Bill that could make it harder to stop hog farming near Buffalo River continues to stall

by Phillip PowellMarch 4, 2025 2:07 pm

A bill that could make it harder for state agencies to prevent industrial hog farming in the Buffalo National River watershed continues to stall in a legislative committee as its sponsors negotiate key provisions.

Senate Bill 290, sponsored by Sen. Blake Johnson (R-Corning) and Rep.DeAnn Vaught (R-Horatio), would require state agencies, like the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, to obtain legislative approval to implement a moratorium “on the issuance of permits in a watershed, including but without limitation, the Buffalo River watershed, or other body of water.”

These agencies would have to come before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development and the House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development to obtain approval for a moratorium.

Johnson did not appear before the Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee Tuesday to present the bill. Sen. Ronald Caldwell (R-Wynne), chair of that committee, said Johnson would need to present the draft legislation during another meeting next Tuesday or it would be taken off the agenda.

“In reality, Sen. Johnson was supposed to run his bill today, but he and [Gov. Sarah Sanders] are behind closed doors trying to come to an agreement on that,” Caldwell said.

When asked by the Arkansas Times, Caldwell said he could not disclose what the bill’s sponsors were discussing with Sanders, citing “privileged information.”

Requests for comment from the governor’s office have not been returned as of publication of this story. Johnson also did not return a request for comment.

The Buffalo River has been a massive draw for outdoor tourism in recent years, and Sanders’ administration has made growing the tourism industry a major economic priority for the state. The Walton family also has development interests around the Buffalo River, with the Runway Group, a development firm founded by Walton family members, working to invest in outdoor businesses in Northwest Arkansas.

The proposed legislation comes as the Department of Agriculture has been considering a rule concerning the Buffalo National River watershed as well as the permitting rules for concentrated animal feeding operations – essentially large-scale factory farms – across the state. There has been discussion of creating a permanent moratorium on issuing permits for commercial hog farms near the Buffalo River after a temporary halt to such operations was enacted in 2020 due to public outrage over an industrial hog farm that was built there.

Dozens of environmentalists from groups, like The Ozark Society, Sierra Club and the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, have been traveling to the state Capitol for weeks to provide public testimony. Those opposed to the legislation said they are concerned that the bill would unleash the permitting of industrial hog farms. Concentrated animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs, have large pollution footprints from the waste the animals produce.

Arkansas Farm Bureau, a supporter of SB290, said in a statement to the Arkansas Times that the legislation “does not allow for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) within any watershed, including the Buffalo River watershed, without regulatory approval and due process. The proposed pieces of legislation do not prevent moratoriums from being imposed. There are some who are making these irrational and emotionally charged claims, which are not truthful or based in fact.”

SB290 would require the state agriculture department and the energy and environment department to provide reports on approved moratoriums every other year to the legislative committees for review. Additionally, approved moratoriums would be valid “until June 30 of the second year following the approval of the moratorium.”

But crucially, should SB290 pass, any existing moratorium related to a watershed, including the Buffalo National River watershed, would have to go through an approval process within 30 days of SB290 becoming law “to remain enforceable” and any moratorium instituted before this legislation went into effect “that does not receive legislative approval within 30 days of the effective date of this act is unenforceable.”

Last year, Arkansas Farm Bureau urged the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the state Department of Agriculture not to adopt new regulations imposing a permanent moratorium on hog farming in the Buffalo River watershed. They opposed the rules on the grounds that it violated the “right to farm.”

Arkansas has 776 CAFOs that are all permitted through liquid animal waste disposal permits that the Department of Agriculture now runs, according to the most recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data.