Jefferson County Supervisors: Pass a Resolution Supporting a Statewide Factory Farm Moratorium!

We urge Jefferson County supervisors to pass a county resolution supporting a factory farm moratorium until Iowa has fewer than 100 water impairments and the weaknesses of the Master Matrix are adequately addressed.

At any one time, Iowa has over 22 million hogs and 70 million chickens that are predominantly confined on over 9500 factory farms. The state is incapable of adequately regulating the factory farms we currently have. We don’t need more!

Seven Iowa counties that already adopted a factory farm moratorium because they recognize the harm corporate livestock production can impose on their constituents and the environment.

These harms are documented in over 50 years of respected peer-reviewed studies: Air pollution. Water pollution. Road degradation. Quality of life deterioration. Public health degeneration. Rural economic decay. And the continued loss of traditional, independent livestock producers, once the economic and social backbone of rural communities.

Iowa’s factory farms produce 22 billion gallons of manure annually. It is spread over fields and can run off into Iowa’s water. Manure is a leading cause of impaired waterways in Iowa’s rivers and lakes. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports 800 documented manure spills and over 4 million fish killed from manure spills since 1996 and 754 water impairments throughout the state.

A moratorium would pause new and expanding factory farm development until we can clean up our dirty waterways and fix the myriad of problems associated with corporate controlled livestock production.

A pause could open avenues for family farmers to migrate regenerative agricultural practices that cause no harm.

That’s why the Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture (IARA), a coalition of 25 national, state, and community organizations in Iowa, is calling for a moratorium on new and expanding factory farms until there are less than 100 water impairments in the state. JFAN is a member of IARA (cleaniowanow.org) and supports the Alliance’s call for a moratorium.

If seven counties can pass a resolution, why not Jefferson County?

We strongly urge the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors to join their fellow supervisors who’ve demonstrated a deep concern for the health and well-being of their constituents and the environment by adopting a resolution in support of a factory farm moratorium for Iowa.