Fighting the corporate CAFO “takeover” of rural America

These large industrial operations (still) affect my family and the daily use and enjoyment of our farm. A suffocating stench envelops your nose and throat, and you must go indoors immediately. I have a large family and over the years our farm has served as a central location for many gatherings. (Now there are) no more family reunions. No more picnics. No more weddings and wedding festivities.

What are the most effective tools rural residents can use to combat CAFOs in their communities?

Number one, education. People need to understand the big picture that rural America is slowly, methodically corporatizing, and that the industry is very good at operating under the radar. Corporations derive their power in two ways. They control the market and use their political connections to impose their corporate agenda on the American public. They have a combination of market and political power, and they will do anything to stay in power.

Number two, organization. Go door to door, talk to your neighbors. Contact state or national organizations for help. At the end of the day, this is a real struggle between the community and the corporations, which is why I named the book that way Dodge County, incorporated: I want to emphasize the fact that corporate governance has found its way into local governance. This happens at every level—at the township level, at the county level, at the state level, and at the national level.

Dodge County citizens, joined by the Land Management Project, are protesting the proposed Ripley Dairy Farm on a county road bordering the Trom family farm. (Photo courtesy of the Land Stewardship Project)

In my book, I recount the (successful) battle against the Ripley Dairy Farm, which was supposed to be three or four miles north of our farm over 20 years ago. This struggle, a citizens’ initiative in which members of my family participated, lasted for three or four years. It was possible because the neighbors worked together and supported each other Land management projectwho had experience in these battles. They were an important partner. It was an effective and organized protest.

There is a group in western Wisconsin that has done a phenomenal job. They had a bipartisan group in six cities and were able to pass planning and zoning at the local level to limit distribution TSAFO.

You write in the book that “this journey of heartache and sadness turned into hope and determination to fight for Big Ag reform.” What did you mean?

When factory farms appear (in their cities), people feel very isolated. They do not know where to turn for help. They do not understand the enormity of the problem.

But over the past 10 years, I’ve started making connections with people all over the Midwest and a number of different organizations like Farm Action and Questions and Water Watch and realized that we are not alone. It gives strength.

What do you hope your book will accomplish?