News

County health board pauses proposed CAFO ordinance

The Moniteau County health board has tabled a proposed ordinance that would further restrict confined animal feeding operations, CAFOs.

Cattle producer Andy Clay tells Brownfield it’s a step in the right direction, “It does kind of feel like a win. We did not get a “no” vote on the ordinance tonight but we did get it tabled and it was not a “yes” vote. So, therefore, we are feeling confident, or better, about that.”

Moniteau County environmental health specialist Darrell Hendrickson says he met with farmers since introducing the ordinance and is glad the board has decided to add farmers to the study group, “Yes, I think we’ve made the right decision to slow the process down a little bit and to bring more people involved that are directly affected by this rule.”

Hendrickson says they sought the ordinance before the new state law (SB 391) goes into effect August 29th that prohibits county regulations that are stricter than state law.  If the ordinance IS adopted, he suggests that would give counties leverage to sue the state, “That’s going to probably be litigated no matter what I do. You’ve got a number of counties that already have ordinances.”

The proposed Moniteau County health ordinance is identical to Howard County’s.  It’s been tabled for a month until the next health board meeting. Opponents of Senate Bill 391 says it unfairly takes the power to regulate CAFOs away from counties.