Des Moines, IA - The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) issued the following statement regarding a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court in a case involving county regulation of livestock facilities.
Pork producers are elated with the ruling today by the Iowa Supreme Court in a case involving a series of very restrictive ordinances adopted last year in Humboldt County, Iowa. The Court ruled the ordinances were in direct conflict with state laws which already regulate the pork industry and protect the environment.
"I am very pleased for the individual producers in Humboldt County and in other counties which have adopted similar ordinances," said Norman Schmitt, a Rudd, Iowa, producer who is president of the IPPA. "This ruling means they may continue to responsibly grow their operations, for their families and for the benefit of their communities."
"The type of ordinances at issue in this case deeply concern pork producers across the country because their chief effect, in many cases, is not to protect the environment, but to prevent producers from modernizing and growing their operations," said Jerry King, a Victoria, Ill., producer who is president of the NPPC. Both King and Schmitt noted an economic analysis of the ordinances' impact by Iowa State University predicted an additional $6 per head cost for producers subject to the regulations. The analysis went on to demonstrate that if such ordinances were enacted throughout Iowa, the net result would be a huge loss in feed demand for corn and a drop of $0.35 per bushel in the price of corn in the state.
"I have always felt that environmental regulations need to be science- based, and comprehensive at the state level," said Schmitt. "Iowa producers have proven we support these type of regulations to protect the environment. We encourage the Iowa Legislature to continue the process to ensure other counties and other producers don't have to spend time and resources in court."
"The pork industry is clearly committed to protecting the environment," said King. "Pork producers in Iowa and across the country have stepped forward in recent years to push for comprehensive regulations at the state and federal level. Today's ruling sends the message to pork producers that this is the right thing to do," King said.
King noted the pork industry's involvement in the historic National Environmental Dialogue on Pork Production which produced a comprehensive framework of sound environmental regulatory recommendations. The framework included a constructive role for local citizens by recommending the option of timely public hearings on construction permit applications for new pork operations. Iowa law provides the opportunity for local input on permit applications and for hearings by local county supervisors.
Schmitt and King both noted the Humboldt County ruling is particularly significant in light of the recent announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency that it will pursue a new effluent limitation guideline for the pork industry. The limitation guideline will establish the standards which state regulatory agencies must meet in regulating the pork industries in their states.
Delegates at the National Pork Industry Forum in Reno, Nev., will consider two related resolutions during the delegate session beginning Friday, March 6. One resolution, introduced by the Iowa Pork Producers Association, affirms support for the regulatory framework produced by the Dialogue. Another resolution, introduced by the Missouri Pork Producers Association, would establish an NPPC policy position in favor of state and federal environmental regulations instead of county or township regulation. The delegate session continues through Saturday, March 7.
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