Hog Confinements and Manure Management

What's that smell?! Is it the stink of hog manure or the sweet smell of money? It depends who you ask. Large-scale hog production operations produce large-scale profits, but to their neighbors, large-scale hog production operations change the quality of living in too many unacceptable ways.

What's the problem?

Hog confinements are "farms" that raise large numbers of hogs in buildings and fields that are relatively small for the size of their occupants. In other words, hogs are crowded into relatively small areas and can't move around freely.

There are several problems people have with hog confinements:

•	The smell of hog manure is unpleasant. The more hogs in one space, the stronger the smell.
•	Crowded conditions cause disease to run through the confinements quickly.
•	The manure and urine often runs off from the operation directly into water used for drinking and recreation—either by accident or poor manure management. (Manure is a good source of organic fertilizer, but when too much gets spread on the land it poses threats to the environment.) Manure can be transported other places but that cuts into profits.
•	Tourism may be negatively affected when the odor affects the air quality, or if manure reaches waterways, causing fishkills.

All of these negatives can lower a community's confidence in a farmer or business as a steward of the land.

Why Have Hog Confinements?

Large-scale hog production operations create jobs. They generate tax money for a town. Large hog confinements are usually more profitable than a smaller farm operation. There is also the belief that bigger operations can better afford to pay for pollution prevention technology.

What do you think? How does a hog confinement fit into a working landscape? Who should make the decisions about large animal operations like this?

Web Links

Large livestock operations are an issue for many states. The Des Moines Register has created a special online section that looks into confinements.