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(Below we reprint Scott Dye's address to the KNRC Annual Dinner in Matfield Green on September 25, 1999.)
When the hog factories come calling in rural America, they
make three promises to communities.
You don't hear the industry try to tell the first two lies much anymore, their facade of sincerity, washed away in an ocean of liquefied swine feces and urine. Cascading into our streams and rivers, into aquifers, onto neighbors' property, and into rural residents' drinking water wells. That's no way to treat your neighbor. And that's no way to care for our earth. But in agriculture we've ushered in a new era over the last decade. Welcome to the era of the concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO. Welcome to the era of multi-national conglomerates masquerading as family farmers. This isn't about sustainable production agriculture. This is about ramming millions of animals a year to their slaughter through enormous metal and concrete "barns" - and massive complexes that generate more raw fecal wastes than most American cities. This is industry, pure and simple. The product is pork chops, and the unwanted by-product - animal waste. How much waste?? America's livestock industry (hogs, cattle, poultry, dairy) produces 130 times more excrement than the country's human population. That's 1.4 billion tons of manure annually, or about 5 tons of manure for every man, woman & child in the United States. 5 tons annually per capita. Think about that. Do you know where your 5 tons are? Or who's taking care of it? According to the EPA over 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states are contaminated with livestock waste. But before I start pounding the soapbox, let's examine the last Big Lie. What about jobs, and what about economic development? Just last week the Sierra Club released a nationwide report called "Corporate Hogs at the Public Trough" (read it here). It exposes the corporate welfare granted to ten of America's largest animal factory conglomerates, and the social, economic and environmental destruction these corporate raiders have inflicted on the communities they call home. Sadly, the story is repeated over and over. Across the country, these billion-dollar corporations have benefited from millions of tax dollars for road improvements, railroad spurs, waste-water treatment plants, and worker training. In return, the local residents are forced to boil their tap water, breathe toxic gases, sell their family farms, and watch helplessly as their communities descend into an economic morass. Seaboard Corporation, a major player here in Kansas, is perhaps the king of corporate agri-welfare, lining their pockets with over $100 million in Big Pig perks. The bargain hasn't worked out in Missouri either. But unlike the corporate cheerleaders, the numbers don't lie. As incentives, Missouri's legislature gutted our corporate farming law to exempt PSF into three northern Missouri counties in 1993. Then, state officials followed that up with over $1.5 million in Community Development Block Grants to build the corporation's infrastructure. The creation of a so-called Enterprise Zone granted the company's slaughterhouse a 100% tax abatement on real property for 18 years - to the tune of $450,000 annually in lost revenue. Finally, adding insult to injury, the rural electric cooperatives - that had been built by our state's family farmers - charges PSF just 1/3 the KWH rates paid by family farmers. What did we get for all that corporate welfare? More social welfare.
In fact, northern Missouri has become the methamphetamine capitol of the Midwest. Domestic Violence has risen each year since reporting began in 1992. The most disturbing statistics are those about the children. Missouri ranks all 115 counties for a variety of social data impacting children, including high school dropout rates, infant deaths, low birth weight infants, the number of violent deaths for the ages of 15-19, child deaths under the age of 14, among others. For these three counties in 1997:
All of this points to a sick community, where something has gone terribly terribly wrong. Meanwhile, as the social carnage was taking place, Missouri lost over 60% of its independent family hog farmers over the last six years. Over 5000 family farms. Gone forever. And they ain't comin' back. When a rural community loses a family farmer, they've lost far more than just a family, or just a farmer. They lost a piece of the societal fabric that makes the Midwest a place we're all proud to call home. These family farmers have been good neighbors, and have been good stewards of our soil and water resources. These farmers have built and nurtured America's rural economies and local businesses, built our bridges, our schools, our roads. These family farmers are the moral and substantive fiber of rural America - where honest values, responsible land stewardship, hard work and integrity still have meaning. These independent family farmers and our country's diversified family farm structure have consistently, cheaply and safely fed our nation - and our growing world for generations. But now those in swine industry tell us that the family farmer is obsolete. It's all about efficiency they say. That's a load of crap, delivered. This is about consolidation and control of the swine industry by a handful of Wall Street interests. It's about investment capital and market manipulation.
Family farmers CAN'T compete in artificially deflated markets.
We must remember that this is not a natural or inevitable evolution of agriculture. Just over a decade ago there were no factory style swine operations anywhere in America. This is a deliberate plan by a handful of corporations to profit on the consolidation - and ultimately the control - of the pork industry. America is producing roughly the same amount of pork as it was a decade ago - we're just doing it with less and less independent, sustainable family farmers. Farmers that study after study have proven - put more dollars into rural economies than factory farms. For every job created by factory farms - three are lost in the agricultural sector. That's not economic development - that's economic destruction - of our rural communities and our rural way of life. Quoting from one of my favorite people in the world, Dr. John Ikerd, a professor of economics at the University of Missouri:
It is crucial for those of us in the environmental movement to reach out to, and work with family farmers. Simply put, they own our natural heritage. Over 70% of all land in America is held in private hands. In Kansas, and in my home state of Missouri, it's over 90%. As environmentalists, we can fix all the forests, parks and wetlands held in the public trust, but until we forge a working relationship with our rural landowners, America's environmental problems will continue, and we'll never reach the Clean Water Act's goal of fishable and swimmable waters for all Americans. We must also work to forge new ties between hunters and anglers, and family farmers. It's a natural fit. The farmer not only feeds the American people, they also feed and watch over our wildlife resources. A renewable and sustainable natural resource benefits everyone, and everything in the natural world. Some folks in the environmental community are surprised by this new coalition between farmers and environmentalists. But family farmers and environmentalists have really never been that far apart. After all, the farmer was the earth's first environmentalist. From mankind's first crop, the sustainable family farmer has understood that you don't conquer nature, you coexist, and cooperate with it. Unfortunately, divisive organizations like the Farm Bureau, self-anointed spokesman for "agriculture", successfully drove a wedge between people of like mind. Family farmers and environmentalists have always had the same goals - clean air, clean water, sustainability and quality of life. Increasingly, more and more farmers are coming to the realization that a real farmer - a family farmer - has nothing to fear from endangered species or the Clean Water Act. And increasingly, we in the environmental community are learning ---what's good for the sustainable family farmer, is good for the environment. But our friends out there in agriculture are hurting badly right now, suffering through another farm crisis - courtesy of America's corporate raiders. Even as the concentration and control of all phases of food production by the corporations continues unchecked, it's ALL gone to hell in a handbasket in the Heartland. Deflated land values, the lowest grain prices in a decade, and livestock prices in the tank across the board. Nationwide the loss of valuable farmland to urban sprawl continues at an alarming rate. The genetic mutation of animals, plants and seed stock by such world giants as Monsanto and ADM threatens to open a Pandora's Box of public health and environmental disasters. As if all that's not scary enough, now rural America faces a growing public health threat from these corporate animal factories. Public officials with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and the US Geological Survey have three main areas of concern: toxic air emissions, pathogenic groundwater contamination and antibiotic-resistant bacteria exposure in humans. Of the 50 million pounds of antibiotics produced annually in the US, over 50% are administered to livestock. Of that total, 90% of those antibiotics are given as sub-therapeutic growth enhancers, rather than to treat active infections in the animal. Problem is, a lot of that dope is retained in the animal's meat, and then ingested in the human food chain. This has contributed to the development of antibiotic resistance among bacteria, posing threats to humans. More and more, patients check into a hospital for a minor infection, but they don't check out, as the various families of antibiotics fail to clear up the infection. Not scary enough? How about Hepatitis E (sHEV), a brand spanking new Hepatitis brought to you by our friends in the corporate swine industry. This is a recently discovered virus, isolated in the spring of 1999, that's endemic to Midwest hog herds. At least three cases of human contraction are known - in Minnesota, Tennessee and Arizona. Nine percent of recent samples from Iowa manure pits, lagoons, and drainage ditches near swine confinements were positive for Hepatitis E virus. In a recent survey, healthy field workers from the Iowa DNR that inspect CAFOs even showed a much higher prevalence anti-HEV antibodies (5.7%) in their blood than the normal population (<.05%) sHEV may last for 8 weeks or longer in the environment. America cannot afford these risks, just to bolster the profits
of a few. So, as the rats run out of holes to run into, their headed back to those areas they passed over. Increasingly, the industry is no longer attempting their warm and fuzzy song and dance, and the Three Big Lies. They are choosing instead to bully and intimidate local communities. Forget diplomacy. Now, if a community fights back, the fight is likely to end up in court. So be it. Rural America has been failed by its politicians, bureaucrats and regulators. The courts have proven the only source of relief thus far for rural communities and our beleaguered environment. In Missouri - the Sue Me State - legal victories are starting to pile
up. A $5.2 million dollar continuing nuisance judgement against Continental Grain's
hog operations. A $177,000 dollar fine and court-ordered closure for an offending
contract operation of just 2000 hogs. USEPA has joined our families' CWA / CAA suit
against Premium Standard, a suit that could change forever the way this industry conducts
business. KNRC is to be highly commended for the work done by John Carter, Charles Benjamin & others, defending the sanctity of local control, and promoting the use of county police powers to protect public health. This tack has proven very successful in Missouri. Of the six Missouri counties that have enacted health ordinances over the last three years, none have seen a new expansion, or a new application. In short, it works. Kansas has some of the most vibrant and effective groups anywhere
fighting this corporate invasion of Big Pig. In addition to the great work of KNRC,
and the Kansas Sierra Club, you have a great network of rural activists in Stewards of the
Land, Kansas Rural Center and the Kansas Farmers Union. These farmers and ranchers
have seen enough, and they're not going to take it anymore. Be proud Kansas.
As I look around this room I see several familiar faces, people that are leading the
national fight against these corporate intruders. Ultimately, we will win this fight. Not just because we must, but also because - I believe - this industry will collapse upon itself.
Again, quoting Dr. Ikerd:
These industrial style CAFOs of today are merely models of the old communist state farms. It didn't work there, bringing down the system in the process - and it won't work here. But America has free markets, you say. Tell that to a Kansas farmer getting $2.20 for a bushel of wheat. That same bushel was worth $3.65 in 1865. But this system of industrial animal agriculture will prevail - unless we stand together and fight it. Already, a new system is taking shape. Organic growers, food circle coops, dope-free open range livestock, and the consumer is clamoring for all of it. The organic market continues to grow by about 25% a year. But likewise, this "new" sustainable agriculture will fail - unless we support it. When you make your food purchases, buy right, and buy local. Vote with your food dollars, and support politicians that support family farmers. I don't intend to see rural American turned over to the
corporate swine. Join me in the fight.
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