An Iowa State professor is among Gov. Terry Branstad’s appointees to a new committee that will review hog lot operations.

Stewart Melvin, a professor in the ISU Agriculture Department, will talk with Branstad about the committee Friday. He said the committee will probably take up the issue of making hog production as environmentally sound as possible.

“The narrow issue is to protect the water quality and to regulate waste production, so that there are no more disasters as there have been in the past few months,” Melvin said.

Melvin came to ISU in 1970. Since then, he has worked mainly with extension services. Melvin routinely gives adult education seminars and travels across the state to give guest lectures. In his lectures, he speaks about the environmental safety of water resources and how hog producers can preserve it.

“Hog production is a $12 million industry, and perhaps the largest single industry in the state,” Melvin said.

But an increasing number of people are getting out of the industry, he said. Feed suppliers, veterinarians and processors are all being affected by the exodus. In fact, Melvin said, Iowa pork processors are importing seven million pigs a year into the state.

Melvin said Branstad’s committee must do all it can environmentally to keep the hog industry in the state and minimize any water and air pollution problems for the producers.

Another issue, Melvin said, deals with the National Swine Research Center, slated to be based in Ames. The center’s function will be similar to that of the governor’s new review committee.

A large portion of recent hog research has focused on the conflict between small and large hog producers. Melvin said the small, independent producers have few problems regulating their waste, so they feel any new legislation would be biased toward larger operations.

But Melvin disagrees. He said the small producers who handle their waste on their own may not think they have problems with water quality or odors, but in actuality, the accumulation of run-off waste from small lots can cause problems as well.

Also, he isn’t sure the scale of the operation affects the intensity of the odors.

Melvin added that the goal of all the hog research and committee work is ultimately to bring the independent lot operators up to speed with the latest technologies as fast as possible.

He said a mix of large and small hog lots would be ideal for the state, and that officials are “trying to do the best we can to hit the middle-of-the-road producer.”

Melvin said he hopes his efforts give Iowa “an industry that we can be proud of, not that we’re ashamed of.”