Iowa needs a CAFO moratorium

The preponderance of CAFOs in Iowa has decimated rural economies. Children that live on or near CAFOs are nearly three times as likely to suffer from respiratory illness than children who do not. CAFOs produce far more manure than our land can absorb, and the excess manure ends up in our water. The farmers and the foreign companies for whom they work do not pay for our children's health care. Nor do they pay for cleaning up our drinking water.

As industry associated coasts have increased with the proliferation of CAFOs, property values in affected areas have dropped 20 percent to 40 percent. Expenses are up, and tax revenues are down. This not an economically sustainable model. It is time to place a moratorium on the building of CAFOs in Iowa.

Dean Fisher is the chairman of the Iowa House Environmental Protections Committee, and it is his job to assign bills. He sat on a moratorium bill without passing it to a subcommittee, single-handedly blocking the bill.

Jan McGinnis

Marshalltown