This ran in the Capital Press (www.capitalpress.com). Looks like the headline writers need a crash course on grammar!
Factory farms on landscape is bad for Oregon
Laws do little to distinguish between family farms and corporate factory farms
Kendra Kimbirauskas
Guest Comment
It
is unfortunate that the Oregon Farm Bureau has resorted to personal
attacks (Be concerned about fowl protest, Aug. 17th issue) instead of
tackling the issue of factory farms moving into our rural communities.
Factory farms have serious and real implications for Oregon's family farmers and rural residents.
Unlike
many places, we have a robust agricultural economy. Oregon has over
40,000 farms and the overwhelming majority are still family-owned and
operated.
Our system of land use laws was established in part to protect farmers and farmland despite encroaching development.
Now,
these laws are being taken advantage of by out-of-state, corporate
factory farms attempting to slip into our rural areas and operate under
the guise of agriculture, when they are more akin to industry.
Our
laws do little to distinguish between family farms raising beef,
poultry or pork, and industrial factory farms that can house tens or
hundreds of thousands of animals in large concentrated animal feeding
operations. Whether it is air and water pollution, or the ability to
flood the market with artificially low cost products that make it hard
for small farmers to compete, these industrial operations are putting
Oregon's family farmers and rural communities at risk.
Oregon's
independent family farms play a vital role in our rural economies. In
addition to providing jobs and income to local people, family farmers
support small businesses by purchasing goods and services within their
communities.
Factory farms typically purchase feed, supplies,
and equipment from outside the community, while sending profits to
corporate headquarters far away.
Nationwide the expansion of industrialized agriculture has made it difficult for family farmers to stay afloat.
According to Farm Aid, every week 330 farmers leave their land. Will
Oregon go the way of states like Iowa or Arkansas, where large
corporate-owned operations dominate the landscape?
Rather than
attacking those who speak out, the Oregon Farm Bureau should join the
effort to protect rural communities and family farmers from the
numerous problems factory farms bring.
Kendra Kimbirauskas
grew up on a dairy farm and raises horses and poultry in rural
Clackamas County. She is the co-president of Friends of Family Farmers.