When we tug on a single thing in nature we find it attached to everything else. John Muir

The proposed mega-dairy raises many questions. A fine line separates agriculture from industry. The "family farm" rapidly being replaced with agri-business is more likely to be owned or controlled by outsiders with less responsibility to the community. The Boerman Carroll Dairy Farm begins with Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development, a corporation with a bad reputation in a number of communities. Carroll County lacks regulation for CAFOs of this scale. The bottom line for replacing traditional dairies with CAFOs is the dollar, but the efficiency enabling financial gain comes with a cost to the environment and quality of life.

What kind of logic puts acres of prime farmland under concrete with cows dependant year-round on being fed and manure stored until distribution when cows can feed themselves and spread their own manure? What happens to small family dairies when CAFOs move in? How will related businesses and tax dollars translate into economic advantages? Up to 35 people were to be employed for 3,450 cows, but why with 4,100 cows, are only 25-30 employees needed? I was told that five in management would "make good money", others,

minimum wage. Will minimum wages with free school lunches and other assistance be a boon to the economy?

Can additional tax dollars compensate for wear and tear from increased truck traffic? With three milk trucks every 24 hours for 3,450 cows, there would be 21 trucks a week, just for milk. A cow consumes more than it produces in milk and much more manure, so 35-40 semis a week doesn't compute. What roads will be used? With a blind curve north of the entrance from CR600 to SR75, will traffic have enough time to react to slowmoving trucks entering the highway?

What impact would milking 4,100 cows 24/7 have on the water in Carroll County? In industry, time is money, yield is everything, and efficiency is top priority. Hormones keep cows lactating for maximum milk production. Ruminants eating nongrass feed in close proximity with thousands of other cows get sick, requiring antibiotics. Overwork and unnatural conditions shorten a cow's life to three to four years. What happens to all those dead cows? How much of hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides slips into the milk and ground water and with what side effects? If the dairy uses more than 100,000 gallons of water per

day, we may not have water. Talk was that the Arendsens would drill deeper wells for us, but after how many dollars and years of litigation? Manure runoff goes all the way to the Gulf, where algae blooms from excess nitrogen destroy the livelihood of fishermen.

Manure reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers, although high concentrations can become toxic. Farmers complain about excessive regulation of application, but they are tampering with more than their share of natural resources. Regulation protects us and our neighbors in the Gulf. Methane contributes to global warming and nitrogen to acid rain. Insidious leaks add up. Current regulation allows 1/32" leak per acre of lagoon per day (850 gal. of waste) or 1.5 million gal. per year for a 5-acre lagoon. Liners should be required, but are no guarantee. Spills, floods, and other natural events cannot be controlled. Are plans in place to prevent and clean up disasters, and at whose expense, the owners or taxpayers? We'll all suffer.

The original projected 28,000gallon lagoon, now 3 lagoons, holds 50 plus million gallons!

Having experienced feedlots in Colorado, our first concern was odor. Good Neighbor Policies prioritize, keep neighbors informed, then control odor by

adjusting diet, treating manure, and keeping dust down. Will neighbors be notified and application and aeration adjusted to accommodate weddings, BBQs, campouts, and just sitting on the porch? How far will the odor go? Even with all precautions, it will be constant for the closest neighbors as well as flies that carry disease and filth up to two miles.

When I asked how a CAFO compares with a feedlot, I was told, "Think of all the free milk and ice cream for the kiddies at school." You do not want to ride a bike past a feedlot. Can you hold your breath for a mile or two?

Health issues stem from concentrations of manure that can cause physiological and psychological problems for workers. In Minnesota, a daycare owner won a lawsuit against a CAFO (six miles away!), proven to be the source of children's unusual skin and respiratory illnesses. The young and elderly are more susceptible. In 2002, there were 881 people in Democrat Township. Constant exposure to odors has a psychological effect more than a momentary, "Phew!" Will we become confined to our homes like the cows?

Who will actually benefit from this industry? The trickle-down theory usually dries up. How much will property values plummet?

No one in their right mind would buy or build a home near a CAFO. What effect would there be on future housing, the population of Carroll schools, and the county overall? Farmers can't survive without the non-farming community. We need each other!

What about tourism? Would visits to Adam's Mill and The Covered Bridge be so brief that no money is left in the county?

This dairy factory is our business! Failure to be proactive about potential problems, changing facts and figures, and a defensive attitude have done little to build confidence in the entire undertaking. Have the Area Plan Commission, Carroll County Economic Development Corp., and County Commissioners done their homework, or have they unwittingly invited in a monster? Why the big hurry to get this permit before exploring all the ramifications?

Now about that free milk and ice cream? The milk will be trucked to Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis and Cincinnati for processing and may not return to Carroll County. Why not limit the middlemen, fossil fuel use, and high concentrations of manure, and have sensibly sized, family dairies? Let the cows eat grass and fertilize their own pasture, build a cistern to ensure adequate water, pipe the milk to a nearby processing plant where cheese and ice cream are made, and distribute it locally by employees paid a decent wage. Sounds like sustainable farming and economic development!

A good neighbor does not step on the dreams of others. Weigh the benefits and threats to the quality of life in Carroll County. The risks are palpable, and the benefits are not guaranteed. You gamble with the lives of many and tug on a thread attached to everything else.

Grace & Tony Woodruff

Cutler