Hog Factories in Story County? They’re coming if we don’t stop them now! The first one is proposed for Howard Township, about two miles south of Roland. Hog Factories are “multi-thousand hog confinement installations, which are usually owned and operated by the property owner, but the hogs and feed are often supplied by Faceless conglomerates,” which are often times from out-of-state.

Who benefits from Hog Factories? The owner/operator reaps profit, and so does the supplier, but very possibly not the county where the operation is located.

What can we, as Story County citizens, expect to gain from Hog Factories in the county? Tremendous hog odor for the first mile or so, and there are reports of hog odor traveling three to four miles.

We can also possibly enjoy the benefit of reduced property value by up to, and even over 50 percent, if we are lucky enough to live within one mile of the facility. Property value reductions can travel, to some degree, as far as the odor does. If we aren’t within odor distance we might enjoy our property taxes increasing to compensate for the decreased property value of the “fortunate” close neighbors.

If we are within the offensive odor range, the Iowa Legislature has made it nearly impossible for anyone to successfully sue for damages due to odors from this type of installation. This is because of the “nuisance suit protection act,” which is part of House File 519.

We, the tax-paying citizens of lowa, have been classified as the nuisance by the Legislature, not the excessive odor from these installations.

Even if the installation is not next door to us, fields used to spread the annual millions of gallons of manure “slurry” from each installation might be. Even if, for some reason, we are unable to smell the distributed “slurry,” we might be lucky enough to have our wells contaminated by the continuous over-application of the “slurry,” or our wells could possibly go dry due to the excessive concentrated water usage by the hog factory.

Maybe you live in the middle of a town, and you use city water. Where do you think that water comes from? From the aquifers below that are partially supplied by the watershed area upstream where the hog factories might be located. The aquifers could get contaminated by over-application of the manure “slurry” that Mother Nature cannot adequately “breakdown and digest.”

If you are the Story County family farmer trying to make a living from the land and the livestock you produce, you can expect to see lower livestock prices due to the overproduction by the hog factories and possibly be forced out of the livestock business. Hog prices are low enough now. Why could they possibly want to build more facilities to produce even more, to further decrease prices?

If you think this must be an exaggeration, take a short drive north of Roland into Hamilton County, where hog factories flourish. In about 15 miles, I counted 13 different hog factories, involving 43 huge hog buildings, and six more were under construction. This was within only 15 miles on the odometer. I understand they are much more concentrated near the intersection of 1-35 and Co. Rd. D-41, north of Ellsworth.

Fortunately for me, my drive through the Hamilton County countryside was on a cool, dry, calm winter evening, not a hot, humid, breezy summer evening.

Hog factories have a lot of large organizations and money promoting them. All we have is people … the hard working, tax paying citizens of Story County, who have the right to clean water and to enjoy their homes in clean air. If we don’t stop this first hog factory from entering Story County, hog factories could very possibly start springing up in Hardin and Hamilton counties, and others.

We must act NOW.

You might say, “Roland is too far from here for me to get involved. Besides, this guy is just concerned because this proposed installation is close to him and he’s trying to get us all involved to help him.” That’s partially true. My neighbors and I were the first ones to get concerned because this is the first proposed hog factory for Story County, and yes, it’s “close to home.” But what if the “shoe was on the other foot?” If this first installation is permitted, the second, third, fourth and tenth will be much harder to stop, if possible at all. Where will they be located? In your backyard? Or possibly your backyard and your front yard (as enjoyed by our neighbors in Hamilton, Hardin, Boone and Wright Counties, and more)?

Join us at the “Hog Factory Public Information Meeting” to be held at the Roland School, Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m. If you absolutely cannot attend the meeting and show your support with your presence, then stop by the school any time on March 7, from 8 a.m. on, and sign the petition “Against Hog Factories in Story County.”

If you would like petitions to circulate prior to the meeting, or if you just need more information, please call any of the following numbers: 388-4506, 388-4811, 388-5501, 232-1155, 388-4442, or 382-2376. The more help we receive, the better chance we have to beat the hog factories in Story County.

If you just can’t be bothered with the above listed environmental, economical and moral issues, then by all means, stay home and don’t sign the petition.

But, when and if Story County is overrun with hog factories, possibly one near you, remember back when you could have done something to help stop the most critical hog factory installation — the first one in Story County.

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Dennis L. Olson

Story City