The farm, if approved, would have five buildings, housing 7,800 sows that could produce 170,000 pigs a year, said Mike Wyatt, vice president and director of production for Murphy Family Ventures.

With state approval, construction could begin this year, and the farm would be ready to house sows in early 2007, he said.

The farm would provide jobs for 25 employees with an annual combined salary of $950,000, Wyatt said. It is projected to pump $600,000 annually into the economy.

Land around all the sow farms is used to grow crops such as alfalfa, corn, soybeans and wheat. Effluent from sewage lagoons is used to irrigate crops when plants can use the nutrients.

Murphy Family Ventures for more than a year has owned sows that produce pigs sold to Murphy-Brown, which is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, based in Virginia. Murphy-Brown is the live production side of the business, Wyatt said.

Source: The Joplin Globe