Friends of Rural New York

County livestock regulations

Towner County, in northeast North Dakota, last year imposed a temporary moratorium on large feeding operations. In June, in nearby Ramsey County, commissioners adopted rules requiring bonding and establishing setback distances for livestock facilities from roads, farms and businesses.

Towner County now appears to be following suit. The planning and zoning commission recently voted to begin the process of adopting similar rules.

Thoughts and opinions based on past experience and
shared conversations....
The Nutrient Management Plan will shield the chicken
business from action rather than ensure adherence to
any state or federal laws.
The DEC will say that everything is in compliance even
if it is not, and they will definitely use the right
to farm law as an excuse to not bring action.
The DEC has had a “hands-off approach” to agribusines
and will continue to do so, as they are understaffed
and not well versed in agribusiness in relation to
lawsand regulations, and they can not withstand the
heat that Ag and Markets puts on them. 
In my opinion, a moratorium and then loud opposition
to Nichols is the only way to protect yourselves, as
once they are in there, regulation, enforcement and
monitoring is nonexistent, and many times not even
legal.  Good luck!

Or- how you will learn to love your chicken CAFO

09/23/2005
State, county agencies address chicken farm concerns in Nichols
By Aaron Cahall

LOUNSBERRY, N.Y. - Concerns were raised over the potential for groundwater penetration, avian-borne diseases and spreading of manure at a proposed concentrated chicken farm in the Town of Nichols at an informational meeting between residents and state and county agencies Thursday night.

More than 45 people gathered at the Lounsberry United Methodist Church in Lounsberry, and along with town officials were told New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regulations would apply to the facility, with additional oversight by the New York State Agriculture and Markets Department and Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation.
The meeting came as town officials prepare for a public hearing next week to discuss a possible nine-month moratorium on concentrated animal farming in the township.
The Drosts, a Canadian family of concentrated animal farmers based in Ontario, recently agreed to purchase property within the town, which the family would use to construct a concentrated chicken facility.
The facility would include five or six barns each measuring 30,000 square feet, and would house between 150,000 and 180,000 chickens, according to Wendy Walsh of Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation.
The large number of animals to be housed at the facility raised a number of concerns with attendees Thursday night, foremost among them the threat of aquifer contamination from animal waste.
Walsh said the operation would be a “closed facility” that would allow no runoff or waste to be released. In the family’s Canadian operation, Walsh said the dry manure left by the animals was cleaned after every six-week cycle of chickens passed through the facility, and was not stored on site, but transported for use at local wineries. Walsh said a similar arrangement with Finger Lakes vineyards may be possible.
Residents questioned whether the farmers could spread manure at the site, and though Walsh said the regulations do allow for such action for operations of certain sizes, pending soil studies, the size of the facility and number of animals would preclude the Nichols farm from doing so.
“They will be required to ship the manure out,” Walsh said. “They don’t have the land base to spread out the amount of waste they’d collect.”
Walsh said each group of chickens would be kept for about six weeks, and then transported by truck from the facility to New York City. The facility would then be cleaned with the dry manure hauled by dump truck from the site and other wastes held in a storage tank.
About one truck per day would run from the facility, Walsh said, and residents questioned whether the trucks would be open-air or enclosed. Walsh said the trucks could be enclosed, but were operated open-air by the farmers in warmer months.
Other concerns voiced by residents included the potential transmission of avian-borne diseases between migratory birds and the chicken population that may affect the workers or residents. Robert Somers, chief of the Agriculture Protection Unit of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Department, said the migratory birds would likely be displaced, as they are with other development projects.
Walsh said the size of the facility placed it under the “large” category of the state DEC’s concentrated animal farming operation regulations, and the farmers would be required to submit a nutrient management plan that would outline the facility’s control of waste and other farmstead issues. Also, she said the farmers will be required to hire a New York-state certified nutrient management planner.
The chicken farm would also be part of Nichols’ agricultural district, Somers said, giving it protection under the state’s 1971 Agricultural Districts Law from unreasonable restrictions placed on it by local laws.
Nichols Town Supervisor James Branston said town officials met with the state and county agriculture officials before the meeting, and said a representative from DEC will be sought to answer questions at a future meeting.
“We did what we needed to do tonight, gather as much information as possible,” Branston said. “We needed to know who would control it, and it looks like it’s DEC.”
A public hearing concerning the possible nine-month town moratorium on concentrated animal farming will be held Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the town offices, Branston said.

©Daily and Sunday Review 2005

Tell Agriculture Secretary Johanns what you want to see in the next FARM BILL

What:  USDA Farm Bill Forum “Listening Tour”

Where:  Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House Auditorium, by Battery Park

When: Thursday, September 29, 2005

Time:  9:00am - 12:00 pm

The USDA is hosting a series of Farm Bill Forums in a “listening tour” across the country.  They will be coming to New York City on September 29th with a program to be hosted by Food Nutrition and Consumer Services Under Secretary Eric Bost from 9:00am to 12:00 PM at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House Auditorium. They will be discussing the 2007 Farm Bill, and taking comments on six questions Johanns feels are important for the next farm bill.

The Center for Rural Affairs has provided talking points for each question. Please feel free to use these as you give input to help shape USDA’s approach to this critical legislation. http://www.cfra.org/farmbill_forums.htm

We encourage you to participate in the Forum at the Custom House and inform the USDA Secretary of what you want the Farm Bill to provide for NY Farmers.  For a map of where the forum will be held, see: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1 Bowling Green, New York, NY&spn=0.019346,0.039546&hl=en

PLEASE PASS THIS NOTICE ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS AND NETWORKS

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/archive.php?id=6132

09/02/2005
Chicken farmers find a home in Nichols
By Patrick Abdalla

The road bringing a chicken farm to Tioga County, N.Y., has come to an end in the Town of Nichols, with an area farmer selling 39.5 acres of his land to the Canadian farmers.

Marty Kuhlman confirmed Thursday that he has reached an agreement with the Drost family, which owns large-scale chicken farms in Beamsville, Ontario, to sell his property for an undisclosed amount of money. One of the farmers, Pete Drost, said it is a relief to have finally found a home in Tioga County.
Family members have been interested in expanding operations into the county because it is a halfway point between New York City, where they sell their chickens, and Beamsville. However, some local residents have resisted the farmers because of concerns over smells and environmental issues. Drost said he believes the perception of the operation will change once it opens up.
“The operation will speak for itself,” he said.
There is no timetable yet for when the farmers will begin construction on the site.
The property is roughly 3.5 miles outside the Village of Nichols and is located between East River Road and U.S. Route 17, Kuhlman said.
The 70-year-old explained he sold the farm because he believed the Drosts ran a smooth operation and that he needed the money because he is retiring.
“I realize the perception is that if it’s a chicken house it must be stinky, smelly, something to be avoided,” he said. “I really don’t think that’s the case. I really didn’t feel this was going to be a negative impact on the area, but rather a positive.”
Kuhlman said he still owns land in Nichols.
Drost said the family never expected the opposition it has seen from some local residents.
When word first leaked out that the family was considering purchasing Ralph Porter’s land in Barton, N.Y., residents got together and held a meeting with local officials over the matter. At the meeting, local resident Don Foster agreed to purchase Porter’s land to keep the farm out of the town.
While residents have contended that the farm would lower property values in the surrounding area and have a negative impact on the environment, the farmers have said it will not because of the way the facility is run.
Drost said there is no slurry because the chickens’ waste is not water and will not be put into a slurry.
The farmers then contacted the Economic Development and Planning Department to find out if the county’s Industrial Development Agency would be willing to sell some of the land next to the Best Buy Warehouse in Nichols.
However, several elected officials from Nichols, and Town Supervisor James Branston, spoke at a meeting to say the chicken farm would not be the best use of the land. The agency voted not to sell the land.
Barton, the director for the department, traveled to the farm with Jeff Stokes, one of the county’s planners, and Wendy Walsh, the county’s Soil and Water Conservation District director. They all said the farm did not have a strong odor and added that upscale housing and a school were being built next to the operations.
Barton explained at the time that the vote meant the farmers would then try to find a private citizen willing to sell his or her land, and the county would not have any more influence in the matter.
Kuhlman ended up being that resident.

©Daily and Sunday Review 2005
Towanda Pa