Oregon’s Linn County to revisit large-scale livestock rules following pushback from farm groups

Just six months after Linn County commissioners thought they’d voted to limit large-scale poultry farms, the commission is now revisiting its decision, after learning other livestock operations could also be restricted.

In December 2023, Linn County was the first county in Oregon to make use of a rule through state Senate Bill 85. That bill, signed into law last year by Gov. Tina Kotek, added more state oversight and new requirements for large Confined Animal Feeding Operations in Oregon. Environmental advocates said the bill was the first in decades in the state to reform large poultry and livestock facilities, known as CAFOs.

The law also gave local governments the authority to require setbacks, or buffers, between a proposed large-scale CAFO facility and neighboring properties like residential buildings.

In Linn County, commissioners adopted a one-mile setback after a coalition of farmers and community members fought back against three large poultry farms that were proposed in the county. Two have since scrapped plans to develop there, while one recently had its CAFO permit temporarily withdrawn pending a state reconsideration.

Now, commissioners are revisiting the issue. That’s because when they approved the rule back in December, commissioners were under the impression they had approved setbacks for poultry facilities only. But the current text of the setback does not specify whether it should apply to other livestock animals like cattle or hogs, according to Alex Paul, the county’s spokesperson.

When the setbacks were approved, Linn County Farm Bureau President Denver Pugh wrote to commissioners to say he was disappointed the local and state farm bureau were not consulted first. Pugh wrote that the setbacks would drive away potential profitable agriculture.

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Kendra Kimbirauskas, a Scio farmer and a member of Farmers Against Foster Farms — a group opposing large-scale poultry farms — said it’s good that commissioners are ensuring there are no unintended consequences of the rule.

“But at the end of the day we maintain that the mile setback is good, it’s good for our local farms, it’s good for our local communities,” Kimbirauskas said. “It’s put in place to protect Linn County residents from the largest industrial-scale livestock operations that are looking to come into the county because of our water and open space.”

Kimbirauskas said that, while some outside interest groups have claimed the setback would ban large livestock facilities from developing in the county, that’s not true. The rules only apply to new livestock operations that haven’t been built. There’s also an exception that allows the setbacks to be waived if a proposed project has the support of its neighbors and is appropriate for a specific site.

On June 11, commissioners agreed to reopen a public hearing on property line setbacks for CAFO facilities. The commission will accept written comments about that issue until Monday.

Commissioners will then consider the written comments at their Tuesday meeting and will decide how to move forward, according to Paul, the county spokesman.

Groups opposing large-scale livestock farms are calling on commissioners to consider the environmental impacts of large CAFO facilities.

“Regardless of livestock species, scale is a serious issue when it comes to the impact of these mega-farms and the amount of untreated manure that they generate,” Oregon-based advocacy group Farmers Against Foster Farms wrote in a statement. “We remain steadfast that the County needs to maintain the 1-mile setback for new industrial-scale operations next to property lines.”