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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Bill would protect CAFOs, feedlots against neighbors’ complaints

Here's a news item from the Associated Press:  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho lawmakers are mulling a bill supporters say would make it easier for farmers to enlarge their feed lot operations and more difficult for opponents to challenge those plans in court. The House Agricultural Affairs Committee heard testimony Thursday on a bill to strengthen Idaho's Right to Farm Act. The committee voted to delay until next week any formal vote on the measure, sponsored by House Speaker Lawerence Denney. Denney and industry supporters of the bill say it would give needed protections, for example, to dairy farmers seeking to enlarge feedlot operations and curtail local ordinances that regulate feedlots. But nearly a dozen detractors complained the changes would shield big, corporate farms from nuisance lawsuits and roll back local government's ability to regulate growth of livestock operations.
 



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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