Pollution Concerns Prompt or County to Limit Large-Scale Farms

An Oregon county has enacted new restrictions on large-scale agriculture operations.

Linn County commissioners approved a one-mile setback rule from property lines for Confined Animal Feeding Operations. Small farmers in the county have celebrated the new rule as a win.

Kendra Kimbirauskas, a farmer in Scio, said the large-scale operations cannot help but have effects on neighbors.

"Mega-livestock operations come with a bunch of problems including air pollution, water pollution, traffic, noise," Kimbirauskas outlined. "The issue isn't so much the livestock operation itself. It's the scale of the livestock operation."

During the legislative session this year, Oregon lawmakers passed Senate Bill 85, which gives counties authority over the siting of large-scale ag operations. Opponents of the Linn County rule called it a ban on new livestock farms. According to the county, the setback rule limits the number of properties capable of having CAFOs to 89.