June 8, 2009

Purdue CAFO study to be presented in June 18 public broadcast

Community Impacts of Confined Animal Feeding Operations will take place from 7-9 p.m. EST. The meeting is free and open to the public.

"The purpose of this meeting is to provide information to enable people to be more knowledgeable about what is going on with confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), since this likely will be the future of animal production in our communities," said Janet Ayres, an agricultural economist and Purdue Extension land use specialist.

Those attending a meeting broadcast can ask questions of Ayres and her fellow study team members: agricultural economists Larry DeBoer and Roman Keeney and animal scientist Tamilee Nennich. A series of Purdue Extension publications will be produced based on study findings and posted on Purdue's CAFO Web site at https://www.ansc.purdue.edu/cafo/

The 2007-08 Purdue study is the most comprehensive look yet at CAFOs in Indiana. In confined feeding facilities, hundreds or thousands of animals are raised for food or other purposes for extended periods of time in buildings, sheds, lots, pens or ponds where there is no ground cover or vegetation present over at least half of the animals' confinement area, according to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).

Purdue's study examined CAFOs in Benton, Cass, Huntington, Jasper, Jay, Randolph, Wabash and Wells counties, those with the largest concentration of the facilities in Indiana, Ayres said. Findings provided information on the demographic characteristics of CAFO proprietors, how the operations were managed, environmental and zoning issues, and financial impacts of CAFOs on local governments, schools and infrastructure, she said.

"We conducted hourlong interviews with swine and dairy CAFOs in those counties - 50 in all," Ayres said. "We learned that these are very complex operations.

"We also visited courthouses and collected tax information from the auditor's, assessor's and treasurer's offices in those counties to determine the fiscal impact that CAFOs have on government budgets. In addition, we checked all the environmental violations and spills with IDEM."

The study team also looked into what local communities were doing to address CAFO-related issues.

"We interviewed county highway engineers and plan departments and analyzed all of the zoning ordinances in the eight counties," Ayres said. "There are some creative things that can be done at the local level to address issues that concern people, such as handling dead animals, dust, noise, vibrations, damage to roads, odor and water. Other things can be done through zoning."

The meeting will be broadcast at Purdue Extension offices or other locations in the following counties: Adams, Allen, Bartholomew, Decatur, Elkhart, Floyd, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Jasper, LaPorte, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Parke, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Wells and Whitley. Contact a county office of Purdue Extension for exact locations of broadcast sites.

The broadcast will originate from Purdue's West Lafayette campus. In addition to Purdue Extension, other program sponsors include Ball State University's College of Architecture and Planning, the Indiana Chapter of the American Planning Association, and Indiana Farm Bureau Inc.

Writer: Steve Leer, 765-494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu

Source: Janet Ayres, 765-494-4215, ayres@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-8415;
Steve Leer, sleer@purdue.edu
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