031131 Plans For IL Hog Confinement Farms Dropped

Bureau County , IL - Plans to bring hog confinement operations to northwestern Bureau County have come somewhat undone.

Two of the three new projects have been withdrawn from consideration by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Department spokesman Jeff Squibb said he was contacted Wednesday and was told Doug and Ronny Baker of Tampico had withdrawn their application for a hog confinement operation two miles south of Normandy. Project engineer Terry Feldman said he learned the night before. Feldman said some of the local families pressured the leaders of the Fairfield Amish Mennonite Church, Tampico, to call a vote of the church members asking the Bakers and Hostetler, who are members there, to drop their plans.

Ron Wolf, who raised hogs most of his life until just recently, is credited as being the ring leader of the opposition for the neighbors. "I started getting a lot of calls from my neighbors - really irate," Wolf said. "That's how I got involved in it, how I became the spokesman of the group." Wolf said he originally supported the operations and was even going to be a buyer of the manure for his fields.

"I think it is not very Christian-like (of him)," Feldman said. "It is so despicable in my mind."

"I really felt it served no purpose, no positive purpose to have the church vote prior to the public meeting," Feldman said. "I think it is really sad."

"We're real pleased that they decided not to build," Wolf said. "We're pleased we won't have all the hog odors."

Wolf said, "We negotiated a deal to try and settle it out. ... We got this worked out between us." Wolf was referring to himself and a couple of the church elders.

"We tried to keep this on a real Christian level on both sides," Wolf said. "I think it's best for the community."

Apparently pressure from neighbors also led to the withdrawal of the Baker proposal, as well as the withdrawal of the application of Kent Hostetler, who proposed a confinement operation 2.9 miles southwest of Deer Grove.

"I definitely am disappointed," said Doug Baker. "I am a young farmer here and I have been working to make a living."

Baker and his wife were planning to have 3,600 hogs confined in three enclosed buildings, each 52 feet wide and 190 feet long. All manure would have been collected in storage units under the buildings.

"Basically, we had some neighbors that were pretty strongly against it," Baker said.

The state Department of Agriculture was to have a hearing on the Baker proposal Wednesday evening at the Bureau County Metro Center, Princeton.

Feldman said the real facts of the facilities would have been learned, rather than the lies people have heard. Feldman said he had been working on the plans for the past several months. "We officially filed it with the Department of Agriculture the first of October," he said.

Hostetler said he is not sure what he will do next, now that his plans to house 3,600 hogs in three buildings, each 51 feet wide by 191 feet long, have been withdrawn.

"I guess I am disappointed and I guess and I am sad about it, also," Hostetler said.

Joseph Kropf, owner of Hostetler Feed Co., said he was heavily involved with both the Baker and Hostetler projects. Kropf was working with the farmers and with a hog finishing contractor, saying they try to help with coordination of anyone interested in livestock operations.

Kropf said he contacted a construction company to build the buildings and was working on financing for the projects and working with the hog contractors. The buildings were to be enclosed facilities, with no outdoor manure facilities and plans to plant trees to minimize the odor impact on the community, Kropf said.

"We were looking at probably roughly a $1.9 million project," Kropf said. All of the labor and construction materials would have been bought locally, he said.

"We feel it would have been a plus for the local economy," Kropf said.

Plans for a third hog confinement operation are continuing. James McCune, Mineral, is proposing a 4,800-hog confinement operation three-quarters of a mile southwest of Thomas. The livestock would be housed in four buildings, each 51 feet wide by 192 feet long.

In a phone message, McCune said, "I like hogs. Hogs are good for the economy."

In another interview, McCune said he was angry with the decision on the other farms. "(I)t's not going to do them any good and it's not going to do the county any good," he said. "I know what good hog barns can be for a farmer and what kind of work it can create for the people around."

The Bureau County Board has until Dec. 4 to make a recommendation to the Department of Agriculture about McCune's proposal. The ag department then will have until Dec. 19 to make a determination or request additional information.

Kropf said the hogs at the three sites would have consumed 175,000 bushels of grain each year.

Doug Baker said he and his father farm 265 acres of corn and soybeans. He described it as not a big operation, and said a hog confinement would fit with the farm operation and add some extra revenue. Despite this setback, Baker said he would like to open a confinement operation elsewhere.

"I would sure like to if I could find a location where the neighbors don't object to it," he said.

Baker said he thought it was important to keep the neighbors happy. Kropf said they want to live in harmony with those around them.

"There's got to be a balance," Baker said.

Bureau County Republican Correspondent Jamie Bickett contributed to this story.

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