The focus for the county’s confined feeding operation study commission Thursday was the control of airborne pollution produced by CAFOs as well as water and soil quality in Indiana. 

In a continuation of the CAFO committee’s meetings focused on public education, a speaker from Purdue University as well as representatives from both Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Indiana State Department of Agriculture visited Jay County to share their knowledge on those issues.

“The number one issue the industry faces is odors,” said Albert Heber, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University and specializes in the study and control of the airborne pollutants created by CAFOs. 

Heber has run studies around the state in which he measures to what extent odors are spreading from CAFOs and implements solutions.

He has used natural filters, which are biodegradable filters placed over ventilation units to control emissions. But a downside to those is the fact that they rely on moisture to function properly.

The other option Heber has explored is the use of trees and shrubs to control the spread of airborne pollution. The most effective method, he said, is to plant shrubs nearest the building, with evergreens behind those and finally deciduous hardwoods after that. They all act to filter air, causing odor particles to drop to the ground more quickly.

As of now, Indiana does not enforce statewide regulations on setbacks for CAFOs, or a sanctioned buffer zone between the feeding operations and other structures.
These are regulated by local ordinance, said Heber. And sometimes, houses and other structures can be trapped within a zone where odors are an issue because of the close proximity of a CAFO.

The problem, however, is that the conditions causing odors to spread from CAFOs can vary greatly. Variables such as climate, average wind conditions, the type of animals in the farm and even the feed used can effect the spread of airborne pollution. This makes the selection of setback regulations difficult to nail down, said Heber.

“The whole idea of setbacks isn’t an exact science,” he added. “It just isn’t.

In Jay County, setbacks are 2 miles for Portland, 1 mile for Redkey and Pennville and a half mile for Salamonia and Dunkirk.

Confined feeding operations in the county also must be at least:

•1,550 feet from any area zoned rural residential
•1,250 feet from any existing church, school, business, public building or area zoned commercial
•750 feet from any residence not owned by confined feeding operator
•100 feet from any road or highway right-of-way
•100 feet from any property line

The committee also heard from Logan Garner, a representative of Indiana Department of Agriculture. Relating to CAFOs, Garner focused primarily on the care of topsoil and runoff.

“There is a huge push both nationally and across the state to build soil health,” Garner said. “Really I think, there is not a magic bullet for it.”

Garner discussed the positive effects of no-till farming, based upon the fact that it doesn’t disturb phosphorous, which helps in reducing runoff.

Mary Lou Renshaw from IDEM discussed her department’s responsibility for the maintenance and monitoring of watersheds in Indiana. She described how impaired biotic communities, or the loss of natural life in water sources, can be caused by both sedimentary deposits as well as being habitat driven. Sedimentary deposits pertain to runoff into water sources, while habitat-driven reductions can be caused by things such as the dredging of streams.
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