Hogs and chickens were among the top issues of concern in the 1998 Oklahoma Legislature which adjourned May 29. Questions over what to do about corporate farming operations were probably the most contentious and hard-fought topics of the year. Lawmakers, bureaucrats, high powered lobbyists, citizen advocates, and plain folks spent countless hours in a see-saw battle that lasted until the final days of the session. In the end, it was the citizens that came out on top.

The first order of business was to put the brakes on new hog farms with a moratorium. After some equivocation by Governor Keating and partisan bickering by legislative Democrats, a strong moratorium resolution was adopted and in place early in March - and industry lobbyists had suffered their first defeat. Despite fierce industry lobbying, the moratorium halted all pending applications on file at the Agriculture Department.

Meanwhile, nearly fifty bills dealing with hog and chicken regulations of one kind or another were introduced. Most were never considered but several were debated, passed in various forms and then sent to a conference committee where the real work (and deal making) went on largely out of the public eye.

First to pass was SB 1170, dealing with poultry operations. Without calling it a permit, all poultry feeding operations are required to register with the Agriculture Department. No "grandfathering" was allowed - existing operations must also comply. A new classification of "nutrient-limited watershed" was established and special protections will apply in these areas. Sensitive watersheds are to be identified by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. (See Page 4 for a summary of major provisions of SB 1170 and SB 1175.) Unfortunately, industry lobbyists (led by Simmons) were successful in avoiding the financial costs of regulation. A move to send the bill back to the conference committee in order to add fees to cover its cost failed on a close vote of 27 - 20. The industry did graciously agree to make a "voluntary" contribution of $300,000 over four years for education programs. That leaves the rest of us to pony up about $500,000 per year.

The hog bill that emerged, SB 1175, went down to the wire. The bill passed handily in the Senate on the day before adjournment. It was nearly midnight on Thursday May 28 before the House finally voted 51 - 49 to accept the conference committee bill. Not one vote to spare! Industry lobbyists had worked feverishly on House members to stop this measure. They nearly succeeded in bottling it up in the conference committee. However, we can thank House Speaker Lloyd Benson for stepping in and applying a little arm twisting at the crucial point. Still, the hog boys were convinced they had the votes to kill the bill in the House. It didn't happen and you should have heard them squeal!

Building Permits: Operators must have Oklahoma Department of Agriculture (ODA) building permits prior to licensed managed feeding operation (LMFO) construction or expansion.

Definition: An LMFO means an animal feeding operation primarily using a liquid animal waste management system, where animals are primarily housed in a roof-covered structure and which has more than the number of animals specified in any of the following categories confined:

	2,500 swine each weighing over 25 kilograms, approximately 55 pounds,
	10,000 weaned swine each weighing under 25 kilograms,
	100,000 laying hens or broilers, if the facility has continuous overflow watering,
	30,000 laying hens or broilers, if the facility has a liquid manure system,
	Any combination of swine weighing over twenty-five (25) kilograms or under twenty-five (25) kilograms which would equal one thousand (1,000) animal units.

Education: Waste management and odor control education is required of all employees of LMFOs who are responsible for treatment, storage or application of animal waste. Nine hours is required the first year with a refresher of three hours each year thereafter.

Fees and Regulatory Costs: A fee of $.80 per animal unit is imposed on LMFOs as an application fee and an annual renewal fee. Licensing: Mandatory licensing for all LMFOs greater than 1,000 animal units.
ODA can deny licenses based on evidence that property values will be significantly harmed.
Pending applications are reviewed for compliance with SB 1175.

Moratorium: All moratoriums contained in HJR 1093 are repealed as of August 1, 1998.

Notification and Awareness: All affected property owners within two miles of facilities with over 2,000 animal units are given notification.

Odor Abatement/Pest Management: Odor Abatement Plans, Pest Management Plans, Animal Waste Management Plans, Best Management Practices and Carcass Disposal Plans are required for all LMFOs as part of the Pollution Prevention Plan.

Record Keeping: Records must be kept on site for as long as the facility is in operation.
LMFOs must keep records of all animal waste sold or given away. In addition, they must make all nutrient analysis available to the recipient of animal waste and notify the recipient in writing of all land application laws and rules.

Set Backs: **Increases and standardizes setbacks for LMFOs from occupied residences:

	More than 4,000 animal units-2 miles
	2,001 to 4,000 animal units-1-1/4 miles
	1,001 to 2,000 animal units-3/4 mile
	601-1,000 animal units-1/2 mile
	300-600 animal units-1/4 mile
	Less than 300 animal units-none
	3 miles from non-profit camp or recreation site boundaries, Scenic Rivers, public drinking water wells, state-owned historic properties or museums, and a national park designated by USDI National Park Service
	1 mile from Outstanding Resource Waters listed in the Oklahoma Water Quality Standards

Waste Management: Leak detection systems or monitoring wells are required for all LMFOs.
LMFOs are held liable for proper disposal of animal waste regardless of who disposes of it.

Waste Retention Structures: Ten foot separation between bottom of lagoon and maximum groundwater elevation.
NRCS lagoon liner specifications available only for facilities less than 1,000 animal units.
LMFOs located in nutrient limited watershed or nutrient vulnerable groundwaters as designated by OWRB must retrofit liners if they do not comply with the new bill.
LMFOs must meet liner requirements and document "lack of no hydrologic connection" on facilities that house swine in a roof-covered structure.
Liners for waste retention structures of LMFOs must be inspected annually

Prohibit construction or operation of new poultry feeding operations without first registering with the State Board of Agriculture. Such operations must register annually.

Require poultry growers to take nine hours of waste management training in the first year, followed by three hours each year after that. It prohibits integrator companies from contracting with growers who don't comply with the training requirements after March 1, 1999.

Provide for "best management practices (BMPs)" to be used by poultry growers for waste handling and removal. Management plans must include application rates of poultry to the land as fertilizer. They must conduct soil and waste testing periodically to determine the level of nitrogen and phosphorus.

Allow the Department of Agriculture to classify poultry growers who fail to maintain BMPs as CAFOs, subjecting them to more stringent requirements. Empower the Department of Agriculture to make at least one inspection per year of every poultry farm.

Set up certain penalties and fines for violation of the act. The bill established a violation points system. Set up a poultry waste transfer fund to encourage the transfer of waste out of certain watersheds that have too much phosphorus.

Prohibit land application of poultry waste in certain watersheds if most recent soil tests indicate a phosphorus level greater than allowed by national standards.

The spread of pathogens in food and resulting food-borne illness is inextricably linked to animal and labor welfare issues.

In 1970, agribusiness and pharmaceutical companies successfully lobbied for the exclusion of farm animals from the Animal Welfare Act. This left companies free to raise as many animals as possible in minimum space for minimum cost to maximize productivity and profits. Calves, for instance, kept anemic on iron-deficient milk replacements to obtain light-colored meat for veal, spend their short, sickly lives in small crates.

Routine debeaking of chickens is industry's response to confinement-induced fatal pekings. In these close quarters, infections such as campylobacter and salmonella quickly spread. Depriving chickens of food and water for up to two weeks to force simultaneous feather moltings "increases the shedding of Salmonella enteritidis in feces," says Meryl Sosa of Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT). "Producers deprive the chickens of feed during transport, too. Chickens panic very easily and will pick at their feces, contaminating themselves."

Abuse continues up to death. "The Humane Slaughter Act, which requires that animals (excluding poultry) be rendered unconscious with one application of an effective stunning device before they are shackled and hoisted, is not enforced and the routine violations carry no penalties," says Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association and author of Slaughterhouse: the Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment inside the U.S. Meat Industry (Prometheus Books, 1997). "Cows are skinned alive and bled while their hearts are still beating; hogs are beaten to death with lead pipes, " she adds.

Production lines run so fast, in some cases carrying 330 animals an hour, that inspectors cannot adequately inspect. Often, feces gets splattered on the meat and workers let bile, tumors, pus, and hair pass on by on the line.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 36% of the workers in meatpacking plants sustain serious injuries. Every year, the highest rate for any U.S. industry. Repetitive motion injuries, such as carpel tunnel syndrome, arthritis and tendonitis, have increased 1000% in the last fifteen years due to increased production speeds. Moreover, workers develop respiratory problems from dust, ammonia and other chemicals.

Up to 25% of meatpackers in Iowa and Nebraska's 220 plants are illegal immigrants, replacing higher-paid union workers who sought better wages and working conditions. A high job turnover rate, ranging from 50% to 70% annually, makes it less likely for even legal residents to become unionized.

FACT: 773/525-4952
Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM): 301/530-1737
Humane Farming Association: 415/485-1495.

(From the Green Guide, by Mothers and Others for a Livable Planet, working to promote consumer choices which are safe and ecologically sustainable for this generation and the next. Call toll-free: 888/ECO-INFO)