The Governor’s Office hasn’t had one of Kristi Noem’s children’s friends send me any nastygrams yet, but the Governor’s agriculture people seem a bit sensitive to criticism of their CAFO bribery program.
Sunday before last, Kathy Tyler joined me in criticizing the Governor’s Office of Economic Development for launching a new “incentive” plan that offers counties big money to chuck their environmental regulations and let ag magnates build big polluting factory feedlots in their backyards and contributing to the destructive Soviet kolkhozification of livestock production in South Dakota:
The initiative, administered by the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development, offers county governments the chance to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars each time they approve a new permit for a large feedlot, dairy, hog confinement or other concentrated animal feeding operation, known as a CAFO.
Kathy Tyler, a Democratic former legislator and member of the grassroots organizing group Dakota Rural Action, is among the program’s detractors.
“I basically consider it bribery to the counties,” said Tyler, of Big Stone City.
Cory Heidelberger, author of the Dakota Free Press blog, has criticized the initiative several times in writing. In one blog post, he wrote that state government intends “to pressure counties into abandoning their zoning regs and approve all the factory feedlots that come a-calling” [Seth Tupper, “State’s Livestock Initiative Panned as ‘Bribery’,” Rapid City Journal, 2019.06.09].
Hey, I’m always honored to be quoted alongside a smart rural policy expert like Kathy Tyler!
The state, of course, is not pleased that Tyler and I would call spades spades.
South Dakota’s new Sales and Use Tax Rebate Program is being described as an incentive for livestock development, not a bribe as suggested in a recent editorial. That’s according to South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Kim Vanneman.
[Sec. Vanneman, audio]: They need to go back and really understand that, and I think this is a great tool in the toolbox for counties and for livestock development and we need to be able to do some of these things….
[Sec. Vanneman, audio]: Yeah, long-term, the counties that want to partake in this and the investors that are building the livestock development that utilize this program, they’re going to see benefits from that, with those dollars going back to the county to infrastructure or whatever purposes that they need… the money for….
[Sec. Vanneman, audio]: It’s a win-win for livestock development and increasing the economic development that we have in our state, and it helps the counties, and we know all counties are financially strapped, and so, it’s good [Jerry Oster, “State Official Refutes Tax Rebate as Bribe,” WNAX, 2019.06.18].
Refutes? That headline overtags the story. Refutes would mean actually disproves a statement. Secretary Vanneman only reinforces the fact that the state is offering money to influence counties to overlook environmental concerns and act in favor of a few well-connected big business interests. Saying that the recipients of bribes are “financially strapped” and can use the money for “whatever purposes that they need” makes clear the state’s intent to influence counties whom it has put in a tight fiscal spot.
And “win-win”? That formula ignores the residents who lose quality of life to the stench of manure from 10,000 cows or pigs and to the truck-rutted roads whose increased maintenance will eat up those CAFO bribes pretty quickly.
The CAFO promoters in Pierre insist that neither their poop nor their bribes stink. Kathy Tyler’s nose rightly says otherwise.
Let’s look at it from the other side: if I offer the commissioners an amount of money (I’ve just won the lottery) NOT to permit an application, what is that called? Incentive? Donation? Gift?
There is a simple solution to this issue. County Road Haul agreements with CAFO operators and the owners of the livestock if they are not the same entity. It is done with wind towers and works very well. The wind tower company’s build up the access roads to the towers so that the roads are in better shape than before the towers where . The county and township roads are being destroyed year after year near these sites. The property tax payers should not have to pay for this destruction. There are several different types of models for the road haul agreements if anyone is interested which should work very well.To do what the State Office of Economic Development is trying to do is just plain wrong and does not pass the smell test………………
[Sec. Vanneman, audio]: They need to go back and really understand that, and I think this is a great tool in the toolbox for counties and for livestock development and we need to be able to do some of these things….
and ignore the will of the people affected by the stink and pollution.
Sec Vanneman, how exactly will this monetarily benefit G Mark Mickelson and partner(s) if you bribe enough counties to fall for this scheme?
https://dakotafreepress.com/2018/02/23/cafo-poopline-bill-in-cmte-monday-morning/
Kathy Tyler,
I was at Board of Minerals and Environment meeting when SDDS President Hunter Swanson offered the state money to speed up the process of the Lonetree dump permitting. Tougher permitting requirements were being developed at the federal and state levels, and SDDS wanted to get permitted before new regulations went into effect. Swanson was from California, his partner was from Colorado and most of the investors were from Texas, so maybe they weren’t educated that you don’t make offers of bribes out in the open like that in South Dakota. Lee McCahren, who I think is a relative of G. Marky, really let Swanson have it. “We don’t do business like that here!” warned McCahren. The open corruption that McCahren warned about is what Vanneman now supports.
THIS is how they did business in the old days: After McCahren’s warning, Ernst Buckley, who was an economic director in the Mickelson administration, travelled to Texas to have a little meeting with all the parties, which included, I think, representatives from Burlington Northern Railroad and Browning Ferris Industries. We understand that something changed after that meeting, because we got tipped off by state employees that the company started to go along with tougher permitting requirements, but Buckley also let them know how to get their dump: have meetings with the movers and shakers, the elite, of the state and get them on board. So, they got the support, of course, of the usual powerful lobbying groups, including, besides Burlington Northern, the Chamber of Commerce and the Municipal League, who could provide the cover for Mickelson to, if not support the dump, at least not oppose it.
Frank Kloucek has a commonsense alternative to the corruption.
I forgot another part of the old-time corruption. Mr. Butler owned a heavy equipment sales company. SDDS contracted with Butler for heavy equipment. Mr. Butler was appointed by Mickelson to the Board of Minerals and Environment and refused to recuse himself. He cast the deciding vote that gave SDDS their initial permit, which was later invalidated by South Dakota courts.
Mr. Kloucek’s suggestion is what other states have done for decades. When our oil rigs went to drill in Montana, Wyoming and on Indian land near Eagle Butte and Faith the roads were the first task. States demanded it and it was done on the Res, also … just for good will. We had Cats and graders and staff that knew road building. Usually we’d go several miles into open ranch land and of course the owners had the roads when we left.
South Dakota doesn’t demand CAFO operators improve the roads? Why the h*ll not?
It’s not just the roads–it’s the stink, the nitrates (and other pollutants) in the water, the lowering of property values, the ‘true’ economic value (very little), lack of oversite, the big, out of state boys ruining our lives (most are owned by out-of-staters), the stink, the lies told about employees and who owns what….and the stink. But you know that….it’s boils down to money, big ag, politics, money, lies, and politics.
Ms. Tyler, I hear the stink is just terrible too.
Families can’t barbecue or have a picnic due to the stink. Going outside to work with your own livestock, pull weeds in the garden or make minor repairs is onerous due to the stink. You can’t open your windows for the cool and relaxing night air because the stink makes you sick.
In addition, the stink is simply so nauseating it severely diminishes neighboring family’s quality of life.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/19/trump-tariffs-us-pig-farmers-1538546
This’ll help…..US hog farmers face a 62% levy on hogs sold to China, which means not many get sold. With a lucrative market shut down, thanks dumbass Drumpf, what America needs is moar hogs and cafos to overstock the hogs we can’t sell to China.
If the state can afford to kickback the tax money, why are they collecting it in the first place?
Sounds to me as if these “CAFO” bribes might be taking the shape of holding the county’s hostage. On the subject of roads the county’s are in pretty poor shape now after this winter and spring. They have already been informed from on high to turn their damaged paved roads back into gravel roads and that is in full swing state wide. Can’t quite see the reasoning on that since gravel roads require regular grading and regraveling but the powers that be in this state have spoken.
On state roads the opposite seems to be the case. Here in the southeast part of the state the highway department is tearing up the smoothest, nicest roads and repaving them. When the Vermillion river prevents the “good ol boy” contractor from doing state 19 we have him go and tear up 50 and redo that! Plenty of money!
Here’s some Lose/Lose news for the SDGOP.
Ray Martimaas farms in the Orient area, that metropolis near Faulkton. There are approximately 4570 members of the Martimaas family, give or take a few, and it appears they are getting fed up with the GOP. This comes from a FB post which links to a Wapo article that I can’t access. He says they lost about $700,000 last year, farmers aren’t getting operating loans and some are having to sell out. Martimaas says he’d vote for a Democrat like Montana’s Steve Bullock next time.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LEADSouthDakota/permalink/907949129555403/?app=fbl
I don’t think county bribes/extortions are going to fix this.