Corporate livestock lots more concerned with profit than with being good neighbors may be contributing to an increase in suits against the lots, an ISU researcher said.

“There has been a substantial change in the pork industry,” said Paul Lasley, ISU Extension sociologist and professor and chairman of sociology. “It has changed from a large number of farms with a small number of hogs, to a small number of farms with a large number of hogs … this is a contributor to the concentration of odor around the corporate lots.”

Silvia Secchi, assistant scientist at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, said greed may be involved as well.

Secchi was involved with a study in rural counties in Iowa about the effects of hog lots on communities. She said there was no significant information for Story County in regards to lawsuits over hog confinements.

However, there was a record settlement in Sac City in fall 2002 in which $34 million was paid to four couples by the Iowa Select Farms, she said.

“The fact that in some places, awards have been given so much money, might have something to do with [the increase in suits],” Secchi said.

Lasley said he would point more to environmental concerns, although being a good neighbor is very important too.

“It’s much easier to sue someone you don’t know than someone you go to church with,” Lasley said.

There are also environmental concerns brought up in the suits, Lasley said. Although groundwater contamination is less likely than most people believe, it “causes people excess stress,” he said.

A way for the neighbors of corporate lots to fight for their rights is to work with their county government, Secchi said.

In 2002, Cerro Gordo County supervisors banned construction of livestock confinement units for one year.

“In some counties, they have tried to regulate things locally,” Secchi said. “[In these counties], they try to regulate proactively.”

The biggest reason Secchi said she believed there has been an increase in lawsuits is because of the shift in employment types in rural Iowa.

Lasley said the corporate lots also impede on rural neighbors’ general quality of life.

Secchi said urban migration could also be a factor in dissatisfaction with the lots.

“There is a shift in the rural population in Iowa,” Secchi said. “A lot of people are commuting to town jobs, so they are not as used to the odors. It could be more odor or could be the same amount of odor, but it could be more of a problem because people don’t farm as much.”

She said odor concerns were a big problem, but could not be blamed as much on small confinement lots. “If you add up the odor from 10 small confinements, it won’t add up to the amount of odor from one large confinement,” Secchi said.

Lasley said the best way for the corporate lots to reduce the number of lawsuits is a threefold approach: The corporate lots must respect their neighbors, the facility needs to demonstrate its support for the local community and the facility must demonstrate environmental stewardship. Lasley said the lots that have had suits filed against them have “violated one of those principles.”

“[Corporate lots] have to be mindful of the effects on their neighbors,” Lasley said. “The livestock industry needs to be mindful of its local investment, they should buy as much of their inputs locally [as possible]. They need to do everything they can to protect neighbors from odors, flies and the quality of water.”