To the editor:

Judy Heinrich’s letter to the TDB Dec. 6, “Why equine isn’t farming,” is a thorough and thoughtful explanation of how important the horse industry is to the Polk County economy and why it is hardly a subset of farming.

To lump horses in with farming would be a disservice to farmers whose goals (to find markets for their products) are different from those in the equine industry, which as an economic cluster is more of a broad-based service industry. These differences require different marketing approaches.

I surely hope Ms. Heinrich’s fact-based letter convinces the commissioners to reconsider this notion that equine is farming. If they persist, lots of us will be filing for a break on our taxes because we are farmers, not equestrians.

– Pat Salomon, Green Creek