Washington County : Poultry farmer, regulators come to terms in litter suit

BY ROBERT J. SMITH

Posted on Friday, October 13, 2006

A Washington County farmer reached a settlement Tuesday with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission in a lawsuit over state laws about poultry farming.

The state agency never disagreed about what poultry farmer Gene Pharr wanted the court to do.

“As a poultry farmer, he is abiding by the law because he’s following his nutrient management, he’s registering his farm and he applies litter according to his plan,” said Edward Swaim, a Natural Resources Commission attorney.

“We agree that he should be allowed to do that,” he said.

Pharr, who owns two farms south and southwest of Lincoln, asked and received the commission’s declaration that farmers who comply with state poultry farming laws are operating legally within the state. Pharr filed his lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

“It seems like a no-brainer, but legally, it wasn’t covered,” Pharr said.

“The [Arkansas ] Farm Bureau wanted this declared by the court.”

Pharr sued the commission because it regulates farming activities in the state.

He sought clarification about what three farming laws approved by the state Legislature in 2003 mean to his practice of taking poultry litter from chicken houses and spreading it on his pastures.

Pharr, who raises chickens for George’s Inc., asked the court to acknowledge that farmers who abide by nutrient management plans shouldn’t have to worry about phosphorus limits set by Oklahoma.

Pharr’s lawsuit came about because the Farm Bureau fears trouble with Oklahoma, a state that last year sued eight poultry companies with operations in Arkansas.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s lawsuit, filed in U. S. District Court at Tulsa, accuses the companies of polluting the Illinois River watershed with runoff from poultry litter.

The watershed is in Arkansas and Oklahoma, and Pharr’s farm is in the watershed.

Poultry litter contains phosphorus, a nutrient that can degrade water quality. It’s carried from fields into streams by runoff.

Lawyers working for Edmondson have subpoenaed documents from farmers to learn about their practices, but those farmers have been in Oklahoma.

“It’s something to be used to protect the farmers if they come after the farmers over here,” Pharr said. “As long as you do a good job, you shouldn’t have to worry about someone coming after you.

“ Drew is subpoenaing people to produce all sorts of things. He just hasn’t done it in Arkansas, yet.”

Charlie Price, an Edmondson spokesman, declined to say whether the state will seek records from Arkansas farmers.

“We’re going to decline to discuss our future plans publicly,” Price said.