CAFOs come under fire
INDIANA - Every day, Rick Jarrett pays a visit to his hogs. Each morning the Elwood resident climbs aboard his silver Dodge pickup and travels a few hundred yards down County Road 1500 North to the massive hog barn he built last fall. He clears manure from the aisles, makes minor repairs and checks the status of his livestock using one of the sophisticated computer terminals mounted on the wall.
25 June 2006
2 minute read
Hogs have been Jarrett’s livelihood for the past 31 years. Hogs helped him pay for the silver pickup, the farmhouse down the road and college education for his children.
On Tuesday, the Madison County Board of Zoning Appeals will decide whether to grant Jarrett a special-use exemption to create a 4,000-hog structure to his confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) at the corner of county roads 1300 North and 700 West in Duck Creek Township. The debate has pitted neighbor against neighbor. Jarrett and his supporters say they have the right to expand their operations to better their livelihood and provide for future generations. Their opponents worry that their quality of life will suffer and that the environmental impact of CAFOs outweighs farmers’ rights.
Jarrett has already received approval from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).
His proposal calls for the construction of a second “hog barn,” a structure 81-feet, 6-inches wide and 413-feet long that would house 4,000 head of swine. The hogs arrive weighing around 50 pounds and leave 100 to 120 days later having swelled to around 300 pounds.
Source: Herald Bulletin
On Tuesday, the Madison County Board of Zoning Appeals will decide whether to grant Jarrett a special-use exemption to create a 4,000-hog structure to his confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) at the corner of county roads 1300 North and 700 West in Duck Creek Township. The debate has pitted neighbor against neighbor. Jarrett and his supporters say they have the right to expand their operations to better their livelihood and provide for future generations. Their opponents worry that their quality of life will suffer and that the environmental impact of CAFOs outweighs farmers’ rights.
Jarrett has already received approval from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).
His proposal calls for the construction of a second “hog barn,” a structure 81-feet, 6-inches wide and 413-feet long that would house 4,000 head of swine. The hogs arrive weighing around 50 pounds and leave 100 to 120 days later having swelled to around 300 pounds.
Source: Herald Bulletin
