Yes, Virginia, There is no Conspiracy

I saw this editorial this morning, and felt compelled to respond. Here it is in it's entirety:

We live near the Extreme Makeover home in Gilbert. We are thrilled to see the home being built for the Okvaths. But we would like someone in the Gilbert area to do a little truth-telling. If you've lived in Gilbert or visited near the vicinity of Higley and Guadalupe roads, you may have noticed our "di-stink-tive" air as one of the negatives to the area. It seems most prevalent during the late-evening and early-morning hours. Sometimes I'd swear that you can actually see the cow manure floating in the air!
We noticed over the week of the makeover that the stink was not present. Did the cows decide to hold it in for the week? Did someone clear off an entire dairy farm during the week of the filming? Perhaps the host of the show had big fans aimed away from the site? Several months ago, when we made inquiries at the Farm Bureau, the nice people in the office told us that the agricultural aromas are from a dairy farm several miles away and that wind shifts bring it in to our area. Funny how those winds conveniently shifted away for an entire week while a film crew of a nationally known show was in the area. My husband and I have a running bet that the stink will magically reappear soon. Can someone please tell us the truth about the Great Gilbert Cow Stink? Kathi Borque, Gilbert

I posted about the dairy smells a few weeks ago, and let me reiterate: there is NOTHING the farmer can do to increase or decrease the smell of manure at a dairy, other than haul it out and get rid of the cows. When the rains were so heavy, the smell would be reduced by the moisture falling, but the moment that the rains stopped, the smell would increase again, and even worse because of the added moisture. So Mrs. Borque is right when she surmises that the stink will be back soon (probably now). Not even the Extreme Makeover folks could fix that.