperwork and nutrient management plan with any changes to the operation. An essential part of that process is developing a new nutrient management plan that says what’s going to occur with the application of manure to the agronomic crop ground surrounding the facility, DeRouchey says.

“With soil tests and manure samples taken, new projections are completed to ensure that the manure produced on those operations fits all the acreage,” DeRouchey says.

The challenge is those nutrient management plans are pretty region-specific, McCann says.

“Rainfall here in central Illinois is extremely different from rainfall in western Kansas,” he adds. “The appropriate ways you need to manage the nutrients in your animal waste is accordingly also very different. I think that’s one of the reasons why we have a lot of state-by-state regulation within this area.”

Compliance starts before the CAFO is constructed. Assessments, based on the species housed in the CAFO, look at criteria like geography. For example, in feedlots, rainwater drainage containment, manure storage areas, and agronomic manure application plans rank as some of the most crucial considerations.

Be a Good Neighbor
The one thing that’s not regulated directly is odors, DeRouchey says. Owners routinely clean pen surfaces as well on the outdoor facilities because the top layer of manure can turn into dust if it’s there too long, and that can carry odor from the CAFO to surrounding areas.

“We know that large or small operations have odor from livestock,” he adds. “And that doesn’t matter if you only have a couple animals or a lot of animals. What owners often do is look at, where can they potentially put up windbreaks? Where is the prevailing wind coming off of those facilities? How does that impact the surrounding area? How do they minimize potential dust? Because odor really travels a lot on dust.”

Being a good steward and making sure we’re minimizing any potential impact that our livestock farms would have on the surrounding area involves being aware of how it affects our neighbors, DeRouchey says.

“USDA scientists have confirmed that U.S. pork producers’ rigorous biosecurity efforts to keep pigs healthy are working,” says NPPC President Lori Stevermer.

(National Pork Board and the Pork Checkoff)

Eldon McAfee , attorney with Brick Gentry P.C. in West Des Moines, Iowa, says operational environmental management extends to neighbor awareness, communication and good relations.

“Don’t ignore neighbors who aren’t happy with your operation. Keep those lines of communication open,” McAfee says. “For example, when you apply manure, try to let everyone know. Attend educational seminars and obtain certifications to show you are being a good neighbor. Make sure employees are up to date on best practices when it comes to being a good neighbor, too.”

Can We Feed the World Without CAFOs?
CAFOs exist for a reason, McCann says. Some of those reasons are economic-related, and some of those are people-related.

“I would make the case that there are not enough people who want to work in the livestock industry and meet our animal protein needs without CAFOs now,” he says. “It’s pretty hard to imagine feeding a world that really craves lean, healthy, wholesome protein from livestock today without CAFOs. That’s difficult to do in my mind.”

Your Next Read: Don’t Let Your Guard Down: How to Avoid an Ag Nuisance Lawsuit

Trump Return Likely to Slow, Not Stop, U.S. Clean-energy Boom

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 15:54:00 GMT

Donald Trump’s return to the White House will refocus the nation’s energy policy onto maximizing oil and gas production and away from fighting climate change, but the Republican win in Tuesday’s presidential election is unlikely to dramatically slow the U.S. renewable energy boom.

Investor fears of a reversal under Trump sent clean-energy stocks down sharply on Wednesday. The MAC Global Solar Energy index was down 10% in midday trade, while shares of top renewable project developer and owner NextEra Energy slid 6.2%.

A Biden-era law providing a decade of lucrative subsidies for new solar, wind and other clean-energy projects would be near-impossible to repeal, however, thanks to support from Republican states, while other levers available to the next president would only have marginal impact, analysts say.

“I don’t think a Trump president can slow the transition,” said Ed Hirs, energy fellow at the University of Houston. “This is well under way.”

Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are the fastest-growing segments on the power grid, according to the Department of Energy, driven by federal tax credits, state renewable-energy mandates, and technology advancements that have lowered their costs.

President Joe Biden in 2022 signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act guaranteeing billions of dollars of solar and wind subsidies for another decade as part of his broader effort to decarbonize the power sector by 2035 to fight climate change.

Before the election, Trump slammed the IRA as being too expensive and promised to rescind all unspent funds allocated by the law - a threat that, if accomplished, could pour cold water over the U.S. clean energy boom. But dismantling the IRA would require lawmakers, including those whose states have benefited from IRA-related investments such as solar-panel factories, wind farms and other projects, to vote to repeal it.

“The jobs and the economic benefits have been so heavy in red states, it’s hard to see an administration come in that says, ‘we don’t like this,’” said Carl Fleming, a partner at law firm McDermott Will & Emery, who advised the Biden White House on renewable energy policy.

Many of Trump’s allies also benefit from the IRA through their investments in clean-energy technologies, Reuters has previously reported.

Fleming said Trump could, however, slow things down around the margins by hindering federal agencies that deliver IRA grants and loans, or by reducing federal leasing for things such as offshore wind.

“You could see a new administration come in and they can very quickly begin to cut budgets or restrict budgets or restrict the freedom of agencies to do certain things that are tied to funding,” he said. “But I think that’s a smaller subset of the larger renewables market that’s really relying on those, so I don’t think it would have a shocking effect.”

The Biden administration has rushed to ensure it spends the majority of available grant funding under the IRA before a new president arrives, Reuters has previously reported.

One way Trump could slow the transition is through executive action by changing public lands leasing, analysts said. The Biden administration had sought to expand lease auctions for offshore wind in federal waters, along with solar and wind on land.

“I think you would see more preference given to fossil-fuel extraction on public lands and waters,” said Tony Dutzik, associate director and senior policy analyst at Frontier Group, a non-profit sustainability think-tank.

That could have an outsized impact on the offshore-wind industry, which aims to site projects in federal waters. Most onshore solar and wind projects are located on private property, as is the vast majority of oil and gas drilling. Trump has said he intends to end the offshore-wind industry “on day one,” arguing it is too expensive and poses a threat to whales and seabirds, a dramatic policy reversal after his first administration supported offshore-wind development.

Bernstein Research said Trump is likely to enact a moratorium on new offshore-wind lease sales. Meanwhile, U.S. fossil-fuel production is likely to look much the same under Trump, experts said. The U.S. has already become the world’s largest oil and gas producer, under the watch of Biden, thanks to a drilling boom in fields such as the Permian Basin under Texas and New Mexico.

The production boom started under former President Barack Obama and has continued through the Trump and Biden presidencies. Even so, Trump’s campaign has sought to claim credit, saying his efforts to slash regulatory red tape during his 2017-2021 term paved the way, and arguing he could further expand U.S. fossil-fuel production in a second term by rolling back Biden’s climate initiatives.

“Presidents can make a lot of noise about plans for U.S. oil and gas, but ultimately it’s individuals and companies responding to prices of a global commodity that make the decisions on when to drill,” said Jesse Jones, head of North American upstream at Energy Aspects.

Dan Eberhart, Trump donor and CEO of oilfield-services company Canary, LLC, said he supports Trump’s encouragement of increased oil-and-gas drilling, saying it could further lower energy prices for businesses and consumers.

He added he would also welcome a move by Trump to once again withdraw the United States from international climate cooperation, like he did in his first term, arguing other big greenhouse-gas emitters were not doing enough.

“The Paris accord was aspirational and meaningless if China and India don’t participate,” he said, referring to a landmark U.N. deal in 2015 to limit global warming.

How to Store Manure on a Small Farm

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 18:29:30 GMT

By Sarah Fronczak, Michigan State University Extension
(Updated from an original article written by Shelby Bollwahn.)

Small farms can choose to spread or store manure. Most small livestock or horse farms are handling solid manures usually with some form of bedding – straw, wood shavings, sawdust, etc. Rather than collect the manure and bedding daily, load it in a spreader and spread it on cropland, hay land or pasture, farmers may choose to store the manure until a time when it can be spread or hauled away. Options for storage include stockpiling, dry stacking, composting, liquid storage or hauling away. The goal of proper manure storage on all farms should be to minimize nuisance issues like pests and aesthetics and environmental impacts on water and air quality. Michigan State University Extension recommends that small farms keep in mind the following principles when planning or maintaining their manure storages.

Principles of Manure Storage
1. Keep the clean water clean – divert rooftop or surface runoff away from manure storage.
2. Treat the dirty water – use of vegetated filter strips.
3. Store the manure out of a flood hazard area.
4. Store the manure where it is easily accessible to load and unload.
5. Avoid steep slopes when deciding the location of your storage area.
6. Have a nutrient management plan.

Storing Manure on Small Farms – Solid Storage
Stockpiling manure is essentially piling solid manure and soiled livestock or horse bedding in a convenient location that align with the recommendations in the Manure GAAMPs. It is an acceptable method to store manure on small farms. The base soil of the pile must be compacted and sealed to prevent manure nutrients from leaching into the soil profile. Clay soils are an excellent base for piles as opposed to sandy soils which allow nutrients to leach through. The loading area should be firm to prevent rutting in wet periods (rainfall events or spring thaws). There should be a very slight slope (1-3%) to allow the pile to drain toward a vegetated filter strip. Using a plastic tarp to cover the stockpile will help to reduce odor and pests. It also reduces the concern for leaching as it prevents rainwater from contacting and soaking through the pile. Compared to all other storage methods, stockpiling is the lowest cost option.

Dry stacking manure is the most common and most practical method of manure storage for small livestock or horse operations. The key components of a dry stack facility are the impervious floor, and three walls used to contain the manure. A poured concrete floor is an excellent example of an impervious floor. The floor should be slightly sloped for drainage towards a vegetated filter strip or sump. The walls of the facility should be a minimum of four feet high and small farm owners should consider the outward pressure on the walls from piled manure. The walls can be poured concrete, cinder block, horizontal or vertical timbers. It is also critical to secure anchoring for the facility below the frost line. The cost for this type of facility can be moderate.

Composting manure and bedding on small farms is gaining in popularity. One of the reasons for this is that the finished product of composting is crumbly, low in odor and resembles rich topsoil. It is a highly marketable product, popular with gardeners and landscapers. Composting reduces the amount of available nitrogen, kills pathogens, reduces the odor and reduces the volume of manure and bedding. Composting requires careful management to produce the final end product. An important management practice is tracking the temperature cycles of the compost piles. The center of the pile should reach 131 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for a minimum of 72 hours, which kills the pathogens and renders a relatively stable product. When the compost pile is properly mixed, or aerated, the manure compost can turn into a finished product in as little as six weeks. The cost of this method of storage can be moderate to high depending on the complexity of the facility. Get additional information on composting manure from the livestock and poultry environmental learning center.

Storing Manure on Small Farms – Liquid Storage
Liquid manure storage is used by many larger dairy or swine farms. Liquid manure is transferred or collected into a pit or lagoon structure. It may be mixed, pumped into manure spreading equipment and land applied. This form of manure storage is the most complex and expensive system. It is usually not practical for smaller livestock operations.

Storing Manure on Small Farms – Hauling Away
When manure storage availability is limited on a small farm there are still options available for producers. If the manure generated daily on the farm is small enough utilizing a small manure spreader as storage may be the right option for some farms. When the spreader is full simply hook up the tractor and spread on cropland or hay land according to a nutrient management plan. Another option may be to hire or contract with a certified manure hauler to come and remove the manure. Haulers may take the manure to a centralized composting facility or may spread the manure on farmland. It is important to remember that the manure will still need to be stored in between visits. The use of dumpsters, though expensive, may be a viable option when there is inadequate land for spreading or composting is not an option. Small farms may use dumpsters to store manure until it is removed. Dumpsters should be placed on an impervious surface such as concrete that may allow for collection of any liquids that leave the dumpster.

The last option for small farms is to consider marketing the manure or the compost. For more information about this check out this resource from MSU. Livestock or horse owners may give their composted or non-composted manure away for off-farm use. Gardeners are frequently willing to take composted manures. Crop farmers may be willing to spread the manure on their land during certain times of the year.

Your Next Read: Manure Pumping and Land Application Pose Risk of PRRS Spread

How To Align Environmental Metrics With Your Asset Management In Farmland

Mon, 20 May 2024 16:40:18 GMT

There’s no fast-forward button in farming to see how your investments pay off. But a recent time lapse playback by Iowa farmer Reid Weiland visually told the year-by-year story of how investing in a field yielded environmental and financial rewards.

“Things happen slow,” he says. “It’s the nature of farming one year to the next, and so it can take a decade for our story to develop.”

In the example above and video below, Weiland and his team identified low yielding areas and addressed fertility; they rebuilt and completed the main waterway in the field and added a second where needed; and they cleared an old building site. Piece by piece, season by season, their investments came to fruition.

Weiland Farms grows millet, corn and non-GMO, food-grade soybeans. Reid Weiland is managing partner/CEO and has been for the past 10 years since his father semi-retired.

The Case To Develop A Field Pedigree

With his leadership, Weiland and the team have developed an approach to manage their farmland (owned and leased) for environmental, productivity, and long-term financial payback. He says the need for this approach escalates as farm land has increased in market value.

“Think about where we’re spending $10,000 to $15,000 an acre today, and you don’t typically know what the fertility is,” he says. “You don’t know what the production history of it is. You don’t know any conservation or regenerative pieces that have gone through it. And we’re spending a million bucks for a tract, and we know very little about it.”

This highlights the opportunity of investing in regenerative practices that build up the land’s quality and performance but also emphasizes the risk of not doing so.

“Imagine because of macro economics, farmland doubled. It’s $30,000 an acre. Well, now we’re spending $2 million. How much more valuable is it to have what I would call a pedigree — a production pedigree, a regenerative pedigree?”

Weiland says such a land pedigree would have 10 years of cropping history with documentation of inputs applied by date and quantity.

“That could easily be worth $1,000 an acre for a $30,000 an acre farm, right?” he says.

Boost Land Value and Stewardship
Weiland Farms has made it a mindset to consider how they are investing back in their land with a two-prong goal: minimize environmental impact while boosting its value. Here are four goals the Iowa farm is focused on: Prevent soil erosion: methods include transitioning to minimal-till or no-till in highly erodible areas as well as installing grassed areas. Manage water quality: for example, explore opportunities for incentive funding to install filter systems that remove nitrates from water. Improve waterways: neglected waterways don’t do their intended job and can cause larger erosion issues. Invest in sustainable farming methods: think about how soil health improves long-term productivity.

Boost Land Value and Stewardship

Weiland Farms has made it a mindset to consider how they are investing back in their land with a two-prong goal: minimize environmental impact while boosting its value.

Here are four goals the Iowa farm is focused on:

Prevent soil erosion: methods include transitioning to minimal-till or no-till in highly erodible areas as well as installing grassed areas.
Manage water quality: for example, explore opportunities for incentive funding to install filter systems that remove nitrates from water.
Improve waterways: neglected waterways don’t do their intended job and can cause larger erosion issues.
Invest in sustainable farming methods: think about how soil health improves long-term productivity.

What Makes Farmland Different

From an investment management standpoint, Weiland says agriculture has fallen into a decades-long malaise with a culture that doesn’t encourage regularly informed management. Said another way, farmland is a unique asset because it doesn’t depreciate or require hands-on management from the owner if an operator is in place.

“If you were to correlate a farmland investment to an investment in an apartment building, they are similar but very different. An apartment building needs to be managed almost daily, the roof may need to be replaced, etc.,” he says. “Just like an apartment building, farmland is a solid asset base that you’re generating a return on. But you may have a landowner who hasn’t talked to a tenant in a couple of years. Who owns something worth a million dollars and doesn’t receive a regular report on it from the person managing it? It sounds ridiculous but some landowners can get lulled into complacency without realizing it.”

Physical Investments

Weiland says the approach is a combination of agronomic practices and physical improvements. A current tool they are using is controlled drainage structures.

“It’s estimated that 20% to 50% of water leaving the farm is leaving the farm unnecessarily; that means we are shipping 20% to 50% more water down the Mississippi River than we really need to,” he says. “In addition, these systems help us get in the field and plant when we need to. So, we are holding water, which we know contains nitrates, when we can and still are able to manage the soil moisture for field work.”

Weiland Farms’ first controlled drainage structure was installed this past year, and there are more installations in the works.

“It’ll take us multiple years to learn about this management tool and how it pays back, but we see the benefits already,” he says.

With multiple metrics, progress is tracked as it’s realized.

—Kristin Leigh Lore, Manager of Climate-Smart Content, Trust In Food, contributed reporting to this story.

Livestock Producers Applaud EPA’s Denial of Activist CAFO Petitions

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 22:26:22 GMT

The EPA has rejected two petitions seeking stricter regulation of animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and will be establishing a federal advisory committee to study the matter.

“America’s pig farmers applaud the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Biden administration’s denial of two baseless petitions seeking dramatic changes to long-standing and well-designed regulatory systems to protect the environment and provide affordable food for the world,” says Scott Hays, NPPC president and Missouri pork producer.

The EPA plans to form a federal advisory subcommittee in 2024, with the process projected to take 12 to 18 months, according to a letter sent to the environmental groups that petitioned EPA in 2017.

“Farmers work hard every day to adopt climate-smart farming practices by promoting soil health, conserving water, using nutrients efficiently and caring for our animals,” Hay says. “We are grateful for the Biden administration’s continuous commitment and support of agriculture.”

The 2022 petition filed by numerous state-level clean water advocacy groups as well as Humane Society of the United States, Friends of the Earth, Earthjustice and more, asked the EPA to adopt a presumption that large CAFOs using wet manure management systems discharge pollutants.

“The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) appreciates the EPA recognizing that America’s farmers and ranchers are committed to ensuring clean water and investing in a sustainable future,” NCBA Chief Counsel Mary-Thomas Hart, said in a statement.

The 2017 petition filed by Food and Water Watch, Center for Food Safety and others asked the agency to change CAFO regulations to assume a number of things. In April, the EPA committed to answering the 2017 petition. In January 2023, the agency announced a plan to determine ways of strengthening the Clean Water Act in its effluent limitation guidelines, in response to a 2021 lawsuit.

Another lawsuit filed in 2022 was stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The environmental groups agreed to drop that lawsuit by Aug. 29, if EPA responded by Aug. 15.

“We look forward to working cooperatively with EPA and all stakeholders as we continue to work to preserve and protect our farms and lands for future generations,” Hays adds.

A Sport Utility Vehicle for Disease: Wild Pigs Wreak Havoc in Louisiana

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 19:25:22 GMT

For years, Louisiana has had small populations of wild pigs. In fact, wild pigs lived in two particular basins for hundreds of years, but never spread. As sport hunting grew in popularity, people began moving these wild pigs to other areas. The resulting explosion of wild pigs on Louisiana’s landscape has been devastating.

“It was told to me many years ago, wild pigs are a sport utility vehicle for disease and parasites. They move them across the landscape. Really no good comes with them once they move into an area,” Jim LaCour, DVM, Louisiana state wildlife veterinarian, said in the latest episode of “ Feral Swine in America ,” which investigates the damage feral swine inflict.

Marshes are the frontline defense for all the storms and hurricanes the state receives. If the hogs are rooting in the marshes when the water comes in from the hurricanes, it causes erosion on an even faster level.

“Basically, a pig has a 3-inch environmental vacuum on the front of his face. Anything in front of it is going down. A lot of that damage goes unseen by the public eye because it may be in the middle of the woods somewhere, but that does have a value,” explains William Futch with USDA Wildlife Services.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries did a survey several years ago that showed 600 nests were destroyed by wild hogs. Each nest probably averages around 30 eggs or more and each egg is worth about $20.

“It’s a big economic impact when they’re destroying all of our nests,” says Walter Cotton of USDA Wildlife Services.

In addition to the damage done to the diverse landscape and crops in Louisiana, feral swine pose many concerns to livestock producers and wildlife enthusiasts because of their ability to spread disease.

“We surveil for these diseases to help protect our pork production and trade as well as protect our wildlife population,” says Greg Franckowiak, USDA research wildlife biologist. “After the removal of swine, we collect biological samples to perform disease surveillance.”

Samples are tested for foreign animal diseases such as classical swine fever and African swine fever.

“We ensure to ourselves, the USDA, as well as our trading partners, that these animals do not have these diseases, so we can continue to trade,” Franckowiak adds. “One of the other aspects that we use disease surveillance for is ensuring that some diseases that have been eliminated from commercial swine populations don’t get reintroduced by feral swine.”

Feral Swine in America is a video series that shows the stories of farmers, ranchers and others impacted by invasive feral swine.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Is Missouri’s Feral Hog Population on the Decline?

Feral Swine Eradication Program Should Be Permanent, Senators Urge

Destructive, Formidable, Invasive: How is the U.S. Managing the Feral Hog Population?

Feral Swine Test Positive for Pseudorabies at Colorado Farm

Worried About Biden’s Tax Plan? Paul Neiffer Has Recommendations

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 19:51:05 GMT

It’s time to talk taxes again. President Joe Biden’s tax plan, which includes the American Families Plan and American Jobs Plan, has both good and bad news for farmers, says Paul Neiffer, a CPA and principal with CLA and author of the “Farm CPA” blog .

The proposed changes represent the most dramatic shifts in tax policy since 1986, Neiffer says. He shares an overview of the key changes in his online Farm Journal Field Days presentation.

In light of the proposed changes, Neiffer has the following recommendations for farmers.

Don’t panic. The changes are still proposals. “The final rules will likely happen in December, if they happen at all,” he says.
Be ready to make gifts. “You definitely want to be ready to make some large gifts this year because your ability to do those gifts after this year may be curtailed or eliminated,” he says. “But do not make gifts if it’s going to curtail your retirement funding.”
Discuss your options with your income and estate tax advisers.
Keep posted on the changes. With each new proposal that affects farmers, Neiffer will share his thoughts on his blog and in Top Producer magazine.

The bottom line, Neiffer says, is these changes could just be temporary.

“If there’s a complete change in the House, Senate or President in four years or so, a lot of these proposals that become law may get taken out,” he says. “Be aware of the proposals but realize not all of them are going to go through.”

To hear Neiffer’s thoughts on the estate tax proposals, transfer tax, 1031 exchanges, discounts, charitable remainder trusts and more, register or log in to Farm Journal Field Days.

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Paul Neiffer: What the “Green Book” Might Mean for You

Here's How to Make Tough Talks Easier

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 13:15:00 GMT

Little steps can ease frustration and improve communication

Crucial conversations — you have them with your employees, banker, grain buyer, family and others. How well you handle these exchanges plays a key role in your business success.

What is a crucial conversation? They happen when the stakes are high, opinions differ, emotions run strong or outcomes are important, says Mike Poskey, president and CEO of Zero Risk HR, which helps organizations develop talent.

“When a crucial conversation is done wrong, you have a communication breakdown,” he says. “This damages trust and means you have to repair the relationship.”

To reach effective communication, which means a two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, Poskey provides these 10 steps:

Know the facts of the situation. Don’t just assume you’re accurate.
Be aware of your communication challenges. Ask for feedback on how well you communicate.
Have the other person’s best interest at heart. Always be genuine and honest to show you care.
Let the facts lead in the conversation. State clearly what you are trying to address. Be direct, confident and professional. Don’t apologize for what you have to say.
Identify a mutual purpose between yourself and the other person. Ask yourself: Do they believe I care about their goals in this discussion? Do they trust my intentions? Am I staying focused on solving a problem with this person?
Prepare for the conversation. Think about where the conversation could go. “A little preparation can have a huge outcome,” Poskey says. “Role play the conversation.”
Establish a safe environment and look for barriers. Are they getting defensive? Am I in control of my emotions?
Create dialogue. Ask for their thoughts and acknowledge any emotions people appear to be feeling. Restate what you hear.
Agree on a solution and/or outcome for the situation. Be specific.
Follow up and check in on the solution. You being accountable makes them be accountable.

Ground Rules for Good Listening

As a leader in your operation, you must be a good listener. “When you listen, you understand the other person’s side of the issue,” says Val Farmer, a clinical psychologist and author. He provides these guidelines for good listening:

Use body language, such as leaning forward, eye contact and welcoming facial expressions, to show you are listening.
Stay in the listening role. If you are having a high-stakes discussion, you need to understand the other person. Don’t be too quick to give your sage advice.
As a listener, sit at a 45° angle from the speaker so you can each look away to think.
Don’t interrupt. When they stop speaking, confirm they have said all they want to say.
If you become overloaded as the listener, ask to take a break.

Controversial U.S. Cull Kills 19 Feral Cattle in New Mexico Wilderness Area

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 16:57:23 GMT

Nineteen feral cattle have been shot from a helicopter by federal employees in a New Mexico wilderness area in a cull opposed by ranchers and criticized by the state’s governor.

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) said the three-day operation was the most efficient way to stop the undomesticated animals destroying endangered species’ habitats and menacing hikers in the Gila Wilderness of southwest New Mexico.

Ranchers tried to block the cull in court saying it was inhumane and could mistakenly kill privately owned cattle that had strayed after breaking through fences. An animal welfare group called for a roundup and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the USFS failed to engage with locals over the issue.

The aerial shoot, the second in as many years, targeted an estimated 150 stray or unbranded cows but four sweeps over the Gila’s mountains and canyons found a fraction of that number, the USFS said.

“Ground-based and aerial removal efforts since October 2021 have substantially reduced the feral cattle population,” Camille Howes, Gila National Forest supervisor, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Aerial hunting of feral hogs and predators like coyotes is a common practice in the American West but efforts to gun down undomesticated cattle have met protest.

A judge ruled against The New Mexico Cattle Growers Association (NMCGA), saying only one of around 300 feral cattle rounded up or shot in several decades had been branded, meaning it was privately owned.

Connecticut’s Cathy Kangas Foundation for Animals said it got no reply from the USFS when it offered to pay for a roundup.

The USFS said about half of cattle removed by roundups do not survive due to stress or injury and shooting the feral animals was more humane than driving them over the Gila’s rugged terrain.

(Reporting By Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Editing by David Gregorio)

Taxing Farming is Vital for Denmark's Climate Target, Government Adviser Says

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 14:23:19 GMT

Denmark should aim to reduce beef and dairy production by levying an emissions tax on farming of 750 Danish crowns ($108) per tonne in order to reach its ambitious climate targets, the government’s independent adviser said on Monday.

Such a tax on farming will increase the incentive for farmers to switch to crops and pork production which emit less greenhouse gases than cattle, according to a report by the Danish Climate Council, which provides recommendations to the government.

The new government said in December it sees an emissions tax on farming as crucial to achieving a binding target of reducing CO2 emissions by 70% of 1990 levels.

Emissions from belching cows are a major component of agricultural methane. If no new policies are introduced, farming in Denmark is expected to account for around 40% of emissions in 2030, the council says. The sector currently accounts for 28% of emissions, according to Statistics Denmark.

A carbon tax of 750 crowns per tonne would be similar to the level for other industries which was agreed by parliament in June last year, though a farming lobby group has warned it would lead to a wave of bankruptcies among farmers.

Such a tax would “move jobs abroad and prevent Denmark from developing the solutions that can really make a difference to the climate”, said Niels Peter Norring, head of climate Danish Agriculture & Food Council.

The industry should look into alternative solutions like cattle feed additives, which could lower the amount of methane released from cows by 25-30%, he said.

Create Value and Increase Demand: How Do Livestock Producers and Crop Growers Work Together?

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 18:44:12 GMT

The U.S. agriculture industry is a web of connections between livestock producers and crop growers in areas of feed production, commodity value and exports, manure and resource management and sustainability.

Livestock producers and crop growers work simultaneously to provide high quality red meat to the U.S., and across the globe.

Value in Exports

According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), 15 percent of U.S. beef and 29.4 percent of U.S. pork was exported in 2021.

This global demand equated to $407.22 per head of fed cattle slaughtered and $62.86 per head of hogs.

As demand grows, livestock producers are encouraged to increase output on their operations, increasing demand for feed along with output from crop growers.

Specifically, corn and soybeans experience a jump in demand and increase in value.

For corn, USMEF estimates 2021 beef and pork exports contributed 12 percent of bushel value to corn. Considering an average price of $5.48 per corn bushel, this equates to $0.66 per bushel.

For soybeans, 2021 pork exports contributed 12.6 percent of soybean bushel value, equating to $1.65 per soybean bushel—considering an average price of $13.13 per bushel.

Feed Use by Cuts Exported

USMEF shares a breakdown of corn, dried distillers grains and soybean meal usage per cut of beef and pork carcass.

Manure and Resource Management

On a recent “AgriTalk” segment, Heather Hill, president of the National Pork Board, described soil health as a mutual benefit between livestock producers and crop growers.

What was once considered a waste byproduct, manure is now widely considered an asset in improving soil health and moving the needle of sustainability in agriculture.

As prices of commercial fertilizers continue to rise, manure provides a more natural, sustainable and cost-effective alternative for growing plants.

Efficiency in Operation

Hill also describes profitability and economics of farming as part of the sustainability story. Diversified operations like Hill’s—that grow their own feed to provide for their livestock—might have an economic advantage over those buying feed during times of high commodity prices.

“We’re really zoning in on where we can be more efficient. How can we do more with less? Just because we’ve done something for many years, it’s time to reevaluate our practices and make sure what we’re doing is the right decision,” Hill explains.

As the industry continues to face domestic and worldwide challenges and economic pressure, producers might find value in working together to mutually benefit their operations and create a more sustainable future.

One Family's Tragedy Sparks Nationwide Farm Safety Project

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 14:36:09 GMT

What started off as a normal day on the farm for 13-year-old Kaden Wall on Nov. 3, 2020, ended in tragedy when Kaden’s life was taken too soon as a result of a freak farm accident.

“He was simply helping on the farm – doing a task that thousands of other kids just like him do virtually every day – helping his grandfather on the farm. With multiple generations helping at the farm at the same time, what should have been a moment of pure joy turned into complete devastation in a matter of seconds,” shares Kaden’s uncle, Patrick.

In the days following Kaden’s passing, Patrick, an area beef field specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, was doing some online research and discovered the startling statistic that a child dies in an agriculture-related incident about every three days.

“I found a lot of written resources regarding farm safety, but really very little that actively engaged youth to participate or even practice farm safety,” Patrick says. That’s how the Kaden Kares Foundation was formed in an attempt to capture the redeeming qualities of the farm boy whose life was tragically cut short.

(Farm Journal)

Kaden loved showing pigs and farming with his family. Photo provided by Kaden Kares Foundation.

Help Save Lives

The long-term goal of the foundation is to save lives of farm kids, but the mission is to get there by creating active participation from kids. The project focuses on kid-created videos all about on-farm safety. Not only do the kids creating the videos learn, but also every kid that watches the videos online learns, too, Patrick adds.

“Many young people who are old enough to operate farm equipment also have a smart phone and access to social media in some fashion, so why not marry the two together to increase good farm safety practices?” Patrick asks.

To get involved in the Kaden Kares Farm Safety Initiative, start by engaging a team through your local 4-H Club, FFA Chapter or youth group, he says. Then, come up with a farm safety topic and generate a video that demonstrates good farm safety. Post the video on YouTube and enter the contest via the kadenkares.com website .

“The team competition part is basically the embodiment of my nephew,” Patrick says. “Kaden was always asking for pick-up basketball in the driveway with his uncles, family kickball in the front yard, board games, etc. No matter what, he always kept score and was determined to win. Of course, I also loved seeing that competitive spirit translate into the ‘eye of the tiger’ look during swine showmanship.”

The online video challenge will occur in the fall, though videos may be submitted all year long. Entries for each year’s competition will be cut off on November 30. Winners will be announced in January. Groups may enter more than once. Topics can range from livestock safety to ATV/UTV safety and anything in between.

“Take it seriously but have fun with it!” Patrick says. “Farm safety should be so much more than yelling at your kids to get away from the PTO shaft. We all know that agriculture is a dangerous profession, but most of us wouldn’t change the career path we chose. In the end, I want farmers to brag about their safety videos they did with their grandkids as much as they brag about their corn yields or weaning weights.”

(Farm Journal)

Photo provided by the Kaden Kares Foundation.

The Farming “Bug”

Kaden was the oldest boy in his family and grew up watching his dad, granddad, cousins and great uncle farm.

“He was so eager to join them,” Patrick says. “Some of us get ‘the bug’ to farm; it’s hard to explain to those outside agriculture…but Kaden certainly had it.”

The more dollars that can be gathered through the Kaden Kares Foundation, the more dollars they will give away through the Kaden Kares Farm Safety Initiative, Patrick says. And ultimately, he hopes it results in more lives being saved.

“We hope people can learn from Kaden’s passing how quickly things can go wrong,” Patrick says, “and in turn, how important it is to actively practice farm safety with those involved in your operation.”

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Why One Pig Farmer Says It’s Time to Change Your Mindset

FFA Has-Been? No, Your Role Just Changes

Prepare and Prevent: It’s Going to Take Us All

Food Waste is a Growing Problem in the U.S.

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 20:42:12 GMT

A new report shows over one-third of the food produced in the U.S. is never eaten. Not only does this waste resources used to produce food, but it also creates a myriad of environmental impacts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in its latest report .

Food waste is the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the U.S. In its report, “From Farm to Kitchen,” EPA pointed out that wasted food presents opportunities to increase food security, foster productivity and economic efficiency, promote resource and energy conservation, and address climate change.

Nearly seven years ago, the U.S. announced a goal to halve U.S. food loss and waste by 2030, but EPA said significant progress has not been made toward this goal.

“Globally, food loss and waste represent 8% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (4.4 gigatons CO2e annually), offering an opportunity for meaningful reductions,” EPA said in the report.

(Farm Journal)

A Sustainable Approach

Reducing food waste can help feed the world’s growing population more sustainably. The United Nations (UN) predicts that the world population will reach 9.3 billion by 2050. This increase will require a more than 50% increase in food production from 2010 levels.

“Decreasing food waste can lessen the need for new food production, shrinking projected deforestation, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and water scarcity,” the report noted.

Estimates that include food lost or wasted during all stages of the food supply chain (from primary production to consumption) range from 161 to 335 billion pounds per year, or 492 to 1,032 pounds per person per year, equal to approximately 35% of the U.S. food supply.

Each year, U.S. food loss and waste embodies:

• 140 million acres agricultural land – an area the size of California and New York combined
• 5.9 trillion gallons blue water (fresh surface and groundwater) – equal to annual water use of 50 million American homes
• 778 million pounds pesticides
• 14 billion pounds fertilizer – enough to grow all the plant-based foods produced each year in the United States for domestic consumption
• 664 billion kWh energy – enough to power more than 50 million U.S. homes for a year
• 170 million MTCO2e GHG emissions (excluding landfill emissions) – equal to the annual CO2 emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants

The report also examines how U.S. food loss and waste compares to other countries. The U.S. currently wastes more food and more food per person than most any other country in the world.

“Closing yield gaps and increasing productivity alone will likely be insufficient to prevent further deforestation and environmental degradation,” the authors of the report said. “Even under the most promising scenarios of yield increases, up to 20% more land will be needed by 2050. Thus demand-side measures, such as reducing food loss waste or dietary shifts, will also be needed to sustainably increase the food supply.”

The full EPA report can be accessed here.

Read More:

Want Not, Waste Much: 5 Ways to Reduce and Recycle Food Waste

Smithfield Foods Prepares for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution to U.S. Employees

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 00:56:53 GMT

Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork processor, said on Wednesday it has medical capabilities at U.S. facilities and is actively preparing for COVID-19 vaccine distribution to employees.

Meatpacking workers were among the groups hit hardest by the new coronavirus last year, as U.S. slaughterhouses became hot spots for outbreaks in the spring, helping spread the virus around rural America.

More Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday than at any time since the pandemic began, as the historic public vaccination effort lagged.

Smithfield, owned by China’s WH Group, declined to provide details of its vaccination plans and said they vary from state to state. The company said all of its employees will be eligible to receive vaccines.

A day earlier, the governor of the U.S. state of Nebraska said undocumented immigrants who work in meat plants would likely not get vaccinated due to immigration status.

The Washington-based Migration Policy Institute estimates that 10% of meatpacking workers nationwide are unauthorized immigrants. Smithfield said it does not employ undocumented immigrants.

The company last month offered to help U.S. health officials distribute COVID-19 vaccines and store them in ultra-cold freezers that are in high demand to support the public vaccination campaign.

The U.S. Labor Department and a state workplace safety regulator in California separately cited Smithfield last year for failing to protect employees from COVID-19 and other violations during the pandemic. The company has contested the findings.

Smithfield and other meatpackers also came under fire last year as U.S. pork exports to China soared while U.S. processors warned of domestic meat shortages due to COVID-19 outbreaks at slaughterhouses.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek Editing by Chris Reese and Nick Zieminski)

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

Worker Absenteeism in Packing Plants is No Surprise

How Did the Pandemic Affect HR Practices in Agriculture?

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 00:56:08 GMT

By Bonnie Johnson, AgCareers.com

Staffing, competition, culture and flexibility were important considerations for agricultural organizations in 2020. The pandemic impacted almost all aspects of daily work life across the country.

For 14 years, AgCareers.com has collected annual data from agribusinesses to document emerging industry trends and developments in human resource management practices in the AgCareers.com Agribusiness HR Review .

While 2020 was a year full of challenges because of COVID, human resources (HR) professionals in agribusiness noted five matters were still more concerning than the pandemic: 1) competition for talent; 2) recruiting difficulties; 3) employee retention; 4) fair & competitive compensation systems; and 5) employee training & development.

Top Ten Most Concerning Human Resource Matters

(Farm Journal)

Source: AgCareers.com

The majority of agribusiness companies showed salaries increased during the past year. To keep employees challenged and productive in their roles, 71% of employers have a bonus system in place.

One-third of companies have adopted a flexible staffing approach—with no surprise, work from home emerged as the new top approach in 2020 among agribusinesses. Companies also offered flexibility in schedules and part-time or reduced schedules as flexible working arrangements. To meet staffing needs throughout the year, companies most frequently used temporary agencies or employed temporary staff. Over 36% of participating agribusinesses employed skilled seasonal staff.

Employers are looking inside their own organization to compete against other employers for talent and keep their employees. A positive work culture was the top strategy employers used to compete, followed closely by a safe and healthy work environment.

The full U.S. Agribusiness HR Review examines trends in recruitment, retention, benefits, employee engagement and more employment matters among 80 participating agribusinesses. Find out more in the report, available free for download under Market Research at www.AgCareers.com .

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Communicating Expectations with Candidates

7 Resources to Keep Close In Case a Crisis Hits

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 00:56:02 GMT

When a mental health crisis hits, Shannon Ferrell, Oklahoma State University ag law specialist, outlines seven resources to keep handy in the event you are the first responder to help someone in need someday.

1. Start local
Conduct a search for any in-person telehealth mental health resources that are available in your area.

2. 211
Dialing 211 in many areas of the country will enable you to get access to mental health resources.

3. NAMI
The National Alliance for Mental Illness is a national group, a grassroots movement designed to help get mental health resources to the people that need them. Call 800-950-6264 or email info@nami.org

4. National Suicide Hotline
The national suicide hotline, 800-273-8255, is an important number to keep handy in case you run into someone who is contemplating suicide. Ferrell said in those moments, it’s important to be able to help connect people to a professional 24/7.

5. Disaster Distress
The Disaster Distress helpline is 800-985-5990 or text TALKWITHUS to 66746.

6. Crisis Text 24/7
Text HELLO to 741741

7. Child Abuse Hotlines
Find your state’s child abuse hotline and get it in your contacts, too.

Remember, helping people who are experiencing stress overload is like giving CPR.

“You don’t quit until you get somebody in a safe place,” said Brent Brewer of the Oklahoma Farmers Union during the Online Top Producer Summit .

Read the rest of the series on Toxic Grit here:

Toxic Grit: Is Our Greatest Strength Our Greatest Weakness on the Farm?

When Stress Goes Beyond Normal

Tyson Pilots Program to Open Health Centers for Employees

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 00:55:55 GMT

As part of efforts to boost the overall health and wellness of its workforce, Tyson Foods, Inc. is partnering with Marathon Health to pilot seven “Bright Blue” health centers near company production facilities, according to a Tyson release . The health centers will give Tyson team members and their families easier access to high-quality healthcare and, in most cases, at no cost.*

The health centers, operated by Marathon Health, provide primary and preventive care, including health screenings, lifestyle coaching and health education, as well as behavioral health counseling. They also coordinate with plant community health providers, including primary care physicians and specialists, to make sure appropriate care is delivered.

Tyson reports that naming the health centers, “Bright Blue,” is intended to convey the outlook of a bright future thanks to easily accessible healthcare and the company’s familiar heritage color, blue.

The first health center opened April 28 in Dyersburg, Tenn., near the company’s facility in Newbern. Additional pilot locations will be opening in Green Forest, Ark.; Lexington, Neb.; Wilkesboro, N.C.; Center, Texas; Storm Lake, Iowa; and Garden City, Kan. These seven locations will serve nearly 38,000 Tyson team members and their families.

“We’re piloting these health centers to promote a culture of health and wellness in our company that results in a healthier workforce,” said Dr. Claudia Coplein, chief medical officer for Tyson Foods. “Some of our frontline team members aren’t using their health plan benefits, and others don’t seek care until there’s a crisis. We want to change that by providing access to care that can help detect health conditions early and promote healthy habits.”

The clinics will work in conjunction with plant community health providers, including primary care physicians and specialists, to ensure appropriate care is delivered, the release said.

The pilot health center project is an expansion of Tyson’s current workplace safety and is an addition to existing health services staff, which includes on-site occupational health nurses at most plant locations.

The health clinics are the latest in a series of measures Tyson has taken to invest in the health and wellness of its employees. Since spring 2020, the company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to transform its U.S. facilities with protective measures, the release said.

To date, more than 40,000 Tyson Foods employees have been vaccinated at more than 100 events held onsite at Tyson facilities or in nearby community facilities. In preparation for vaccinations, Tyson said the company has been providing expert resources and education about the vaccine to team members.

*Team members enrolled in a high deductible health (HDHP) plan will pay a fee for visits until deductible is met. This applies to less than 2% of eligible team members.

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Business as Usual

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 00:54:57 GMT

By Bonnie Johnson, AgCareers.com

The critical nature of the agricultural industry has required that many agricultural employers continue business operations as normal. As part of AgCareers.com’s annual Agribusiness HR Review survey of ag employers across the United States, in 2021, AgCareers.com added questions to assess employers’ COVID-19 response and plans.

Of the U.S. ag employers surveyed in the AgCareers.com Agribusiness HR Review, 90% were operating as usual. AgCareers.com also asked about the likelihood of mandatory employee vaccinations. Nearly 90% reported they do not plan to require staff to be vaccinated, just over 1% plan to require vaccinations and 10% were unsure.

Over half of companies noted that they had enhanced benefits or wellness offerings considering the pandemic. The most common enhancement was work from home or flexible schedules. Wellness benefits, including mental health and fitness, were also notable enhancements.

COVID-19 changed the way we work and interact with one another, both personally and professionally. Work-from-home became necessary for some employers, or employee types, to continue business operations. As employers look forward to a post-COVID-19 state, almost half indicated they will allow some or all employees to work from home. Sixty percent of employers currently have some employees working from home. Due to the critical nature of on-site farming and ag production operations, 36% of employers said none of their employees are eligible to work-from-home.

(Farm Journal)

Source: AgCareers.com

This article features results from the special COVID section of the HR Review; the full report includes annual information on salary reviews, employee attrition, workforce trends, professional development, bonuses, recruitment, and employer branding. Download a free copy of the full AgCareers.com 2021-2022 U.S. Agribusiness HR Review report at agcareers.com/reports.cfm .

Read More:

The Pandemic Shift: Mental Wellness at Work

Hire for Attitude

Don’t Play Favorites with Your Farm Employees

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 00:54:57 GMT

Do you have one of those employees who you work with better than others? Maybe it’s their personality, familiarity or even their work ethic that plays to your strengths, and it can be tempting to latch on to what has been successful in the past. But is it possible you’re playing favorites with some of your team members?

According to Joel Garfinkle, author of “How to Be a Great Boss,” playing favorites leads to missed opportunities for you and your team. “You lose out on new perspectives, new ideas and unique problem-solving techniques. The [operation] can hardly benefit from the skills of staff that are never given the chance to shine, and staff that is never given a chance to shine may soon leave,” Garfinkle adds.

If you find yourself favoring some employees more than others, maybe it’s time for a more open-minded approach in order to grow as your farm’s leader. Consider breaking these five bad habits:

Going with who you know

Having familiar faces on the team can certainly feel comforting, but is it causing a rut in your team’s performance? According to Garfinkle, always relying on the same people may be causing your business to miss out on new ideas and fresh perspectives from other people.

“Balance your teams with a mix of old and new to keep both continuity and fresh perspectives flowing,” Garfinkle says.

Picking youth over experience (or vice versa)

“Some of us are drawn to the brightness and vitality of young members on the team. Whether we see a glimpse of our earlier selves in them, or we are simply energized by the vigor they bring to the table, it can seem natural to give extra focus and attention to foster and refine that youthful drive,” Garfinkle notes. “Similarly, it can seem logical to reward knowledge and experience, giving extra weight to the opinions of those who have been at the table the longest. Either way, it’s a missed opportunity to only consider the opinions of one group or the other, especially when neither side will always have the whole answer to a challenge.”

Instead of picking one over the other, Garfinkle recommends bringing everyone to the table and leveraging the power of both perspectives. “A great leader can combine both youth and experience to gain the best advantage,” he adds.

Having one “go-to” person for everything

Some farm employees just have a knack for getting things done the right way each and every time. Their consistent and reliable characteristics make them right for the job. But if the same person is always your “go-to” employee, how much growth is happening in others’ roles?

“Ask yourself if there really is only one right person for the task at hand, or whether there are others on your team who need the mentorship and opportunities you can offer,” Garfinkle notes. Make sure you provide opportunities for all of your team members on the path to greater responsibility.

Creating a hierarchy

Take a look at the structure of your team. Do some employees solely report to different managers, or do they feel comfortable with coming to you? While some hierarchy is helpful, don’t let it prevent you from seeing your team in action on a regular basis, Garfinkle notes.

“If only certain members feel it’s comfortable or appropriate to speak with you, you will be missing out on a lot of great ideas. Broaden the number of team members you interact with regularly – in both formal and informal settings,” he says.

Being stingy with trust

Do you find yourself having a hard time with only trusting a few key farm employees on your team? Maybe some team members have let you down in the past, or perhaps it feels safer to minimize the number of people with critical tasks or key information. According to Garfinkle, the problem with this approach is that those on the outside feel shut out and minimized, even when they’ve done nothing wrong.

“Bring your team together by keeping everyone ‘in the know,’” Garfinkle recommends. “Your team is more likely to trust you if you trust them in turn.”

Manure Matters: Team Compares Book Values to Sample Data

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 20:37:14 GMT

All manure is not the same. It can be quite variable, making it a challenge to match plant nutrient needs to the amount of nutrients available in the manure.

A group of researchers is taking another look at manure nutrient “book values.” These book values are nutrient averages used for developing manure management plans, designing manure storages, creating best management practices for manure land application and agricultural modeling, according to these researchers in the University of Minnesota Swine News .

“A range of nutrient values can be expected from typical manure storages and encourage farmers to test their manure often. However, current book values are several decades old and may not reflect current production practices. Different animal diets, genetics, housing, and manure storage and handling practices can impact these manure nutrient values,” explains co-authors Nancy Bohl Bormann, Graduate research assistant; Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist; and Erin Cortus, Extension engineer.

ManureDB
The team is working with the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute to develop a manure nutrient database called ManureDB to create more accurate manure nutrient book values. To prepare for this project, the team partnered with three Midwest U.S. laboratories to share data from approximately the last 10 years. Manure sample results were compared to the estimated manure nutrient book values in Manure Characteristics published in 2004 by Midwest Plan Service (MWPS).

“We compared the nutrient averages of beef, dairy, poultry, and swine manure in both the liquid and solid forms. These are fairly generic comparisons as we did not have any details on animal housing, manure storages, or animal age. We converted the lab results and book values into pounds of nutrient per ton for solid manure and pounds of nutrient per 1,000 gallons of liquid manure,” the researchers said. “We used the median value for total nitrogen (N), ammonium-nitrogen (NH4-N), phosphorus (P2O5), and potassium (K2O) to look at the major nutrients needed for crop production.”

Some of their results differed from the MWPS published book values as shown in Tables 1 and 2. Without knowing swine age or manure storage systems, they explained that it was difficult to determine nutrient level changes for swine liquid manure. For liquid dairy manure samples, they found a decreasing trend over time for total N and P2O5 and an increasing trend in NH4-N. For liquid beef manure samples, the researchers saw an increasing trend for total N, NH4-N, and P2O5. For liquid poultry manure samples, they noticed an increasing trend for NH4-N and K2O and a decreasing trend for P2O5.

For solid swine, dairy and beef manure samples, the team found an increasing trend for total N, P2O5 and K2O. For solid poultry manure samples, they found an increasing trend for total N and K2O.

Why Does It Matter?
More details about the manure samples will make comparisons even more helpful, the researchers said. Science has proven that animal age, nutrition, housing and manure storage and handling can impact manure nutrient levels.

Construction of the ManureDB website is in progress and the team is contacting laboratories and working on data-sharing agreements. They are most interested in the manure data and region that it comes from. The program has mechanisms in place so labs will not need to share customer-identifying information. Learn more by emailing manure@umn.edu.

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Elanco, AgNext Announce Alliance to Advance Livestock Sustainability

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 20:37:14 GMT

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated is joining forces with AgNext at Colorado State University. On Aug. 2, they announced a strategic alliance as part of a continued commitment to pioneer sustainability solutions for the animal agriculture, transforming the next frontier of opportunity in livestock sustainability.

As part of the strategic alliance, Sara Place, Elanco’s Chief Sustainability Officer, will join the AgNext team and transition to her new role as associate professor of feedlot systems.

The AgNext program is a first-of-its-kind research collaborative that focuses specifically on sustainability in animal agriculture, working with members of the entire value chain to develop innovative, scalable solutions that help move the industry toward a more sustainable future, Elanco said in a release. The program seeks to create a world-renowned center for excellence, identifying and scaling innovation that fosters the health of animals and ecosystems to promote profitable industries that support vibrant communities.

“This exciting collaboration with Elanco will help AgNext further our work to develop sustainable solutions for animal agriculture and empower producers and others in the value chain,” Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, Director of AgNext at CSU, said in a release. “Having Dr. Place’s expertise and perspective on the AgNext team will allow our center of excellence to more rapidly identify and scale innovation to advance the science of animal agriculture.”

Place will continue to build on the work she has accomplished with Elanco in her new role at Colorado State, seeking to further the science and solutions around sustainable opportunities in feedlot systems while building the next generation of talent. Elanco will continue to collaborate with the Colorado State team in research and leveraging AgNext’s insights.

“We are excited to further build the next era of opportunity for livestock sustainability,” José Simas, executive vice president, U.S. Farm Animal Business, said in the release. “This strategic alliance leverages what we have incubated here at Elanco and takes the next step toward supporting the entire industry. We look forward to continued collaboration with Sara and the Colorado State research team, working to further our understanding of the space and using the insights to advance our services and pipeline of solutions.”

The move continues Elanco’s efforts to lead and transform the livestock sustainability space, the company said in a release. Elanco recently announced the launch of UpLook, an insights engine designed to benchmark and measure improvement of an operation’s carbon footprint. Elanco also recently added several emission reducing products to its pipeline and portfolio and helped create a start-up company, called Athian to help the industry certify, aggregate and monetize credits from systems like UpLook.

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WOTUS Roundtable Reveals New Rule Pushes Definition 'Back to Square One', says NCBA

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 20:39:48 GMT

EPA turned a page on its Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) summer calendar today, as the agency finished its six of 10 scheduled roundtables .

The fifth roundtable, held last week with the Kansas Livestock Association, revealed murky waters in the WOTUS definition, according to Mary Thomas Hart, environmental council at National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).

“If we’ve learned anything, it’s that there are a lot of varied opinions on what should be considered water of the U.S.,” Hart told Chip Flory, AgriTalk host.

This murky water stems from an issue in ephemeral features, which Hart describes as features that only carry water after a precipitation event like a hard rain or snowmelt.

Hart says the ag community pleaded with the Obama administration to provide clarity and regulatory certainty in the definition of WOTUS, which resulted in Obama “regulating everything.”

According to Hart, the shift in regulations caused an expansion of the Clean Water Act authority, which was later removed through the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection rule. At that point, the ephemeral features were no longer ruled by federal jurisdiction.

This push and pull of ephemeral jurisdiction will continue with the Biden administration, according to Hart.

“Instead of making it clear that ephemeral features are not regulated or saying that all features are jurisdictional, the features are going to be subject to a case-by-case determination,” she says. “This gets us back to square one as far as a real lack of regulatory certainty for agricultural producers.”

House Ag Republicans Respond

On Monday, various Congressmen issued a letter to President Biden addressing many issues in ag, including the desired reversal of the Biden administration’s WOTUS changes that have “plunged producers into a regulatory red tape nightmare.”

The letter states the administration’s WOTUS rule creates “enormous” uncertainty for farmers, ranchers and landowners due to the “vague” definition of federal waterways and what is considered navigable, which the Republicans say has resulted in “land grabs by the government.”

The Navigable Waters Protection Rule was the answer to WOTUS uncertainty, according to the Congressmen. They ask the Biden administration to reverse its WOTUS position to “allow the overall objective of the Clean Water Act to be realized: to restore and maintain the integrity of the nation’s navigable waters.”

More on WOTUS:

WOTUS Roundtable Reveals Potential Runoff Management Flaws in the Midwest

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Can Agriculture Save the Planet?

Fri, 13 May 2022 17:24:32 GMT

If we get it right, agriculture can, in fact, save the planet, said Jack Bobo, CEO of Futurity, during the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2022 Stakeholders Summit in Kansas City.

Bobo discussed beliefs that claim the food system is broken, stemming from issues with food security and equity, Animal Agriculture Alliance shared in a release. He countered that if things are broken, that usually means they were better in the past. In the case of our food system, he said, “Things are not bad and getting worse; things are good and getting better – just not fast enough.”

Bobo wasn’t the only one to touch on the food system during the Summit. Registered dietitian and author Diana Rodgers highlighted the importance of meat, milk, poultry and eggs in a nutritious diet as they are high-quality protein sources and provide essential nutrients that would be hard to replace if these foods were removed from our plates. Rodgers said we cannot take meat away from people who depend on it for their nutrition or food security.

In addition to the food system, attendees learned about the growing trend of influencer engagement to reach more people through partnerships and collaborations from former Google executive Steve Lerch of Story Arc Consulting.

Lerch said if you’re not front and center on the platforms consumers care about, they will find somewhere else to get their information. He shared tips to achieving more influence, including “pay attention to the things your targets are paying attention to” and take advantage of trends in pop culture.

“There is no one right way to do advocacy,” said Brandi Buzzard, Kansas cattle rancher and social media influencer, during a panel of farmer influencers.

Speakers encouraged attendees to not be afraid to try something new as long as they don’t put down their fellow advocates while doing it. Speakers shared sentiments that doing so creates division between fellow advocates and turns customers off to animal agriculture as a whole.

Safeguard the Future of Animal Agriculture

During a panel on May 12 about trends in activism and security resources, Rebecca Morgan of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…the most effective measures are often the simplest and least expensive.”

Cybersecurity advisor Andrew Rose added that it’s important to remember even the most well-thought-out plans will have holes in them but running through them in advance can help you identify those weak points.

In a legal and legislative update session, experts discussed some of the primary issues on the docket, including California’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts Question 3, and what attendees can do to help.

The Summit ended with an interactive crisis communications workshop led by Tricia Sheehan of Dairy Management Inc. and Iowa Soybean Association’s Aaron Putze that included a realistic and unexpected protest scenario.

Sheehan’s team mimicked common tactics used by animal rights extremist organizations to get attendees considering what they would do in a similar scenario, the release said. Sheehan walked through the important components of a crisis communications plan and allowed attendees to put it into practice with an interactive example.

Putze encouraged the audience to take what they’ve learned, apply it and move forward with a mindset relationship.

“What we do matters, but more importantly, it’s how we do it that matters,” Putze said. Prioritize what’s important over what’s urgent with a focus on being courteous, treating others with dignity, and treating others with respect.

The Stakeholders Summit brought together a diverse audience of over 260 attendees and included an additional 125 registered virtual attendees.

Read More:

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Court’s Decision Could Affect New ‘WOTUS’ Rule

Thu, 05 May 2022 17:39:46 GMT

The Biden administration is moving forward with a proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) regulation that could affect millions of acres of farmland even though the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that will clarify what waters the CWA covers, a decision certain to send the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers back (again) to the rulemaking drawing board.

EPA and the Corps of Engineers in December 2021 proposed a Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule to protect “navigable” waters but offered a regulation that ultimately gives them authority over waters such as drains, ditches, stock ponds and low spots on farmlands. Such an expansive jurisdiction would mean activities near those waters, including moving dirt, plowing fields, building fences and even planting crops, might require CWA permits. Violations of the law carry civil and criminal penalties.

The proposed rule is similar to one promulgated in August 2015 by the Obama administration and decidedly different from a Trump-era regulation that repealed and replaced the 2015 rule. Several federal courts stopped the 2015 WOTUS regulation, with two deeming it illegal.

The problem has been misinterpretations by EPA and the Corps of Engineers of previous Supreme Court decisions in CWA cases. In one of those, the court determined that waters of the United States are: “relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water” that are connected to traditional navigable waters; and wetlands with a continuous surface connection to such water bodies. But one justice, while agreeing with that definition, further defined WOTUS to include wetlands that “possess a ‘significant nexus’ to waters that are or were navigable” or could be made navigable.

EPA and the Corps of Engineers now and in 2015 used the undefined “nexus” – it can mean connection or relationship – to write regulations with a broad view of what waters are jurisdictional. Both rules covered not only navigable waters and waters with an actual connection to navigable waters but upstream waters and intermittent and ephemeral streams such as the kind farmers use for drainage and irrigation and lands adjacent to all those waters. The 2015 rule was so far-reaching it would have put 99% of Missouri and 97% of Iowa, for example, under the agencies’ control.

The Waters Advocacy Coalition, which represents nearly every segment of the economy, including the U.S. pork industry, in comments submitted on the new proposed WOTUS rule, said the regulation “disregards the limits that Congress placed on the scope of federal regulatory authority under the CWA, codifies misinterpretations of relevant Supreme Court precedents, and impermissibly reads the term ‘navigable’ out of the statute.” The coalition asked the administration to withdraw the rule, or, at least, to delay issuing a final regulation until the high court decides the CWA case now before it.

That case, Sackett v. EPA, finally could provide a clearly defined test the agencies, farmers and other stakeholders can use for determining which waters and surrounding lands are covered by the CWA and which are not.

Terry Wolters is a pork producer from Pipestone, Minn., and president of the National Pork Producers Council.

Read More:

The Next Chapter of WOTUS

From All Angles: Food Chain Mandates Threaten Producers, Impact Consumers

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 17:23:57 GMT

Precedent-setting mandates are coming at animal agriculture from many different angles, undermining the freedom of farmers to raise livestock. These regulations aren’t based on science. They aren’t based on animal husbandry experience. And many will argue they aren’t based on a shred of truth.

So, why are more and more activist groups turning to state ballot initiatives to push their agendas? Pro Farmer policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer says it’s simple.

“Activist groups know that it is easier to get mandates at the state level than federal, and are trying that approach with some initial success,” Wiesemeyer says.

The activist groups are targeting states with little to no livestock production trying to mandate how producers raise livestock, explains Michael Formica, assistant vice president and general counsel for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC).

“Because the rules are implemented on a state-by-state basis, each rule is unique and it’s creating a patchwork of different regulatory standards,” Formica says. “Meanwhile, food brands continue to assess sourcing policies entered into a decade ago that are bringing with them additional challenges.”

One Word for Food Mandates

If the mandates resulted in better food safety and efficiency while working with farmers and the food sector to accomplish goals, that would be a clear benefit, Wiesemeyer says. But these mandates don’t result in better food safety or efficiency, and they aren’t created in collaboration with farmers and the food sector.

In one word, Formica calls these mandates “uninformed.”

“The use of mandates to set supply chain policies encourages rules that might sound good on paper to uninformed voters and audiences but lack any consideration of the complex realities of animal health and welfare, veterinary care and supply chain challenges. These rules set arbitrary standards based on a goal of reduced meat consumption rather than being informed by veterinary expertise,” he says.

Wiesemeyer describes mandates in the food supply chain as “unnecessary.”

“These unfunded mandates have far more costs than benefits, which should be the test of any new proposed regulation,” Wiesemeyer adds.

For fifth-generation pork producer and CEO of Two Mile Pork LLC Scott Hays, these mandates are “evolving.”

“We’re seeing developments in the kinds of policies being developed and new players getting involved. For example, financial groups and benchmark reports seek to influence investors by calling attention to animal care and environmental practices,” Hays says.

Time to Speak Up

It’s vital for all agriculture and livestock stakeholders to engage with food industry decision-makers, government officials and NGOs to communicate about realities of modern agriculture to help them make informed decisions, Hays explains.

“As we seek to minimize the threat of further restrictions, it’s important to bring in expertise and science to ensure rational and economically viable solutions are identified,” he says.

More mandates will continue to drive smaller producers and firms away from animal agriculture because they do not have the personnel nor financial resources to deal with them, Wiesemeyer believes.

“This is ironic because many of those pushing mandates profess to want to expand entrants in the ag industry,” Wiesemeyer says.

As a producer, Hays is concerned about the goal posts changing and new policies being imposed. The result of the ballot initiatives, special interest group pressure and government policies is a dangerous mix of inconsistent standards that threaten farmers’ ability to operate effectively.

“What I comply with today may not be compliant in a year or five years when a new policy or regulation is approved; and therefore, will require me to make additional changes, at a significant cost. And consumers suffer, too,” he says. “These changes have a ripple effect of disruption in the supply chain, including higher prices.”

Keep Your Eyes on This

In the short term, Proposition 12 in California and Question 3 in Massachusetts are just a few mandates threatening producers’ freedom to operate while others such as the PAUSE Act , which has been proposed in Colorado, bring with them potential additional challenges, Formica says. (link to stories on these issues)

“California’s Prop 12 is the key issue to watch,” Wiesemeyer believes. “Why? If the Supreme Court does not accept the NPPC/Farm Bureau petition to review the matter , and if it is not struck down, then anti-farm policy groups will use the California approach as a template for similar action ahead on other issues.”

Although there doesn’t appear to be an upside to these mandates, Formica says the debate has led to strengthened relationships between the pork industry and other livestock industries, as well as the organizations throughout the food chain that ultimately market and sell these products to consumers.

“This has allowed us opportunities for additional education and understanding of pork production,” Formica points out. “Making sure producers, veterinarians and other livestock specialists are involved in these important discussions is vital.”

Hays says the story of how food is raised and produced is compelling, especially as fewer people have any connection to farming and rural lifestyles.

“Special interest groups, financed with nearly unlimited financial resources, are continuing to push for changes. Despite a slowdown during the pandemic, we expect these headwinds to continue,” Hays says.

Read More:

The Wait Continues for SCOTUS Decision on Prop 12 Petition

Prop 12: A Different Kind of California Wildfire

PAUSE Act A Radical Threat To Ranching

Why Animal Agriculture Needs to Take Petition 13 Seriously

Considering Prop 12 Conversion? Think About These Things First

BREAKING: State Court Halts Enforcement of Prop 12, California Must Finalize Rules First

Prop 12 Countdown: California Food Industry Leaders Fight Back

Proposition 12: Stop Applying Band-Aids to Proposed Rules, NAMI Says

Proposition 12 Will Create a Burdensome, Bureaucratic Labyrinth, NPPC Says

Pork Industry Braces for Catastrophic Costs to Implement Proposition 12

Proposition 12 Pressures Aren’t Going Away

On-Demand Webinar: Proposition 12: Where Do We Go From Here?

20 States Back Challenge to the Constitutionality of California’s Prop 12

California’s Proposition 12 Would Cost U.S. Pork Industry Billions

Court Upholds California Proposition 12

Delay Implementation of Proposition 12, Food Industry Leaders Urge

A Rare Moment of Honesty from a Waterkeeper

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 18:51:53 GMT

The start of the new year brought with it another attack on North Carolina’s pork industry. This one arrived in the form of a 16-minute video from an online outfit called Vox. It produced the video with money from — surprise, surprise — an activist group staunchly opposed to animal agriculture.

Every couple of months, the activists who want to close our farms and drive up food prices peddle a false story to some unwitting media outlet. Vox is the latest to take the bait.

Less than forty seconds into the video, the producer hops into a small Cessna with a leader of the Waterkeeper Alliance. The airplane trip, the video explains, is necessary to really see the hog farms.

Otherwise, “you don’t even know they’re there,” says the Waterkeeper.

It’s a rare moment of honesty from the activist.

“You don’t even know they’re there.”

His goal is to make the case that our farms are hidden, or that something nefarious is taking place on farms shielded from view.

But the location of every permitted hog farm in North Carolina is well-known and documented. You can find them on Google, or by driving through the beautiful Eastern North Carolina countryside. It’s true that not all hog farms are easily visible — most were built on family land along the back roads, and many are buffered by trees and forests (which is an industry best practice, by the way).

And, as the Waterkeeper says, “you don’t even know they’re there.” We know there aren’t strong odors to give away the location, so as the activist explains, you have to take to the air to see the pinkish lagoons situated on the farms.

The video goes on to make all sorts of astounding accusations about our farms. From the “brutal” practice of raising pigs indoors to unfounded air and water quality concerns that ignore the findings of a 15-month air quality study conducted by the state and overlook the persistent water quality threats posed by massive spills from municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Vox makes passing mention of reforms implemented more than 25 years ago — reforms that North Carolina environmental officials have affirmed to be the toughest regulations in the nation for manure management. Since then, farmers have gotten smarter and better as well (something that Vox didn’t acknowledge).

The result of those improvements?

We continue to provide food, affordably.

We continue to provide good jobs, particularly in rural areas that need them.

And we have done so for decades now, sustainably, week after week, month after month, year after year. All the while, activists continue searching for another young journalist they can dupe.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

When Animal Activists Strike: Stay Grounded in Your Convictions

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Eric Stonestreet Sets the Record Straight About Real Pork

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How to Store Manure on a Small Farm

How To Align Environmental Metrics With Your Asset Management In Farmland

The Case To Develop A Field Pedigree

What Makes Farmland Different

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Court’s Decision Could Affect New ‘WOTUS’ Rule

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One Word for Food Mandates

Time to Speak Up

Keep Your Eyes on This

A Rare Moment of Honesty from a Waterkeeper

“You don’t even know they’re there.”