March 8, 2007

Livestock farms flourish in US' Indiana state--along with complaints
 

Rural Indiana residents in the US have complained for years about the stench and dust wafting from the state's largest livestock farms as concerns reflected in several bills this legislative session is aimed at tightening the farms' regulation.

As lawmakers debate on the legislation, however, records show that state regulators are set to approve the sprawling, factory-style farms at a record rate.

Last year alone, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management approved 106 of the very largest of these farms, clearing the way for more than 2.4 million animals at new farms, according to department records reviewed by The Associated Press.

Those 106 farms are the largest number using concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, the department has approved in a single year since it began giving them separate approval in 2003 from smaller farms.

In fact, last year's CAFO approvals represent more than the agency endorsed in the last three years combined, records show.

Sandra Flum, the department's director of intergovernmental affairs, said the agency saw a "significant increase" last year in applications to build new livestock farms, with those requests rising from about 120 in 2005 to about 160 last year.

Deb Abbott, a spokeswoman for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said the increase in CAFOs -- most of them hog farms -- is due largely to strong market opportunities for producers.