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YAKIMA, Wash. -- Baby Wild Films of Seattle produced last March “Dairyman Blues” about large dairy operations in the Lower Yakima Valley. Why its just making the rounds here now I’m not sure.
In any case, view it at
http://www.youtube.com/user/BabyWildFIlms#p/a/2/LHK5WTYOGig
Despite the title, the film is about the blues facing local residents who live near the dairies. It features some interesting confrontations between dairy owners and the cameraman. Local activist Jan Whitefoot of Harrah also confronts Bill Dolsen, whose family runs a large dairy in Granger called the Cow Palace.
Here’s the blurb offered by the filmmaker: “This powerful 10-minute internet documentary from renowned filmmaker Michael Harris uncovers the filth and fury of factory dairy operations in Washington's Yakima County, and local activist Helen Reddout's heroic efforts to make them clean up their act. Nominated recently for an Emmy Award for News Programming, Advanced Media."
— Leah Beth Ward
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21 comments so far.
How strange that a local newspaper could have such a vendetta against one of the main staples of are economy. I actually had a chance to interview the feedlot associated with this drainage pipe. This pipe was constructed to replace the 45 year old cement pipe underneath the feedlot. There neighbors mint distiller, as well as his septic tank, were draining directly into this existing pipe going underneath the feedlot into the neighboring hay fields. After asking for support to have the drainage pipe rerouted by the tribe and city of Yakima, the feedlot took it upon themselves to reroute the pipe around there property so they would no longer have contact with it. Your video fails to mention that the feedlot did this on there cost to avoid a problem with the neighbors drainage. Facts are usually an important part of story but very overlooked in this case. This is simply slander of someone trying to do the right thing.
Report ViolationFeedlots and dairies have become far more efficient than they were twenty years ago. They are constantly working on new technologies for cattle to be more efficient. It's interesting that nothing about these advances gets mentioned only the feelings of the poor people that live next to the dairy/feedlot. The owner wasn't even given a chance to give his side of the story. Unbiased reporting on a story would be nice for a change.
Report ViolationEnvironmental Ag and KES obviously don't know what they are talking about. The poop pipe was not on the reservation, nor does the City of Yakima have anything to do with jurisdiction. Someone is not telling the truth.
The second person has not taken a deep breath around these putrid factory farms or seen the dozens of unlined lagoons going directly into our aquifer.They should Take a trip with an airplane and look at the devistation the dairy factory farms have done to the Yakima Valley. Come and see how they cut off the cows tails so they can't even swat flies off their hind ends, or the 600 foot pile of stinking manure polluting water. Their is nothing high tech about these operations.
Don’t know what I'm talking about? Last time I checked Harrah WA was on the Yakima Indian reservation. Although the tribe has most of the jurisdiction there the roads still belong to the county. Therefore for company or feedlot to move a drainage pipe underneath a county road they must access a permit from the city. Feedlots and dairies are not a "sexy" business like wine grown in the valley. However the demands in our economy call for dairy products and meat products. In order for this demand to be met feedlots and dairies will always be necessary. I also wanted to point out your comment on un lined lagoons. I remember taking a soil class in college and learning about the different permeable kinds of earth. Sand is obviously very permeable and clay is the exact opposite. Interesting enough cow manure much less permeable then clay. Once dried and compacted manure is actually works very well as a water tight seal. I used to put some at the base of my flower pots to seal water in. Facts are usually a good idea when presenting an argument.
Report ViolationFirst off, filmaker Michael Harris is out of his element with this topic. Harris is nothing more than a left wing Michael Moore wannabe, with nothing a MA in Political Science from a highly documented liberal school, the University of Washington. Now, I would like to ask him, and the others, where would they want their milk produced, where should the beef be fattened? Personally I am more concerned with the gang activity and I believe the graffitti has made the Lower Valley unattractive, not the dairies and feedlots. And for the woman who has the raspy voice, I work in the fertilizer industry, and I am around anhydrous ammonia, as well as aqua ammonia, on a daily basis, my voice seems to be fine. Perhaps it is the 4 packs of Camels for the past 40 years that did that. As far as the manure, perhaps do a little research, know that it is being analyzed, and then being agronomically applied via prescription or variable rate.
Report ViolationNothing high tech? Obviously you are the individual who is misinformed. Do you know the meaning of prescription applying, or variable rate applying fertilizer? Do you, no, you obviously do not! Do you know the technology involved in this process? Do you know the law of diminishing returns? Are you aware that overapplying fertilizer to a crop burns the crop? Where do you want milk to be produced? Should we import it? Such as we import apples? Yes we do, look at your store brand apple juice, look at where the concentrate is from, CHINA! You are the reason, you are the one killing the American farmer. Go back to raising your communist flag! You are a warrior for Josef Stalin!
Report ViolationI am very aware of what I am talking about I am currently attending one of the states leading agricultural universities Washington State University, maybe you have heard of it. I know what is going on in Agriculture all of the facts. I am also award of the downfalls and am involved with people that are trying to fix some of the problems in agriculture. I am also a producer of beef cattle and know hundreds of people in the industry and how they are trying to make agriculture better for everyone involved. They are far better people than most of corporate america! You need to do some research warrior4u!
Report ViolationI didn't know Jan Whitefoot was a noted Ecologist.
So why would anyone hold to such regard a documentary that was not peer-reviewed or at least had the claims in the film checked for accuracy?
The last time I checked, everywhere from Zillah to the Tri-Cities wreak of cow filth. How is this Cow Palace singled out as the culprit?
Also, why would someone live in farm country if the smell bothered you? You don't hear the transients living near the train tracks in Seattle complaining about the noise.
Blindly attacking businesses in the middle of a recession is not a great idea. I don't think they can build enough casino's down there to supplement the tax revenue keeping your little town alive.
Beamer-
Do you have any evidence to support your claim that the CAFO's have turned the aquifers into a love canal?
It's sad how fixated our society has become about "scandals". It doesn't matter who is victimized as long as it makes the news.
I feel like the drunk driving is a greater hazard to the Lower Yakima Valley than nitrates.
What about the gangs? What about meth?
I feel that addressing societal issues will improve the quality of life for these residents.
Harrah used to be a nice little communtiy, until the factory farming, unregulated, unmonitored, dairies moved upwind. The right to farm does not give the right to pollute. Harrah and its people were there way before the giant government subsidized feedlots moved into the area. One facility a mile and a half upwind was caught throwing their dead cows into a nearby stream. He was told not to do that. The same feedlot was flooded, totally underwater, twice,yet, no fines. This property has not been classified as a flood plain. The cow manure washed downstream into a steelhead run. Each cow produces over 100 pounds of poop a day. It doesn't just magically disappear! Lagoons leak. This same feedlot was burying his cows in the back. Some places on his property, the water table is 4 foot deep. Yakima County, who has jurisdiction on this property, refused to send out a code enforcement officer. The feedlot has no permit from Yakima County to operate as a feedlot. Anyone else in Yakima County get away with operating without a Permit? Please, you don't need a degree to see what these Yakima Valley dairies and feedlots are doing is wrong! They say they are innocent. Let's have them all line up and have DNA, point source of pollution and hormone and antibiotic testing to prove their inocence. Maybe that is why the dairies are buying so much radio time to try and prove they are not polluting our wells.
Report ViolationHow many wells must the CAFOs poison before the corrupt local government agencies do what they are paid to do? How many people must suffer from asthma and respiratory diseases before the corrupt county officials do something about it? How long must native people drink water full of nitrates, phosphates, hormones and antibiotics dumped into our sole source aquafer before someone stands up to the government subsidized -parasites that run Yakima county. Looks like only the EPA is not on the take here and the sooner they come in and take over the enforcement of all the current laws on the books the better. If you can't do a job without government subsidies, dairy price supports and government welfare than go find an honorable way to support your families. By the way, the film is great and shows the lengths the dairies and feedlots will go to to stay out of the spotlight.
Report ViolationOh, I forgot to mention for all of you wonderful conservative farmers, dairymen and feedlot operator's benefit, here is a website to document just exactly how much money has been stolen from the taxpayers by each one of you. After years of attempting to hide this from your communities here it is at last. Every penny stolen from the taxpayers to prop up your inefficient operations over the last ten years. Things are different now and the whole world is watching.
http://farm.ewg.org/farm/
Just about every dairy farmer I know lives on their dairy and they have no health problems. So all this well contamination and health problems from particulate inhalation must be coming from somewhere other than dairies. Feedlot's are not government subsidized, however dairies are. There is a difference between dairies and feedlots. However, most of you anti-animal agriculture people have never been on one or even considered talking to a farmer. It is vital that people have a background in agriculture before they analyze how it works. Millions of uneducated people are the reason that agriculture is facing the challenges that it is today. I do not know where you get the notion that ranchers/dairymen/feedlots are stealing money from taxpayers because nobody in animal agriculture is making money right now. Believe it or not most dairy men and feedlot owners are not billionaires. They have a lot of debt and owe a lot of money to a very friendly agriculture lending institution and are taxpayers themselves.
Report ViolationCheck out feedlots near Harrah on internet. You will see heffer feeding operations are government subsidized. They are a feedlot not a dairy. Take a drive and look at homes near Outlook where they have a million dollar milking barn. Check out taxpayer money that went to build it. Check out how many sheds, sprinkler systems are paid for by taxpayers. These dairies simply can not make money;they are not sustainable. It is a fact a friend of mine who lives between two feedlots had his air filter tested in a certified lab. He had 6,000 parts per million of fecal colliform. This could not have come from the ducks, beaver and golf courses like the dairies try to blame it on.His well was also polluted. Digging a deeper well not the answer. Shutting down these factory daires and withdrawing their gov. substidies is the key.
Report ViolationWarrior4U. Your right that you don’t need a degree to agree a point of view, however if you ever do pursue a degree I suggest starting with a basic writing/English course. Basically what you’re doing is complaining. You have this right as part of are Freedom of Speech act. But arguing without facts or proof is rather pointless, especially when you do it in such an untactful manner. Harrah if I’m not mistaken is located on the Yakama Indian Reservation; this would give the BIA jurisdiction over the feedlots and dairies not Yakima County. You might be fighting the wrong battle if you’re picking a fight with the city instead of the tribe. Harrah to me is still considered a beautiful community, it’s a farming community and part of farming is the cattle industry. The manure they produce has to be applied at agronomic rates. You can see this regulated by USDA, FDA and the EPA. This manure is also is high demand by local farmers for the crops they grow. Without it we would be importing other fertilizers at much higher costs.
So I ask what is your goal with dairies and feedlots? Have you considered the repercussions of going without this industry? You may make the choice to be vegan but the other 99% of our population looks to this industry for a valuable food source as well as many other needs. This seems like a rather selfish and uneducated though process. Also you made a point of DNA point source, have you looked into the previous cases in the Basin and Magic Valley of ID? Lets do some homework before we start an argument we know nothing about.
I think the main issue I have with this video is that it’s really just a poorly done rip off of a Michael Moore documentary. It lacks any real facts or creativity. You have people on this video that have no education or insight to anything agricultural related. One of your problems is that you’ve chosen to have these two local women be your spokespersons. It’s funny that they consider themselves a modern day Erin Brockovich when in reality there just misinformed people who love the media attention. They think they have found a cause that will make them “warriors” for the local community when in fact they are just slandering the local economy. Education is such an important aspect to our community and when you have people who lack any real education but love to hear themselves talk is when you have a problem. You’re attempting to manipulate people’s minds with misleading arguments and no real solution for your cause. You need to take into consideration your full purpose and the cause and effect of loosing this sector of our economy. If you were to focus half your attention to the real problems of our community then maybe you could make a difference.
Report ViolationEA Listen sport, you can come on down and get your own copy of this great film at the Yakima Convention Center on Sunday at 3PM. It's free in case your haven't cashed your dirty dairy money check this month. You know I can almost understand dairy owners and operators attempting to keep polluting as long as they can get away with it, but the mercenary parasites that use pseudo-science to defend the poisoning of wells and the destruction of aquafers and the spreading of disease to whole communities must have a special place in hell. I hope your dirty dairy check is huge. Enjoy it while you can. Come on down and find out why these farm factories need to be relocated at least 10 miles from the nearest resident.
Report ViolationIt's too bad when paid dairy reps have no proof about the topic they are discussing, they start attacking individuals. It's a shame the dairy industry has to pay people to speak for them.
Report ViolationOh man I wish I did get paid by the Dairy Farmers of Washington! If anyone knows how to go about that let me know! I understand all of the issues people have with modern agriculture with a lack of an agricultural background or accurate data and the hype of the uneducated news media these farms are made out to be monsters. However, without their existence even more people in America would be dying of starvation and malnutrition. Modern agriculture has provided America with an abundant, safe and inexpensive food supply. Everyone should be thanking there lucky stars for this!
Report Violation(This comment has been removed by a Yakima Herald-Republic moderator)
A excellent video. It's well past the time to start fixing the problem. The CAFO'S have turned our aquifers into a Love Canal. I read where it takes 250 years for the water to be replaced in an aquifer. Maybe we should just turn the lower valley into a giant waste water dump for the worlds liquid wastes. County Commissioners would have another source of revenue and we can let the Dairys continue operations as usual.
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