A pair of 2,000-head swine barns are closing down due to air quality violations after nearby residents complained.

Is this just a neighbor problem, as someone on the Observer website suggested? Keep the state agencies out of local issues and let zoning laws solve these issues.

If only that were possible. In actuality, local zoning doesn’t have a role to play in issues of this kind. Right to Farm legislation removed local control years ago.

Now don’t jump on us for being anti-agriculture. Farmers do need protection from nuisance lawsuits and the Right to Farm act provides some important legislation for a state strong in agriculture. As residential development continues to expand onto farm land, ag producers need some backing.

In the situation involving the swine operation, however, further explanation is warranted.

The Right to Farm legislation is predicated on a list of Generally Accepted Agricultural Management Practices (GAAMPs). The GAAMPs are voluntary, but if farmers adhere to the guidelines, they have protection.

In this case, the guidelines for locating an operation in the vicinity of residences was not followed. The swine barns are located too close to homes, the odor is often very strong, and the owner—unable to control odor through mechanical means—has opted to close the barns.

The writer on the website wanted local control of the issue. That doesn’t exist, and besides, there’s probably not a single member of the township board who is opposed to the agricultural zoning of that property.

The property has been used for farming for decades, and the homes in the area have been in place for years and years, also.

It was only when the CAFO operation moved into the neighborhood that a problem arose.

Only the Department of Agriculture can respond to an odor complaint, and occasionally the Department of Environmental Quality when it receives a referral from the ag department.

Beyond that, there is no local control—not from the township and not from the county health department. Rural residents are forced to trust that farmers will abide by the state’s agricultural guidelines, or else wait for problems to arise and bring in a state agency.