040125 Hog Facility Draws Fire From IL Residents

Amboy, IL -- More than 100 inquisitive residents came out to a public hearing organized by Tom Drew and the Concerned Citizens Against Hog Factories (CCAHF) to discuss a hog facility under construction in Marion Township of Lee County.

The loose group is hoping to delay and eventually stop the opening of a new Precision Pork LLC installation through an anticipatory nuisance lawsuit. The suit would be similar to pending litigation in a DeKalb County lawsuit against Burnett Farms blocking construction of a large-scale hog farm.

These cases are becoming more common as farmers look to cut costs and increase efficiency by building larger facilities.

Farmers nationwide are finding it harder to support themselves and their families, causing groups of farmers to band together into companies to stay competitive.

At the same time, conglomerates and corporations continue to gobble up market share and land, making farming even more difficult for the independent farmer, say agricultural experts. The same trend crop farmers learned to deal with years ago is hitting the livestock industry in force.

As livestock farmers band together, they seek to concentrate their animals into large feeding operations to increase productivity. The farmers have found concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to be an answer to their financial woes.

People who live near the operations are upset.

"There are smell problems as well as health risks associated with these farms," said Karen Hudson, member of the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment. "There needs to be more research done into CAFOs and their effects before we keep putting them up in this state."

A series of anticipatory lawsuits has been filed by neighboring residents against similar operations, citing everything from bad odors emanating from the operations to serious health problems some claim are connected to the CAFOs. Envir-onmentalists also claim these operations cause severe damage to the environment.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for overseeing the operation of CAFOs. The agency defines a CAFO as an operation with more than 200 dairy cows, more than 750 swine over 55 pounds or more than 9,000 chickens.

Tuesday's public meeting opened with a group of people presenting their case against Precision Pork. No representatives from the large-scale livestock industry spoke at the meeting.

"Is there anybody here who is opposed to farming or agriculture?" asked Kendall Thu, associate professor of anthropology at Northern Illinois University.

No hands went up in the community center of the small, rural community.

"Is there anybody here who is involved with livestock?" he said.

Half of the hands went up.

Thu said nobody really is against agriculture but many people are against the size of the operations.

Drew said Thu was asked to speak at the town hall gathering because of his research background in farming operations. Thu's current research focuses on industrial food systems, including environmental health, public health, and rural socioeconomic change; policy and agricultural politics; and risk factors for farm-related health and injuries. Thu also has published a broad range of articles on challenges facing the U.S. swine industry.

"In 1965 there were over 1 million producers of hogs in the United States, but 40 years later there are only 70,000 to 80,000 producers," he said. "But, while the number of producers has dropped dramatically, the number of hogs produced really hasn't changed at all since the 1960s."

Thu said reports of workers experiencing health problems first began surfacing in the 1970s, when concentrations of animals started approaching the numbers that are common today.

He also said people who live near CAFOs have repo__rted health problems similar to farm employees.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture is responsible for licensing such facilities and claims the Illinois Livestock Management Facilities (ILMF) Act of 1996 was created specifically to address many of the health and environmental issues involving CAFOs. "The permitting process requires that projects such as this meet all regulatory standards to protect both the employees and neighbors of such facilities," said Jeff Squibb, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Agri-culture. "The Precision Pork facility goes above and beyond all requirements of the ILMF Act, including all setback requirements."

The ILMF requires all CAFOs to be at least one-quarter mile from the nearest residence and at least one- half mile from the nearest populated area and utilize all of the latest engineering standards available to minimize health and environmental risks.

The agriculture department maintains installations such Precision Pork create jobs and invigorate area economies.

"They not only create but support jobs, such as through the feed industry and the meat packing industries," Squibb said.

Thu disagrees.

"There is no net job growth effect when consolidating small farms into larger ones," Thu said. "Be practical. How can you be more efficient and create jobs? It just doesn't work."

The agriculture industry contends that consumers are the ones who drive these changes by demanding cheaper food.

Of the 4,600 hog farms in Illinois, 58% have fewer than than 500 head of livestock. However, the small farms produce just 7% of the state's hogs, Squibb said.

The large farms, with more than 2,000 head, account for 12% of the state's hog farms while supplying 63% of its output.

The percentages demonstrate how industrialized and concentrated the livestock industry is today. The average farm size in Illinois is 890 head.

Precision Pork's permit allows the company to place more than 4,700 pigs at its Lee County facility. Con-struction began in late November, but a completion date was unavailable.

Steve Feuerbach, who will manage the day-to-day business of the operation, which is co-owned by several area farmers, said the industry is just responding to economic pressures.

"It's the same as many other industries. How many family-owned grain farmers are left? How many family-owned restaurants or gas stations are there?" Feuerbach said. "Everybody likes the idea of the small family farmer making a living, but they just can't compete with the corporate mega-farms without increasing efficiency."

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