According to Roger Berry, field director for A-FAN—the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska, some states are implementing tougher regulations for animal agriculture, while the climate for livestock production in Nebraska is actually getting friendlier. He discussed this topic at a recent agriculture conference in Lincoln, Nebraska.

“We have more and more counties who are now taking a look at their zoning regulations and saying you know maybe we gone a little bit too far on our separation distances on what we have or the minimum number that you can have before you have the conditional use permit,” says Berry.

He believes this provides more opportunities for families to start in livestock production, without having to go through the rigors of a public hearing, but he is not saying that everyone should by-pass the public hearing process.

“In Nebraska, we have local control. We like our local control and we want to keep our local control,” Berry says. “But at the same time, let’s not make that local control so restrictive that it stops any opportunities what’s so ever, and that’s what we are really talking about here, opportunities.
By Ken Anderson, Nebraska Corn Board