Members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement want state lawmakers to hand the decision of where new livestock confinements can be built over to county boards of supervisors, commonly known as local control. They complain large livestock facilities threaten Iowa's environment and quality of life.

Activists carried signs with such slogans as "Stop Factory Farms" and "It's time to fight corporate concentration."

Robin Ghormley, a CCI member from Des Moines, complained about the negative environmental impact livestock confinements can have and said corporate agriculture tries to divide rural and urban Iowans.

"They want us to believe that manure spills and fish kills are the price we have to pay for cheap food," she said.

The new Democratic leaders in the Iowa House and Senate have said the votes are not there to support local control. Activists say local control measures have not been adopted because of the amount of money poured into campaigns from ag interest groups.

Source: Sioux City Journal