Letter to the Editor: Agriculture is certainly the economic engine of Howard County. Missouri agriculture is an $88 billion industry and nearly $180 million of that comes from this county. That’s a big number and it doesn’t even include the $29.4 million in labor income, the 1,262 jobs and the $7.6 million in tax revenue generated for our county. When you think about the economic impact of agriculture to our community, you must look beyond the farm. Everything from the bank to the local diner, to the gas station, to our schools, depend on this economic activity. Question 1, which will be on the August 7 ballot, significantly limits any hope of taking Howard County agriculture to the next level.

When it comes to agriculture, its impact far surpasses dollars and cents, but my mind gravitates in that direction rather quickly. This is about food production. We will need to produce more food in the next 40 years than in the previous 10,000 years combined. Academics arrive at this number not only because of the anticipated population growth, but also enhanced demand that comes from nigher standards of living caused by reduced poverty.

If our farm and ranch families in this county are going to meet this challenge, we must be innovative and embrace sound science and technology that allow us to do more with less. We must oppose overregulation in Howard County by voting NO on this county health ordinance. State and federal laws heavily regulate animal feeding operations and these farms are at an extremely high level of oversight. Farmers and ranchers take the risk of being at this level of government scrutiny because it’s a family thing. It is one way to add opportunities for the next generation to come back to the family farm. Closing our minds to these opportunities will hurt our community. We have to repopulate the land with the next generation or I cannot even begin to describe the woes. The average age of a farmer in Missouri is nearing 60 and only five percent are 35 years-old or younger. This is a frightening statistic from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For the future of our county, please vote NO on Question 1.

Steve Diehls

Letter to the Editor: On August 7, those of us in Howard County will see what is called “Question 1” on the ballot. It will ask if you support the continuation of a county health ordinance that was unfortunately passed by our County Commissioners. This simple “question” will slam the door on opportunities for current and future farm and ranch families here in Howard County.

My wife and I raise cattle in the county and I‘m proud to support Missouri agriculture, which is the state’s number one industry. County health ordinances add more regulation and restrictions on agriculture, which is already heavily regulated by government agencies. This is just another way for the government to tell us what and how we can farm. This so-called “Question 1” is nothing more than government overreach and a pervasive invasion of private property rights. It is planning and zoning with a vengeance.

I live here. I raise my family here. I work here. I am Howard County and I want more opportunities for my kids and grandkids to be able to call this county home. I ask you to join me in striking down the misguided “Question 1” on August 7th.

Omer Conrow

Howard County Cattlemen’s Association- President

Letter to the Editor: I am a true environmentalist; an economist; a cattle caretaker; a steward of the land and its resources; and so much more. I wear many hats because I am a family farmer. Farming and ranching in Howard County is more than an occupation and a way of life. It’s an essential component of nutrition, health and economics. Each farmer in this state feeds 155 people and with the state’s population at more than 6 million people and growing by roughly 10 percent annually, we need to keep Missouri farming and it starts at the county level.

With our state population growing and the global population expected to grow to around 9 billion people by 2050, we need more families farming and certainly not less. To keep family farms in business rather than divide up for subdivisions, we have to do everything possible to ensure that farming and ranching is an attractive profession for today’s farmer and rancher and the next generation. Right here in Howard County, radical animal rights groups are trying to put the kibosh on any hope of expanding agriculture in the county by fooling voters into supporting Question 1. As a farmer and as your neighbor, I am asking you to vote NO on Question 1 during the August 7 election.

We do not need more rules, regulations and red tape in Howard County. We need more jobs; not less. We need to ensure that we are open for business in this county and we certainly can’t do that by passing an unnecessary, bureaucratic county health ordinance. Agriculture is regulated heavily at the state and federal level and adding more regulation at the county level is not something we should support. Again, please join me with an overwhelming NO vote on Question 1.

Danny Kircher

Letter to the Editor: Growing up on my family farm in Howard County, I was taught the importance and benefits of a hard day’s work. My parents instilled integrity, honesty, and ethics. We lived by the golden rule. I had the good fortune of purchasing my family farm and raised my boys on it. I want them to have the same opportunities as I.

With that said...the animal rights activists who are pushing the continuation of the county health ordinance wish to shut the door to future generations returning to the farm. They were not raised with the same morals; therefore, their profanity and lies are screamed at the top of their lungs. They bullied the commissioners into voting on a health ordinance against legal consult. That is right, our commissioners voted on an ordinance when the lawyer specifically said it should not be voted on. Cooper County Presiding Commissioner, Don Bargary stated, “I stand against activist groups that use bullying, scare tactics, and false information to sway public opinion.” Wouldn’t it be nice to have elected officials who do not waver from what is best for the number one industry in Howard County, which is agriculture?

Sincerely,

Sherri Dobson

Farmer/Farmer’s daughter

Letter to the Editor: When we vote on Question 1 on Aug. 7th, more is at stake than the ballot language would suggest. The ordinance that Question 1 centers around is a restrictive agricultural ordinance described in the ballot language as “guidance,” but is really an invasion of private property rights. A NO vote is in the best interest of Howard County.

The ordinance was drafted to keep animal feeding operations out of Howard County. But this is about more than just dairy cows, hogs, or beef cattle. The corn, soybeans and hay we produce in our county become value-added agriculture as they are turned into milk, bacon, steaks and more. If our county closes the door to value-added processing, we are closing a door of opportunity and growth.

When speaking of animal agriculture, it is one thing to paint a picture of a corporately-owned boogeyman which may look to locate in Howard County. But young people and entrepreneurs who wish to make a living feeding animals in our county have also had a door of opportunity slammed shut. We invest in our youth as a community, let’s not eliminate options for young people to stay at home and make a living on the farm.

When speaking of animals, we know what goes in, must come out. Is this ordinance needed for protection of the environment? The state of Missouri takes seriously the protection of waters of the state. Science-based regulations dictate the operations of CAFO’s and other permitted facilities. Confined feeding operations are held to an even higher standard than waste water treatment plants, industrial and residential facilities which must protect and not degrade the waters of Missouri.

The intent of this ordinance is clear – to keep out value-added animal agriculture. Our family doesn’t want to hear the sound of the door slamming shut on agricultural opportunity. Help me stay on my family farm and keep families farming; vote NO on Question 1.

Shipp Farm

Ethan Shipp

Letter to the Editor: Please vote “YES” on August 7th to the Howard County Health Ordinance making CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) illegal in our fine county.

I urge all residents to learn about the negative effects that a CAFO would have in terms of: the health and quality of life for folks living nearby; the inhumane treatment of animals in this type of operation; the method of manure disposal that can seep into streams, ponds, ground water and contaminate drinking water; disposal of dead animals in open air huts where the decomposition of one carcass can take as long as 2 years.

More often than not, these CAFOs are owned by foreign corporations and offer no economic benefits for our county and certainly none for our independent farmers.

I raised commercial hogs for 20 years the old fashioned way. Sows were only confined for 10 days post farrowing and then they lived with their litters in large pastures with sun, dirt, fresh air and plenty of space to exist like the sentient beings they are. In my opinion, raising animals in a CAFO is despicable.

It will take 1,200 “Yes” votes for this ordinance to pass. A CAFO may not affect you directly, but “love thy neighbor as thyself” and do what’s best for our rural families. Support local farmers and do not allow animals produced for our sustenance to be treated inhumanly.

The Howard County Health Ordinance can be found at: http://nmplanner.missouri.edu/regulations/mocountyrules/HowardCounty.pdf

Most Sincerely,

Nancy Shepherd

Rocheport Farmer Since 1981

Letter to the Editor: Question 1 asks Howard County voters if we want to keep our health ordinance. I will be voting YES for the following reasons:

(1) There is an Out of State Company that wants to build an 8,000 head Sow Operation in Howard County. Anyone who lives in a rural county should realize the amount of manure, urine and other waste and odor that would be produced everyday by such a large confined hog operation.

(2) There is a strong likelihood that the liquid waste from such an operation could contaminate our underground water plus surface water (ponds) and the air we breathe.

(3) They dispose of this liquid waste by transporting it through a series of hose connections that can stretch up to three miles. Believe me there will be leaks from poor connections. In 2014 there was a 10,000 gallon spill in Callaway County.

(4) Owners of these hog operations are mostly from out of the State. The CAFO owners have said that one reason they want to come to Missouri is because of the animal disease problems in Iowa and Minnesota. But we don’t want their disease problems here.

(5) Another factor to consider is the amount of dead animals. The Pipestone operation in Cooper County is projected to generate 245,000 lbs. of dead hogs per year.

I ask that each of you just stop and ask yourself what are the benefits to Howard County, compared to all of the negatives. Keep in mind if we allow the first CAFO to be build here there will be many more to follow. The result is a lowering of the values of our houses, our farmland and our way of life.

I urge you to vote yes on Question 1 on August 7, 2018.

George Feaster

Cattle Farmer

Armstrong, Mo.