" Communities should have the right to set limits. Farming is not the problem -- having more animals than the land can safely bear is. Overspreading of animal waste (because there is too much of it to be safe for the environment) is destroying our water supply -- and the DEC doesn't bother to even try to enforce the piddling and ineffective regulations we have much less truly protect our health and environment. The smell is a signal for dangerous gases being emitted -- it isn't cow flatulence that's a problem, it's fermenting manure lagoons and what comes out of them. And there is also the issue of (in)humane treatment of animals. When my fella had his cows, he knew each one of the 63 or so of them by name. He knew their character and they knew his. He followed the credo of his father before him which was "The cows come first." They took care of their animals, kept them clean and happy, and in return, their animals provided milk and meat to be sold and for the table. (A happy cow will produce more milk -- which shouldn't be a surprise!) They spread fresh manure on their own land (instead of keeping it in a pond until it's really "ripe" then getting a contractor to run around find other people's land to spread it on because they've run out of room) every day in summer and every other day in winter -- and they never had more animals than their own land could safely bear. There is no reason why farming can't be carried on safely and humanely -- but CAFO owners are GREEDY. They want their big fancy gas guzzling SUVs and their second house on the lake and they don't care that they are destroying our watershed and environment to have those things. They are no different than the owners of factories which belch coal smoke into the air -- they pollute just as much for the exact same reason -- greed and lack of concern for our health and environment. They make a show of having their pet Cornell people studying and putting together "responsible land stewardship practices" -- but don't you buy that for a minute. If their practices are so safe, why are their Nutrient Management Plans (which include such info as how much manure is deemed safe to spread on a given field when planted with a given crop under given weather conditions and geographical features) -- considered "sensitive" documents and kept secret from the public? It's because they have PLENTY to hide. Stop farming? No, you couldn't and it wouldn't be a good idea. Put a stop to additional CAFOs and expansion of existing CAFOs -- that would at least be a start. It's high time we took back control of our health and the safety of the environment from polluting corporate agribusiness and their lackeys in government. "

" There are thousands of dairy cows in huge farms. We all live in a farming area. You are not going to stop it. "