Editor’s note: Animal activists and their proponents in Iowa often identify Nebraska as a state where livestock farming is flourishing despite intensified regulation. CSIF Executive Director Aaron Putze traveled to southeast Nebraska earlier this year to visit with those who know – farmers and those who work with them. What he found differs greatly from what activists are saying.
Second in a three-part series.
The facts speak for themselves. Since peaking in 1992, pig numbers in Nebraska have been on the decline, both in total inventory and as a percentage of U.S. inventory. In fact, much of Nebraska’s livestock industry has declined while the number of regulations covering animal agriculture has increased.
Coincidence? No. Yet animal activists in Iowa – even the state’s top government official – continue to tout Nebraska as a shining example of how more regulations and more livestock can coexist.
Just don’t try to sell that story to Kirk Holtmeier. He should know. The 31-year-old farmer, husband and father of two lives near Plymouth, Neb. and markets 6,000 head of hogs annually in partnership with his father.
In 2004, the family decided it was time to increase the number of hogs they raise. They also thought they had the perfect opportunity by adding an additional building to an existing building site. They were wrong.
“When the existing site was built in 1993, it was designed for 3,000 head,” Holtmeier said. “Only two barns were constructed at the time so I thought it was a great place to add the final barn. Apparently not.”
Holtmeier then went on to describe a year’s worth of frustration he’s experienced while trying to acquire the necessary paperwork to build the final hog barn.
The challenges began shortly after contacting Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The department determined that the water table was too high at the building site. As a result, Holtmeier was told that if he wanted to construct a third building, he would have to install two monitoring wells and have them tested every two months.
“They told me that if you’re going to put up another barn, you’re going to put in these wells,” Holtmeier said. “In the end, I could go through all the time and expense and not know what I may find. If there are water quality issues, I’ll be blamed despite not knowing the source. I couldn’t take the financial risk so I backed off.”
In addition to endless paperwork, Holtmeier spent nearly $3,000 for an engineer to inspect the site – just to make sure he could keep raising 2,000 hogs.
“The closest neighbor lives nearly one mile away from the site and doesn’t have a problem,” he said. “The greatest resistance came from 55 miles away at Lincoln where state laws are tying some farmers in knots.”
That’s devastating, especially for young people like Holtmeier, who now want to live and work in the same neighborhood they were born and grew up. When asked where he’ll be and what kind of farm he’ll have in 2-5 years, his only answer is “Here, I hope.”
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Declines in the number of hogs, cattle and dairy cows raised in Nebraska illustrate the seriousness of Holtmeier’s story and the impact increased regulations have had on the livestock industry.
Since 1992, the number of hogs on Nebraska’s farms has been on the downhill slide. In 1992, the state accounted for eight percent of the nation’s hog inventory. As of June 1, 2005, Nebraska’s share had slid to 4.5 percent.
In 1995, Nebraska ranked sixth nationally with nearly 4.25 million head. Today, the state ranks seventh with only 2.75 million head – a decline of nearly 36 percent. Ag experts say Nebraska has gone from a net exporter of swine to a net importer. The importation of hogs is necessary to fill the state’s laughter capacity.
Other sectors of Nebraska’s important livestock industry have also seen numbers decline.
Since 1983, the number of cattle and calves has declined by nearly 1 million head while the number of dairy cattle has decreased by 40,000 head.
The slide in livestock numbers is getting noticed.
The Lincoln Star Journal reports that despite attractive pork prices and cheap corn prices on both sides of the Missouri River, Iowa and Nebraska are headed in opposite directions in pork production.
In its Oct. 1 edition, the Star-Journal said the state’s Department of Environmental Quality had issued just nine construction permits for swine operations in the first nine months of 2005 compared to a record 140 in Iowa.
Those who know say Nebraska’s decision to give counties control of where new livestock farms can be located has stifled the state’s hog industry.
“Sometimes the rules are hard and fast,” said Rod Johnson, president of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association. “Sometimes they’re just a moving target.”
Part I - - Part III -- Photo Essay |