Conscious Choice: Building a Better Pig?

September 1996

Building a Better Pig?

by Renee Robinson

A trend sweeping the pork industry has rural communities across the country up in arms, and it ultimately involves you, the consumer.

Pork production is following the industrial model. No more dealing with the whims of Mother Nature. Instead, the trend is toward predictability and control. The pigs are “genetically uniformed,” They are raised in tin barns that hold approximately 1,000 pigs each and line them up in a row. The pigs never see direct sunlight or touch the earth—except to move from the birthing facility to the nursery, then on to a finishing facility, and ultimately to the packing (slaughter) house.

Although no two large scale facilities are the same, Pig Improvement Company (yes, that is the corporation’s name)/Hanor Corporation’s plans in Greene County (southwest of Springfield) demonstrate an ominous trend: their goal is to raise 200,000 swine at three locations. To compare, note that all of Henry County—the largest hog inventory county—had 355,000 head of hog in 1994. Greene County didn’t even make the top 10 list, but it will in the future.

What happens when you concentrate animals at such high levels? In order to minimize biting, tails are cut off piglets before they are weaned. They live on concrete slats. The sows are nearly immobilized for their entire lives. The crowding and the boredom stress the animals, making them more susceptible to sickness and disease. To counter this problem, the feed in finish barns is laced with growth-promoting antibiotics.

Anyone who has driven by a pig farm knows that pigs produce a particularly offensive odor. Imagine 70,000 swine in one area! The stench from such facilities is making the neighbors into prisoners of their own homes. But it’s not just the odor—the airborne particles and gases emitted (including hydrogen sulfide and ammonia) from these facilities have caused nausea; vomiting; headaches; breathing difficulties; and eye, nose, and throat irritation in workers and neighbors.

Millions of gallons of hog urine and feces are collected in holding lagoons the size of football fields or larger. Pigs generate two to four times the amount of waste that humans do, yet ventures like PIC/Hanor Corp. are creating “pig cities” in our rural communities—minus any municipal waste programs. All of these problems have Illinois rural residents concerned, and with good reason.

Illinois is a year or two behind states like Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and North Carolina in the development of hog mega-farms. Since mid-June 1995, these four states have experienced more than 20 manure spills, including a 25 million gallon lagoon breach in North Carolina; last year in Missouri, more fish died in two months from urine and feces inundation by corporate farms than were killed by animal waste over the last ten years.

In addition to spills, over-application of manure onto lands has resulted in high levels of nitrates and phosphorus, rendering soils unproductive, as well as causing runoff into lakes, rivers, and streams because the ground cannot fully absorb the manure.

Not only is water quality at stake, but also water quantity. These facilities use millions of gallons of water each day, and in cases such as a 6,000 sow facility in Edgar County, they have caused neighboring wells to run dry.

If these “farms” are behaving like factories, they should be regulated like factories. But in Illinois, agriculture isn’t zoned. While a landfill or low level nuclear waste dump proposal would have to go through a public hearing process and the site would have to meet certain geologic criteria, there is very little that local or state government can do about where these facilities choose to locate.

For example, Land O’ Lakes (the butter company) is constructing sow facilities in Cass County (northwest of Springfield), despite massive protests from area citizens (except the farmers who sold the land to Land O’ Lakes ). Land O’ Lakes will not have to worry about water quantity: it chose to locate in an area with sandy soils and a high water table—as high as eight feet below the surface. However, if lagoons overflow or leak, hog waste can quickly permeate the soils and will threaten the water supply of several Illinois communities, including Beardstown and Jacksonville.

Citizens, environmental, and family farm groups are calling for regulations that ensure these facilities locate on geologically appropriate areas, access enough land to spread the manure at an environmentally responsible rate, and access enough water so they do not drain the local water supply. They are also calling for the mega-farms to locate far enough away from neighbors so the odors don’t make them sick, and to keep a cleanup fund in case of major spills or abandonment.

On the other hand, livestock groups and many traditional farm organizations claim that too much regulation will drive the industry out of Illinois, prevent Illinois pork producers from expanding, and consequently drive them out of business because they can’t compete with the “big guys.” They attempt to ease fears by promoting the idea that education and certification of livestock farm operators, research on odor control, and sound engineering designs will all deter any problems in Illinois.

They also point to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to fine and regulate these facilities if nuisances or environmental problems occur. Last April, however, Heartland Hog, Inc. spilled 25,000 gallons of raw hog waste into Doyle Creek in Edgar County; the spill resulted in less than a $2,000 fine. Not much of an incentive to prevent spillage.

Besides, government agencies only get involved after there’s a problem. They are irrelevant to the real goal of preventing pollution. In the case with Land O’ Lakes, citizens had to create public pressure, hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit to get the Attorney General’s office to intervene. Even though citizens had followed all the channels—they contacted the IEPA, the Illinois Department of Agriculture, their legislators, and even the Governor’s office prior to construction—it wasn’t until after Land O’ Lakes began construction and hit groundwater that the State finally stepped in.

Sounds ridiculous, but this happens when big money is involved. These facilities are sold as being more economically efficient than small and medium sized hog producers, and able to bring in jobs and additional tax revenue. In a state that has seen its pork production ranking drop from second place to fourth place in the past two years—due to North Carolina’s industrialized farms—this is the future of pork production. It’s also seen as a much needed economic development opportunity for rural communities. After all, Illinois can only build so many prisons and riverboat casinos.

This overall industry trend is justified by consumer demands for high-quality low-cost pork. Of course, pork promoters won’t ask consumers how they would like their pork produced. Would the industry be able to make these claims if the general public understood the negative environmental, social, and economic impacts this type of production brings to rural communities? Would the general public want to eat pork that is raised under such unnatural and inhumane conditions?

In addition to the immediate problems, there are many longer-term issues. As groups like the Illinois Stewardship Alliance work to promote a sustainable agricultural system, the industrialization of pork production discourages integrating livestock into a diverse production system and promotes the monoculture cropping of grains to feed these animals.

Most tragic is that it is eliminating the family farmer. Illinois has lost approximately 10,000 hog producers over the last ten years while production has remained steady. In the future, unless challenged now, we could have an agricultural system without farmers. It’s true that some family livestock farmers have been bad neighbors—they need to clean up their act, too. But to promote stewardship of the land the people need to be part of it, be invested in it. It’s hard to get that level of dedication from people earning an hourly wage and putting up with incredible odors and working conditions. It’s harder to get it from owners of large facilities, who live miles away or in another state. And it’s nearly impossible to evoke a sense of responsibility from investors who keep profits first and foremost in their minds.

As part of the quest for profits, these big guys are getting “sweetheart deals” (better prices) at the packing houses. There’s a race between corporations such as Cargill, Farmland, Land O’ Lakes, PIC/Hanor, and Murphy’s Family Farms to eliminate the competition and corner the market. And gone unchecked, they will. But even so, the hog mega-farms are not proving more efficient than the old family farms. For example, Premium Standard Farms of north central Missouri was touted as the model for pork production. In May, the company defaulted on bonds worth $325 million, and one has to wonder if the State of Missouri will ever receive the $250,000 PSF was fined for the eight hog waste spills they caused in 1995. Meanwhile, family farms languish and die on their very own hard-earned cash.

But you can help turn this trend around. First, find out where and how your pork is grown. Insist—to your grocer and to the company supplying the meat—that your pork products be raised in a humane and environmentally-responsible manner. And contact the pork industry leadership. Call or write the National Pork Producers Council: P.O. Box 10383, Des Moines, IA 50306; 515-223-2600, and also register your opinion with your local legislators, the Illinois Department of Agriculture, and the Governor’s office.

Finally, get organized! Join other citizens in Illinois working to protect the environment and promote a healthy livestock industry. Rural, urban and suburban residents need to raise their voices in unison, calling for

• regulations that treat these facilities as industries, not agriculture;
• research that looks at the long-term environmental, economic, and health impacts of large scale hog production, and
• research that promotes sustainable, humane pork production such as pasture farrowing and rotational grazing.

For more information and to get involved, contact the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, 217-498-9707. Together we will make a difference!

Renee Robinson is Executive Director of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance.

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