Your article struck a nerve.

I farm. I am not totally opposed to DRA. People who have lived in a farm setting for 30 or 40 years, certainly have the right to a vote. When you speak of the dairy farms, you never speak of the numbers of cattle, the environmental impact and if it is corporate farming?

All you have to do is drive through Iowa; three miles out, of a hog unit, you can begin to smell the stinch.

I farm; we had 100 sows, 50 beef cows/calf operation. Small, yes. But, very much "putting the human element back into food"; as you put it. I am not sure what your argument is. People should have a say,what is constructed in their backyard, whether its local people or out of state people, doesn't matter.

With a dairy operation, or hog units, or turkey farms, or whatever, this is an environmental impact. It isn't the same thing, as when someone moves into town, and sets up a grocery store. The "farms" impact the area environmentally; the grocery store is a service, you can either buy there or not buy there. South Dakota is so rural. Every corporate industry would love to use it as a dump site. Nebraska had to fight to retain its land from a proposed dump site. Some years back, a company wanted to move in and mine uranium. We need to have a say in what happens in our neighborhood, it is the land of the free and the brave. South Dakota laws are pretty liberal, compared to some states. Our taxes, no state income tax, no personal property tax, is very inviting, not to mention our low paying labor laws.

There is still plenty of opportunity, with respect to others.

Marilyn Kokesh
SD