Make your voices heard: DEQ accepting comments on Swine General Permit, Public Hearing on Feb. 19

For farmers who want to offer feedback on the state’s new Swine General Permit, time is running out.The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting comments on the draft permit until March 4, 2019. You can view the draft permit and related materials online at: https://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-quality-regional-operations/afo

A public hearing will be held on Tuesday, February 19 at James Sprunt Community College in Kenansville at 6 pm. Doors open and speaker registration begins at 5:30pm. Each speaker will have three minutes. A second hearing will be held on February 26 at Statesville Civic Center in Statesville, NC at 6 pm.

Comments may also be submitted by email (SwinePermit.Comments@ncdenr.gov) or in writing (Animal Farm Operations, NC Division of Water Resources, 1636 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1636).

Nearly all North Carolina swine farms are subject to the requirements of their respective state general permits. DEQ will consider public comments before issuing the final permit language this spring. 

Make Plans to Attend the National Agriculture Leaders Roundtable on Aug 3

This Friday, national agriculture leaders will convene for an important roundtable event in Raleigh, and you are encouraged to attend! Bring anyone you can. You don't want to miss this! Here are the details:

What: National Agriculture Leaders Roundtable

Purpose: To discuss the threat of nuisance lawsuits to the US agriculture industry and rural economies.

When: Friday August 3^rd, 9 am - 10:30 am

Where: Raleigh, NC - North Carolina Fairgrounds

Location is the Jim Martin Building at the State Fairgrounds, with plenty of overflow seating and live streaming of event provided at the Scott Building.

Panelists and others are planning to meet with Scott Building crowd after roundtable.

 Who:

David Rouzer, Chairman, House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture

Mike Conaway, Chairman, House Agriculture Committee

Thom Tillis, U.S. Senator

Steve Troxler, North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture

Hugh Weathers, South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture

Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau Federation

Economists from USDA and NCSU

National livestock/commodity group representatives

We hope to see you there!

Nuisance Lawsuits Affect More than Smithfield & Hog Farmers

 After reading how a jury in a federal courtroom in Raleigh awarded 10 people – who’d sued Smithfield Foods over one hog farm – $50 million, because the farm was a ‘nuisance,’ a puzzled farmer in a nearby county observed, I obey the laws. I comply with all the regulations. I’ve never had a violation. But I can still be sued for millions of dollars? How does that make sense?And a lady, who raises hogs on her farm, raised a different question. In an email, she explained her hog farm employs two workers and also pays a truck driver. She buys parts and equipment from local stores. She buys insurance from a local agency, supplies at a local hardware store, and pays rent for land – in addition to her own land – to retired farmers. Her family eats at local restaurants, buys oil and gas from local service stations, and cars or trucks from local automobile dealers. And she pays property taxes which, in turn, pay for schools.Her point? It’s not just hog farmers who stand to be hurt by that verdict in Raleigh. It’s people in communities and small towns across North Carolina.Right now, that $50 million-dollar verdict involving one farm is being appealed. But a second lawsuit filed by the lawyers, about another farm, begins May 29^th. And there’re eight more lawsuits on the docket in federal court after those two. And a lot of people – from truck drivers to hardware store owners to insurance agents – who’ve never raised a hog have a stake in the outcome.Hog farming is one of the pillars of North Carolina’s economy. Let’s hope wiser heads – and justice – prevail in the Court of Appeals.