Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are being discussed in Missouri’s legislature.  CAFOs are industrial livestock operations which house thousands of cattle, hogs and chickens at one place at one time.

      Senate Bill 364 (a.k.a. the Missouri Farm and Food Preservation Act) is sponsored by Sen. Chris Koster, R-

Harrisonville. If passed it would overturn state statutes that give local elected officials the right to protect the health and welfare of their constituents. It would abolish local control related to industrial agriculture and negate current county health ordinances 

      Twenty  of Missouri counties have passed health

ordinances regulating CAFOs. The right to enact county health ordinances is guaranteed by Missouri statute and has been upheld in the Missouri Supreme Court.

      SB 364 is supported by corporate agri-business, Farm Bureau and Governor Blunt. Opposing it is a coalition of family farms, Missouri  Rural Crisis Center, farm alliances of rural Missouri, the association of counties and environmental groups.

      Animals raised in the cramped quarters of CAFOs generate a large amount of waste, waste which emits toxic gasses in the air. Harmful biological and chemical wastes also make their way into groundwater and streams. Research studies from entities as varied as the USDA to the University of Missouri have demonstrated that CAFOs are a significant public health issue for rural counties.

      If you’d like to actively oppose SB 364, you can some of the following things:    

* sign the on-line petition at www.morural.org

* attend the rally Monday, March 5, 1:30 - 4 p.m. in the third floor rotunda of the State Capitol building    

* phone or write to Senator Koster, Governor Blunt and your own senator

* write a letter to a newspaper editor

* participate in the Missouri Valley Conference Conservation Lobby Day on April 4th, 10 AM at the Capitol.

  For more info, contact byates@socket.net

- Barbara Yates

River Bluffs Audubon Society plans a field trip to the 2nd Annual Wings of Spring Birding Festival at the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary in West Alton, MO near Alton, IL on Saturday, May 5.

      With a stimulating combination of field trips, seminars, interactive programs, family activities and a trade show, there is no doubt something for everyone!

      Birding Trips begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and include the Olin Nature Preserve and Mississippi Sanctuary, an area of upland

forest and hill prairie habitat located on the bluffs of the Mississippi a few miles upstream from Alton; Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge, 8,500 acres of floodplain and upland habitat located near the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers;  Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary-Ellis Island,
a river island that was partially re-formed in the 1980's during the construction of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam.

      Educational programs and entertaining performers will also highlight this year's Wings of Spring Festival. For  more information go to http://www.wingsofspring.org/ and mark your calendar because the festival, sponsored by the Meeting of the Rivers Foundation and Audubon Missouri in cooperation with numerous government and not-for-profit organizations, promises to be rewarding and memorable.