Tom Harkin: “during the 1996 farm bill debate, I successfully offered an amendment to limit cost-share funding under EQIP for large…”

“during the 1996 farm bill debate, I successfully offered an amendment to limit cost-share funding under EQIP for large confined animal feeding operations, which is present law. I offered that amendment because of the special environmental concerns associated with these large operations. Again, let's keep in mind, as the Senator from Minnesota said, these are large CAFOs, operations larger than 1,000 animal units. That is 4,000 head of veal, or 5,400 head of swine, with an average weight of 185 pounds. So, again, we are talking about pretty large operations. I believe we need to help producers comply or avoid the need for regulations. I believe we should provide cost-share funds to these CAFOs to build structures that will contain waste to protect and improve water quality, and to protect the quality of the environment. However, as the Senator from Minnesota has said, EQIP was never designed to subsidize expansion of livestock operations.”