Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the Senate on February 9, 2011

Click here to view bill details.

Just another way for industrial farming to evade pollution regulations and foul our environment.

Farming is an essential activity and should be allowed to function untrameled by environmentalists who are ill-informed or uniformed regarding the wastes associated with this business.  They are all biodegradable through the wonderful cleansing activity of the soil.  Of course, drainage from manure ponds or storage facilities that allow excess waste into streams, creeks, lakes and aquifers should be stopped.  But in general farmers are very conscientious and would not allow this to happen.  This act will offer reasonable oversight for farmers against those who would seek to prevent large farming activities of animal production.

Many industrial farms such as CAFO's, (Confined Animal Feed Operations), like we have here in the thumb, are owned by multi-national corporations. They have no allegiance to the soil, only to profits. Our rivers and lakes are polluted each summer with manure runoff from the tiled fields. This creates unusually large algae blooms, that wash ashore causing the beaches to be coated with what we have come to call muck. It is high in e-coli content. Years ago, when manure was spread on untiled fields, it would take much longer for it to work it's way through the soil to the streams and creeks and ultimately to the lake. This had a mitigating effect. It was also applied in a mostly solid form. Now it is taken from lagoons where the waste of hundreds of animals has been stored and applied to fields in a liquid form. With the help of rain it reaches the streams much faster through the drainage tiles, and at a much more concentrated level. We are naive if we think these corporations are going to spend more money to protect our environment than they are forced to.

Because of the ignorance of legislators regarding animal waste, manure on the land is quickly decomposed and does not go into drain tiles as the framers of this legislation suggest.  Many farmers these days work the animal manure into the ground so that valuable nutrients are preserved for plant growth.  Anyone doubting these fact should contact Michigan State University to understand the facts surrounding animal waste and its by products of decomposition.  So-called factory farms is euphemism for large operations that produce the bulk of Michigan meat and milk.  These operations need to be protected from environmental activist ignorant of the way nutrients are used and recycled in the soil through crop management.,

 

Senator Warren, under her constitutional right of protest (Art. 4, Sec. 18), protested against the passage of Senate Bill 

No. 122 and moved that the statement she made during the discussion of the bill be printed as her reasons for voting “no.”

The motion prevailed.

Senator Warren’s statement is as follows:

I rise to register my opposition to this piece of legislation, and I say that with the understanding that a lot of hard work 

went into this package of bills. I do understand that there is certainly value to both our environment and our Michigan 

agricultural community in strengthening the MAEAP program. I have serious concerns about the fact that these bills 

weaken our environmental and public health protections related to pollution coming from livestock facilities in this state. 

A number of the provisions in this bill concern me in that I think they violate the Clean Water Act and put Michigan’s 

delegated authority at risk. I will be opposing the legislation today

 

Senator Green asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that the statement be printed 

in the Journal.

The motion prevailed.

Senator Green’s statement is as follows:

I’m supporting these bills today because I’m a farmer, and I support sound environmental practices. I represent the 

breadbasket of Michigan, which is the Thumb and surrounding areas. It’s hard to communicate just how farmers feel 

about their land and water. Folks, it’s their home. It’s their livelihood. It’s their recreation if they hunt. Views of their 

land, sunrises, storms, crops, and sunsets—all of these fill their minds with memories and satisfaction. Farmers love their 

land and do what they can to protect it.

The MAEAP program actually started as a team effort with the DEQ and the federal EPA. They used MAEAP certification instead of a permit from 2002 to 2007, when the NPDES permit process was started for animal operations. What these 

bills do is take widely agreed-upon standards and practices and put them into law. It’s a voluntary program that increases 

sustainable agriculture.

A farmer’s greatest love is smelling the earth after they plow it. Farmers love the smell of new-mown hay. If you really 

want to upset a farmer, dump some trash on his land. Farmers love their land, and I ask my colleagues to support these 

bills today

Creating such a council sounds like a positive thing, but hopefully that doesn't mean taking full control of the agriculture. Some individual growers need to have the right to choose how they administrate their farms, and if how they do that is according to the law, then it should stay that way. Maybe this committee should also look into investing in natural gas as we all see how there is a big energy crisis and instead of relying on the same old sources like oil, maybe we should look into the alternatives.