IOWA FALLS -- Saving family farms is a top priority in Iowa.

Special interest and activist organizations aren't disputing that. But what constitutes a family farm and which ones should be saved is a hot topic of debate.

Two Des Moines-based organizations are butting heads on the issue. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers are engaged in an epic battle. Each believes a victory means a more prosperous Iowa.

ICCI contends corporate or large-scale agriculture is the state's death knell. The CSIF's goal is to help farmers stay in business regardless of size and to defend their honor. The CSIF introduced a new online directory Tuesday to help farmers understand environmental regulations.

Each group has vastly different views about agriculture, especially livestock production, pitting them against each other. Each accuses the other of not having the best interest of Iowa at heart.

Iowa State University sociologist and rural life expert Paul Lasley said the battle is healthy -- a free flow of information so people can make up their minds about the future of agriculture.

"I'm not sure any one group has all the answers. But after some open dialogue, we'll (voters) all be better informed so we can find some middle ground and changes can come about."

However, he said the groups must watch their war of words. The rhetoric can be down-right nasty, with the word "terrorist" being thrown out and one ICCI member comparing farmers who raise hogs in confinement buildings to child abusers.

Too much negativity could turn people away and a group's message could be lost, Lasley said.

"Like at the national level, the main political parties have to worry about this," he said. "Livestock is important to the state, and the (controversy) is how best to raise them."

ICCI views

To the ICCI, animals shouldn't be raised in modern confinement buildings.

The group's leaders say producers focusing on volume -- whether grain or livestock -- aren't family farmers but a detriment to Iowa's economy, environment and social structure. Its focus now is to stop what they consider factory farms -- those that use confinement buildings to house livestock.

"I think a hog factory is total confinement with a (manure) pit," said ICCI president Kurt Kelsey.

He admits a few ICCI members raise livestock using confinements, but he still believes the practice pollutes the air and water. He operates a small sheep and grain farm near Iowa Falls.

The ICCI says large livestock corporations like Smithfield Foods are the real enemy of family farmers. However, the group makes no distinction between Smithfield raising 14.5 million hogs a year in confinements or a family raising 5,000 animals in confinements.

Confinement buildings started to become popular in the 1970s to control costs, increase capacity with less labor and improve animal quality.

"If you live out in the country and have your life savings in a farm or acreage, it (hog factory) can ruin your life. You can't sell it," Kelsey said. "One couple near Clear Lake took bankruptcy and moved out of state (after a confinement was built nearby)."

In late July, the ICCI initiated a fund-drive among members, asking for donations of $25 to $100 or more for a new media campaign to fight the coalition and its founding partners -- the Iowa Farm Bureau and the state's major commodity groups. He said the groups are fronts for corporate agriculture.

"They (Farm Bureau) are always on the wrong side of air quality," Kelsey said.

The CSIF claims ICCI's beliefs and tactics -- such as lawsuits and protesting at a producer's farm -- actually hurt agriculture. Kelsey doesn't believe that's the case.

ICCI's Web site lists a string of victories from moratoriums on confinement construction to rural residents winning lawsuits against companies like Iowa Select Farms in Iowa Falls.

"We just want people to know (through radio ads) that the ICCI has fought for family farms for years," he said. "There's a reason the coalition is going after us. We're doing some good."

CSIF views

Helping producers understand new environmental laws and implementing needed changes is the primary focus of the CSIF. To accomplish this, the group launched STEER (Strategic Technical Environmental Education Resource) Tuesday on its Web site.

It includes a comprehensive checklist of information about livestock production and reviews environmental rules and regulations, including how to implement needed changes. The site contains management tools, resources and contacts for farmers.

CSIF executive director Tim Niess said that's the major difference between the two organizations. The CSIF provides help for all farmers and the ICCI does not, he said. Family farms vary dramatically in size, ranging from one person to a group of relatives farming together.

"Many farmers calling us have changes under way, but need help with the next step. This tutorial will help with the next step," Niess said.

The group has raised more than $20,000 not only to help farmers, but defend them from anti-agricultural groups that spout misinformation about modern food production, Niess said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the ICCI are two primary examples, he said. Neither like modern agriculture, Niess said, and will do almost anything to discredit farmers.

In the past, no one ever held these groups accountable for their statements, CSIF officials said. Kelsey said he knows the ICCI member who compared farmers using confinements to child abusers, but says his statements were made tongue-in-cheek.

"When people start calling farmers terrorists or say their children are probably locked in closets … we're serving notice that will no longer be tolerated, Niess said.

"Litigation and confrontation is not the way to make people better farmers," he continued. "For a group (ICCI) claiming they're out to help the family farmer, they are actually targeting them."

Strictly raising small numbers of hogs outdoors might have worked decades ago, but not today, Niess said.

For a hog farmer to earn the median Iowa household income of $38,000, he would have to raise 5,500 hogs a year going by the average profit per head during the past 10 years, according to CSIF figures. That's a one-time capacity of 2,200.

Most farmers choose to raise larger numbers of hogs in a confinement system, and they should have the right to do so, Niess said.

"Say they're (ICCI) right? It would ruin many farm families," Niess said.

Is peace possible?

It doesn't look like there will be a truce any time soon.

Kelsey said his group won't stop until confinements are history. Lobbying counties having siting control is a good start, he said.

Niess said peace is a possibility if the ICCI is willing to appropriately debate issues based on science rather than fear and emotion.

"We can't even have a discussion when protesting on a person's lawn is part of that discussion," Niess said.

Matthew Wilde can be contacted at (319) 291-1579 or matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.