Are You Full of Manure?
Krayton Kerns
1.07.07
Week two of the 60th Montana Legislature was filled with irony. Certainly it was more than coincidence that the first bill heard before the Agriculture Committee dealt with horse manure. Since launching my bid for the legislature in February of ’06, I have repeatedly denied claims that I am full of manure. But, now I must admit that I do, in fact, regulate it.
House Bill 47 would raise the minimum acreage for freedom to dump from 5 acres to 160 acres. Examples raised during the hearing indicated that it was perfectly natural and legal for your horse to wander your 5 acre ranchette and poop indiscriminately. However, if you scrape the fodder from the floor of your barn with the intent of spreading it on your pastures, you may be in violation. If the generated manure came from a commercial operation…say you board your buddy’s horse for $30 bucks a month…you definitely crossed the line.
This bill would have a devastating effect on horse acreages around the state as well as all of Montana’s small farmer / feeder operations. Grandpa’s 40 acre homestead and feedlot would be seriously challenged with issues of manure disposal.
The Ag. Committee vote will likely occur this week, and I anticipate HB47 will go down in defeat. No manure, this is the first bill we heard so now I am rallying around the compost pile to let freedom ring. (Its funny, I expected the legislature to be more glamorous than this.)
