08/29/07 EPA targets CAFO's

Farmers and ranchers, you need to be prepared. PARRISH "EPA is targeting livestock operations as one of their highest enforcement priorities this year." American Farm Bureau's Don Parrish says livestock operators are facing all kinds of pressures today; this is another to add to the list. PARRISH "Water quality, air quality, animal rights all those things farmers are having to deal with and when they deal with it that means added cost. I commend all farmers that have been very proactive to do things like to get environmental assessments on their farms or to get nutrient management plans." Parrish says with the Environmental Protection Agency making CAFO's one of its top priorities there's a chance of a double liability being imposed on farmers and ranchers. PARRISH "If your caught driving without a driver's license you're penalized for not having a driver's license, you're not penalized for failure to get a drivers license. We don't want to see that double penalty put on agricultural producers." Parrish says red tape and pressure, possibly putting American producers out of business may lead to products coming from Mexico, China or anywhere else in the world and that he says opens the door to a lot of food safety concerns. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott