In a decision some farm groups say could have implications in communities beyond Oregon, Linn County commissioners voted two-to-one Thursday to clarify where new large-scale livestock farms can be built.
Last year, with strong grassroots support, Linn County commissioners voted to establish a one-mile setback between new proposed large confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, and neighboring properties. It was the first county in Oregon to do so.
But after receiving criticism from local and other farm interest groups, commissioners moved to revisit the issue. The setbacks, or buffers, were originally established after a coalition of farmers and community members rallied against three large poultry farms that were proposed in the county, arguing the operations would produce harmful air and water pollutants.
FILE- A sign declares opposition to large chicken grow-out facilities planned in Scio, Ore., east of Salem in this Dec. 9, 2022, photo.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
But when commissioners were considering the decision to limit CAFO operations, they were only concerned with large chicken farms; they didn’t know they had voted to limit other CAFO facilities, like dairy or beef cattle farms.
“At that time there was no evidence in the record relating to cattle livestock,” Commissioner Roger Nyquist said. “And once I came to understand that our actions included that, to me it seemed like we needed to correct that. Because that is not a conflict or an issue.”
Commissioners say they received nearly 200 public written comments, some from as far away as the East Coast and the Midwest. After a brief discussion Thursday, they voted to keep the one-mile setback only for new large poultry CAFOs, which in Oregon would mean farms raising 750,000 broiler chickens or more a year. Other livestock operations, like beef or dairy cattle, will not be subject to the setbacks.
Commissioner Sherrie Sprenger was the only one who voted no against the amendment. She said a one-mile setback is too limiting, and she would have wanted to reduce the distance to three-quarters of a mile instead.
“One mile is a really big statement, and some would say, ‘Yes it is good,’ and some would say ‘Yes it is bad,’” she said. “This, to me, is about the cost of food, too.”
Sprenger did acknowledge she wouldn’t want a large CAFO in her backyard.
Kendra Kimbirauskas, a Scio farmer and a member of Farmers Against Foster Farms — a group opposing large-scale poultry farms — said the vote is a victory but the group will keep its guard up.
“We have lots of open space and lots of water, and that’s why our community is so attractive to these mega-livestock operations,” Kimbirauskas said. “We are worried that by limiting this decision around setbacks to just chicken there’s still a potential threat there for other livestock industries to come in to expand into Linn County.”
While the decision was a win for non-poultry livestock operations, Denver Pugh, the Linn County Farm Bureau president, said it’s still disappointing. He said the decision could open the door to future limits on what can and cannot be grown or produced locally.
“Whether they [commissioners] like it or not, they’re setting a precedent,” he said. “Now people can look at other forms of agriculture and other sectors and say well I don’t want this in my backyard.”
The rule will still only apply to new chicken CAFO operations that haven’t been built – existing CAFOs that want to expand will not be subject to the setbacks. There’s also an exception that allows the setback requirements to be waived if a facility has the support of its neighbors and is appropriate for a specific site.