Iowa Lobby Groups Spar Over Meaning of 'Family Farm'
by Matthew Wilde, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
IOWA FALLS – Saving family farms is a top priority in Iowa.
Special interest and activist organizations aren't disputing that. But
what constitutes a family farm and which ones should be saved is a hot
topic of debate.
Two Des
Moines-based organizations are butting heads on the issue. Iowa
Citizens for Community Improvement and the Coalition to Support Iowa's
Farmers are engaged in an epic battle. Each believes a victory means a
more prosperous Iowa.
ICCI
contends corporate or large-scale agriculture is the state's death
knell. The CSIF's goal is to help farmers stay in business regardless
of size and to defend their honor. The CSIF introduced a new online
directory Tuesday to help farmers understand environmental regulations.
…ICCI views
To the ICCI, animals shouldn't be raised in modern confinement buildings.
The
group's leaders say producers focusing on volume – whether grain or
livestock – aren't family farmers but a detriment to Iowa's economy,
environment and social structure. Its focus now is to stop what they
consider factory farms – those that use confinement buildings to house
livestock.
“I think a hog factory is total confinement with a (manure) pit,” said ICCI president Kurt Kelsey.
He
admits a few ICCI members raise livestock using confinements, but he
still believes the practice pollutes the air and water. He operates a
small sheep and grain farm near Iowa Falls.
The ICCI
says large livestock corporations like Smithfield Foods are the real
enemy of family farmers. However, the group makes no distinction
between Smithfield raising 14.5 million hogs a year in confinements or
a family raising 5,000 animals in confinements.
…CSIF views
Helping
producers understand new environmental laws and implementing needed
changes is the primary focus of the CSIF. To accomplish this, the group
launched STEER (Strategic Technical Environmental Education Resource)
Tuesday on its website.
It
includes a comprehensive checklist of information about livestock
production and reviews environmental rules and regulations, including
how to implement needed changes. The site contains management tools,
resources and contacts for farmers.
CSIF
executive director Tim Niess said that's the major difference between
the two organizations. The CSIF provides help for all farmers and the
ICCI does not, he said. Family farms vary dramatically in size, ranging
from one person to a group of relatives farming together.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
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