State Agriculture Numbers Show Long Term Growth, If the Feds Steer Clear

It is easy to know when you are in farm country.  One can see plenty of "No Farms No Food" bumper stickers.  There is definitely some logic to that.  Apparently, the Mountain State has taken that ideal to heart.  Over the past fifteen years, federal and state statistics show an increase in the number and value of farms in West Virginia.  The federal government may soon put a halt to that growth, however.

Federal statistics, based on numbers published by the U.S. Census Bureau, only cover 1997 through 2007.  The total number of farms increased from 21,500 to over 23,600 in that span.  Since then, according to West Virginia Department of Agriculture statistics, the number has plateaued.

Much of the growth came from a spike of over 2,000 new family farms between 1997 and 2007.

Farming as a part time vocation in West Virginia seems to be catching on.  The largest growth came in the number of small farms of under 50 acres.  Federal statistics may not be accurate, however, as small scale vendors of eggs or corn may try to avoid reporting their income and activities to government officials.

The number of larger operations, those over 1,000 acres, remained steady while the number of mid-sized farms of between 500 and 999 acres declined.

Bad news lies ahead.  According to the West Virginia Farm Bureau, the Environmental Protection Agency is threatening stiff fines against farmers who fail to regulate their dust.  According to this press release:

 West Virginia Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation have filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit regarding EPA’s authority to regulate poultry and livestock farms under the Clean Water Act. The intervention was filed on the side of West Virginia poultry grower Lois Alt, operator of Eight is Enough Farm in Old Fields, Hardy County.

Alt sued EPA in June after the agency ordered her to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System discharge permit. EPA’s order threatens Alt with $37,500 in daily fines for storm water that may come into contact with dust, feathers or dander deposited on the ground outside of poultry house ventilation fans, or small amounts of manure that may be present in the farmyard as a result of normal poultry farming operations. EPA also seeks separate fines if Alt fails to apply for an NPDES permit for the alleged “discharge” of storm water from her farmyard. 

WVFB and AFBF filed the intervention seeking relief on behalf of the farming and agricultural communities they represent, because any decision would have “wide-ranging impacts…as virtually all poultry-broiler farmers in West Virginia and throughout the nation engage in normal farming practices similar to those employed by Mrs. Alt, and could become subject to such permitting requirements and liability for penalties.”

In two prior court cases, AFBF has defeated EPA regulations that illegally attempted to impose broad NPDES permit requirements for thousands of livestock and poultry farmers whose operations have no regulated discharge.

The Alt’s poultry operation has been recognized by Pilgrim’s Pride as an Environmental Stewardship Award winner, for commitment to environmental practices.  The physical appearance of the farm, environmentally friendly operational methods, organizational practices, chemical voluntary environmental efforts and community environmental service are criteria for the award.

The rebound of agriculture will not be able to withstand the mindless power of federal bureaucrats who fail to understand that farms have dust.