Newton County Health Board

The Newton County Health Board is proposing a 'health ordinance' that would (1) restrict the amount of odor a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) operation could give off, (2) how much animal waste could be disposed, and (3) require fees for operating permits. They define a CAFO as 'an operation at which animals are kept and fed for 45 days or more in a 12-month period, in a confinement area that has less than 50% ground cover of vegetation'.

The Board met Monday, January 9, 2006, at the Newton County Health Department (Neosho, MO). Opponents to the proposed regulation were Farm Bureau and University of Missouri Extension Service. Supporters (about 30 attended the meeting) said that: Farm Bureau has become a pawn of big business and they described the area as becoming an environmental catastrophe because of CAFOs taking advantage of relaxed regulations. Local resident and supporter of the proposed ordinance, Don Bushnell, said that he doesn't believe promises of stricter adherence to state standards will make a difference. "You can put chickens in a gold cage, but they still stink!"

The Joplin Globe, Wednesday, January 11, 2006