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Sometimes Anonymous is a complete meathead... and sometimes Anonymous sends me gems. This morning, a gem: StinkFreeCarrington.com, an activist website created by citizens of Carrington, North Dakota, who are trying to keep Canadians from bringing more pollution in the form of a big concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) to their fair city. (Hey! I've driven through Carrington! It's on the amazing slanty hypotenuse route that shaves 200 miles off the trip from Madison to Edmonton, Alberta!)
StinkFreeCarrington.com represents the best of the Internet's potential as a tool for citizen activism. Video of public testimony and interviews, archived letters to the ND Department of Health, links to relevant news articles... this kind of website is exactly how citizens can help inform each other and take action to protect their communities.
Two highlights: First, this passionate testimony at a public hearing from Carrington's Marlene Boyer, a woman who cares about her neighbors, and who believes there's more to doing right than following the letter of the law:
You'll never get coverage like this in the mainstream media. The local paper, the hourly radio news updates, and the 6 p.m. TV news can't give this sort of complete transcript, straight from the source.
See also this interview, Part 6 of a series of interviews with residents of Thief River Falls, Minnesota, who have had to evacuate their homes due to the stink of an Excel Dairy run by South Dakota's Rick Millner. Paul Kezar talks about the lies his neighbors were fed, lies that Kezar sees as typical of the corporate culture that drove him back out of Minneapolis to come back to his small-town roots:
Listen to that: "These dairy farms are a corporation.... I came from small-town USA, dairy-boy, grew up on a farm, go live in Minneapolis for a while, you understand what corporate USA is all about. I didn't really care for it, because there's dishonesty, and there's things that coming from a small-town you just thought you would never see."
Paul Kezar is just a neighbor, a small-town guy, a dad trying to throw a nice birthday party for his little girl, a decent man who'd prefer that his house not smell like filth.
You can see more videos and other content like this at StinkFreeCarrington.com. Everyone around Grant County, SD, should review this testimony before the public hearings on the proposed Kilborn Township mega-feedlot next month (August 7, 8.a.m.: zoning board on setback requirements; August 13 4:30 p.m.: dairy permit).
And everyone interested in promoting citizen participation in local political affairs should see how folks in Carrington are putting the Web to work to make their case.
Hide Fido (by Andy Horowitz)
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I coined Noem as the ‘Palin of South Dakota’ when she ran for the state
house, seems I nailed it; America: meet your new Secretary of Homeland
Security. Sh...
21 hours ago
So any PAC is a gem?
ReplyDeleteYou are soooo scrupulous!
You sure know a lot, Anon!
ReplyDeleteIs StinkFreeCarrignton.com a PAC? Could you point me to their filing statements or news articles that would explain your comment?
I don't know much about the organization; the "gem" I see is a multimedia website that any small group of concerned citizens could put together quickly and cheaply to get out their side of the story.
Setback Hearing Moved To Handle Expected Crowd
ReplyDeleteThe intense interest over changing setbacks for large dairies and other concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) has caused the Grant County Commissioners to move a public hearing to the Milbank High School Theater. When the public hearing was requested at the Grant County Planning and Zoning Board meeting on July 9, the courtroom was nearly full. The theater will allow more seating for the expected large crowd. The theater is located south of East Highway 12 at the National Guard Armory.
Everyone who is againse the propposed Foothills Dairy LLP, should really take the opportunity and go see the Fehrs Opperation, and see how clean, neat, and non-"Smelly" they really are. I have been on everyone of of there sites, and am so impressed with how they do things. If I owned farm land in grant county i would be approaching them and offering my land for ther next site. The Fehr Family is great family, and do things the right way. $40 million dollary dairy being built is a huge asset to Grant Co.
ReplyDeleteEven if Fehr's dairies never stink and are no danger to the water supply, and that remains to be seen, what everybody seems to be overlooking is that approving Foothills Dairy is giving away jobs to Mexicans! They may be legal Mexicans, but aren't the consequences practically the same as if they were illegal aliens? And how are we to know whether they are legal Mexicans or not? As caheidelberger said, bust illegal aliens and the companies that hire them! Fehrs' hiring of Mexican laborers has a direct impact on their profitability. Would they even try to have a mega-dairy if they hired United States citizens? Would Milbank like Valley Queen if they came out with a "We hire only Mexicans" policy? What can Foothills Dairy do that 97 family dairy farms can't do? Fehrs' 5,700 cows divided by a nice family dairy farm 59-cow dairy herd equals 97. There's ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms. It would take away the dignity of the family farms already here, and they won't be able to work their fields and cows. The likelihood of you having your own dairy will be just memories for you now. If the Grant County commissioners are a pushover for Foothills Dairy, won't they be a pushover for every other Fehr dairy proposed for Grant County? Oh, they might get tired of approving Fehrs' dairies, but for them to not approve one would mean they were wrong to approve the first one, and heaven forbid they admit they were wrong! Thus Grant County gets full of mega-dairies and Fehrs end up with all of Valley Queen's milk business. How can even the big dairies financed by Europeans and Asians compete with Fehrs when Fehrs are practically handed a monopoly on Valley Queen's milk? You might say that restricting Fehrs is restricting free trade, but I say running the little man out of the milk business is restricting free trade! Whatever happened to antitrust laws? Stevens County, Minnesota is suffering under the influence of the Apostolic Christian Church which Fehrs are members of, and if you want information on that, I have two words for you: Dennis Courneya. If Grant County farmers don't want to milk cows any more because there is not enough money paid by Valley Queen to entice them, Grant County doesn't need to be a big dairy county. There are a lot of agricultural counties which aren't big dairy counties. If farming isn't done by family farms, it doesn't have to be farmed at all! Are you for The Great American Family Farm or not? A vote for Foothills Dairy is a vote against the family farm and is selling Grant County's birthright for a mess of pottage.
ReplyDeleteYes my dear Ryan please call Fehr and sell them your land sell it quickly let them know that your community is the one that really wants the big dairy and you want to save Kilborn township. You will forever be in my debt.
ReplyDeleteIf you have never been to Kilborn Township you are missing a beautiful landscape just below the summit foothills.
Maybe Kilborn township could once again relax and see their beautiful valley landscape and not worry about the big scar that is coming.
Is Fehr/Riverview/Foothills or whatever they call them selves this week going to promise no water shed damage. Watch out Milbank aka Valley queen. Crap runs downhill and if my memory serves me well the water shed runs in your direction this time with this farm.
Fehr and Foothills Dairy please move on go somewhere to a desert or something since you don't need the lush green pastures that our children love to play in and the families who like to sit in their back yard and look out over the landscape.
I grew up as a young child on a farm in this community. You can believe that this whole thing is WRONG!!!! Cattle penned up all day is just not right. No sunshine no pastures??? And I want to drink this milk? Give me Bessie,Annabelle and Bossy not 442, 389, 7199!!!!!
Ryan Im sure on the day you got to visit their lovely establishment Im sure you were in the milking parlor but Ill bet it was not cleaning the pit day!!! or maybe you didn't get to see where the trucks were that they piped the manure to. I have shoveled manure in my life and you cant tell me there is no smell or flies. I think someone needs a shovel. I don't care if its fifty cows or 7200. It's still manure and manure smells. So you take a 50 head cow farm and you do the math of manure for 7200 head.
Their manure dont Stink... YEAH RIGHT OK City Boy go get your check...I hear my Fehr calling you.
Please stop these farms from ruining my state, county, township but by far first of all my home.
Today Kilborn township tomorrow (I pray)its Ryan's back yard. But LETS MAKE IT STOP IN RYAN'S BACKYARD>
Please call your commissioners and sign the petition lets stop this terrible thing. Save the American Farm in Kilborn township and Grant County and the fine state of South Dakota.
Plus if your township is near Grant County or anywhere in South Dakota please set up laws to stop these things before Ryan sells his land next to your land.
A diary the size of foothills dairy can producer the amount of milk that 100 family dairies can on a single section of land. 1 Question for you VON. Where in grant county would you put 97 family farms? What 97 families would be able to make a living doing this? It’s Just not going to happen! If you put 97 family farms in grant county, none of them would have a manure management plan, that means you would have the same amount of cows with no manure management, having their manure run into the aquifers, and eventually big stone lake, so you would rather have that? Highly doubt it. Von (lightninboy) I believe you and just about everyone else in Kilborn got a letter and an invite courtesy of Riverview Farms, to attend a free tour of their operations, and you declined to go and see these impressive dairies.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven’t noticed Valley Queen I believe is doing a major expansion, and creating jobs for the local community. Are you against this because they are getting the Fehr’s milk? If you don’t like it maybe you should pick up your family farm and move it. I support Foothills Dairy, and welcome them to Grant County.
Brave man anonymous! Why don't you tell us who you are?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, 97 family farmers, that probobly is the tip of the iceberg of the family dairies that VQ dumped in the last few years.
Kilborn Lady
Eat well, eat with a good conscience, insist on Cafo free cheese
Where in Grant County would you put 97 family farms?
ReplyDeleteWhat 97 families would be able to make a living doing this?
Kilborn Lady said, “97 family farmers, that probably is the tip of the iceberg of the family dairies that VQ dumped in the last few years.” If Grant County citizens can’t milk cows in Grant County profitably, I don’t want any cows milked in Grant County by Mexicans either. Get the picture in your head?
If you put 97 family farms in Grant County, none of them would have a manure management plan, that means you would have the same amount of cows with no manure management, having their manure run into the aquifers, and eventually Big Stone Lake, so you would rather have that?
We survived the ‘60s and ‘70s, didn’t we?
I believe you and just about everyone else in Kilborn got a letter and an invite courtesy of Riverview Farms, to attend a free tour of their operations, and you declined to go and see these impressive dairies.
I didn’t want to risk being brainwashed to believe something that is wrong. I have known many of the people in Concerned Citizens of Grant County for years, and it’s a no-brainer to me which side is right and the coolest.
If you haven’t noticed Valley Queen I believe is doing a major expansion, and creating jobs for the local community. Are you against this because they are getting the Fehr’s milk?
Cheese factories and counties can go broke just like farmers.
Foothills Dairy Public Hearing Postponed
ReplyDeleteThe concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) permit hearing for Foothills Dairy that had been scheduled for August 13 has been postponed until September 10, 4:30 p.m. at the Grant County Courthouse. According to Grant County Zoning Officer Darwin Conrad, the change was made at the request of Riverview Farms, Morris, MN, the owner of the proposed dairy.
I think 97 single family farms would be much nicer then the proposed large dairy farms. This is how it was meant to be not a dairy corporation.
ReplyDeleteJust because California, Minnesota and North Dakota ( Please note that all these states are now fighting Corporate farms as well) are doing it and we let it happen on the South side of our town. Doesn't mean it has to happen on the North, West and East sides too. We have a great community and we need to put some halts to some of these kinda things. Its time to rebuild a community.
and to Make a point to Anonymous who shall not be named a few letters back.
Speaking from experience, how about the expansion in our community? How many jobs does the expansion create?? Are not most of these systems automated now?? I bet dimes to doughnuts that with any expansion will be automation!!! With automation less jobs. The American way.
Im not against Valley Queen(as they do a lot for our community also) I just think its time to end corporate farming in our community before its to late. Put some pride back to the small farms. We have many good small dairy farmers here as well. Let's Support them and their families!!!!!!! Put money into our community.
Cheaper labor who work 24-7 to send money home to families not in the United states. Will benefit the community how? No time to spend in town probably no means to get to town? Plus with sending incomes away to help their families (nobody blames them for that) but this does not create a community building society. I would think we should already see some of this from the South side of town???
Let remember to always respect each other's opinion. I pray this farm is halted and wish Kilborn Township the very best and Thank them for keeping our community informed so we all can make a wise choice and speak to our community leaders and stop this before it gets worse. Thank you
Once upon a time literally millions of buffalo roamed the great plains and had no manure management plan, when we arrived here in the 1870's the water was fine.
ReplyDeleteFlush toilets in the homes around Big Stone lake did more damage.
Thanks for wishing us well, we Kilborners appreciate it. Kilborn Lady
To Kilborn lady,
ReplyDeleteI probably know you since I live in Kilborn and I want to tell you that preventing water pollution involves a lot of education and actually teams of scientists, activists and researchers who work for years to solve problems like Big Stone Lake. (about half livestock and half people pollution). There are many who are disgusted by the disrespect Grant County Concerned Citizens have for the County and State pollution control laws when it comes to their own livestock. I have studied this Dairy and find that if Riverview builds it and runs it the way they have their Doland feedlot and their Minnesota dairies it will exceed SD standards and would be a safe place to work at or live near. 100% of the manure produced will go onto crop land that has been soil tested, the effluent applied will be tested and the results compared to prevent leaching and runoff. An accidental spill from a lagoon on the Kilborn site would not travel very fast and could be easily contained. The ground water in the area will be looked at by DENR and if the clay is not thick enough the lagoon will be moved or lined. I was relieved to find out that the manure holding ponds that DENR has supervised have been protecting our ground water in South Dakota. Chemical fertilizer is the biggest problem today and manure application reduces that. The Riverview group has voluntarily built the best air and water pollution control features into their dairies. Riverview uses substantially effective odor control on all it's farms. They even plan to capture the methane from their lagoons and use it to generate power. While a small dairy (under a 1000 cows) in Minnesota has done that none of our locals would. I have proposed to the County Zoning Board that the measures be required in the County permits. Fehr Farms is pretty much a family dynasty although there are investors. Grant County farmers have taken the opportunity to invest in the Riverview group.
Since I heard that Foothills/Riverview was coming I gathered information and passed it on to Concerned Citizens because I believe that secular matters are best solved by truth, facts and cooperation. The Citizens immediatly made the issue a for or against issue, the first day, before any facts were wieghed. Modern dairies are not perfect, so we should look out for our environment and our people with truth and thankfully many professionals, government officials and environmentalists are studying the facts and working on problems. We should not trim the facts to suit our feelings.
Unfortunately, you are wrong, wrong, wrong. SD DENR is mostly unresponsive to any complaints and will stir themselves only if MN gets involved.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately many of the scientists are bought and paid for by the large ag corporations.
Fact finding neighbors went down to clark and spink county and found a very different scenario than the one you describe, and they would be willing to come and testify to that fact at the hearing process.
In another county one of the cafo people (under intense pressure from locals) had to pay a fine for dumping manure on land that was not in his easement and over applying it in other places.
The idea that the smaller farms do not have good practices is just propoganda from the big guys. All operations have their bad guys, but when a cafo is a bad guy it is awfully destructive.
It is a shame you feel you must insult your neighbors farming practices, unless of course you have proof. Everyone has a manure managemnet plan, smaller operations just don't have to file it at the courthouse.
For example, an early hard freeze or extremely wet weather creates a huge problem for over full manure lagoons, it is then spread on frozen ground and runs off, that's what happened here a few years ago south of milbank, there is nothing else that can be done. And lagoon manure is so loaded with chemicals and antibiotics that it does a lot of damage too.
the permit filed in the grant county courthouse did not have a lined or covered lagoon, the fehrs confirmed that to the people who visited them last week.
we are not horrible, selfish people. we just want to protect our air, water, roads, health and way of life. if that's whining, so be it. What about the cheese factory/cafo people who could not talk about much other than economic development, nothing much about the humanity of it all or how inconsiderate they are to their neighbors.
i don't want to fight, i am really not much of a fighter, but i believe in justice.
kilborn lady
Linda S
ReplyDeleteare you an investor?
Hi all, I am not sure what your set backs are or where you are in the process of getting this dairy, but what I believe I have learned from the recent fight in Carrington, ND is that there really is not winner in all of this fighting. It does not matter if the permit passes or fails, there are going to be hurt feelings and angry people. What I know for certain is that we too have CAFOs north of town and currently, we are getting one south of town. It will no longer matter which way the wind blows because town will be hit in either direction. Most of the people that built or bought south of town did it for a very good reason....the smell to the north. Unfortunately, their homes are now going to be affected by this new CAFO. When did we lose our rights as property owners and citizens to say we do not want to live next to toxins and potential health risks? Who made the decision to tell us that something that is no more than a factory is "agriculture"? And last but certainly not leat, when things go bad and they find that there are dire health effects, who is going to pay the consequences of that? I personally do not feel that anyone could give me enough money or land to cover the value of my loved ones. I am not alone in that either. Our town has lost a dentist, a CPA, a life long member of the community, and perhaps it is not the end of our loss. Our town of 2500 cannot afford to lose families, but I forsee that there will be many more to follow. These CAFOs are like a virus that spread hate and separation among the communities that they move into. What other business in the world can get away with that while being government funded?
ReplyDelete