Iowa farmers are not the enemy

So, does everyone who works at The Gazette think that all farmers are corrupted liars who want to pollute the waterways with nitrates? (“Factory farms in Iowa generate 110 billion pounds of manure per year. No one tracks where it’s going,” Dec. 14)

Farmers have to be certified to haul hog manure, are required to send pit samples in to the state before every application in the fields (so the safe rate per acre can be applied on each field) and required to inform the state of any spills or unintended consequences of manure hauling. Large fines are given by the DNR if they catch farmers doing the wrong thing, which is generally a deterrent to farmers to skirt the rules.

It does farmers no good to waste hog manure by applying too much manure on their fields. The overall tone of the article was offensive to me as a hog farmer considering the great lengths we go to on our farm to do things the right way. Farmers don’t know where their crops and animals end up after they are sold -- it could very well end up back on our own tables feeding our own families. Farmers care about the water just as much as the average citizen. Characterizing them as the enemy is not fair and balanced news, nor is it helpful for solving any of Iowas water problems. It’d be a great lesson for these “reporters” to get opposing viewpoints and take a crash course on what it means to be a “pro-ag” state in terms of the law.

Rebecca Black

West Branch, IA