About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

5 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 219 (1995-1996)
Pork, Pollution, and Pig Farming: The Truth about Corporate Hog Production in Kansas

handle is hein.journals/kjpp5 and id is 609 raw text is: Pork, Pollution, and Pig Farming: The Truth About Corporate Hog Production in Kansas Eric Voogt The battle over whether corporations should be allowed to own agricultural land and produce agricultural products has been raging since the turn of the century. I. Background The Swine Industry . Corporate Swine Production Trend Many family swine farmers produce, slaughter, and process their hogs at one facility. Other small swine farmers produce hogs and sell the full grown swine to a slaughter and processing operation. A recent trend in the swine production industry, however, is an increase in the number of hogs per farm. Many of these large hog production farms are owned and operated by corporations. Kansas swine production reflects this trend. This trend towards larger production facilities exists in Kansas although corporate ownership of swine production operations was illegal in Kansas until 1994.' The trend towards large production farms is even more pronounced in North Carolina where corporations have always been free to produce swine. In general, these corporate hog producers differ from the family hog producer in size as well as ownership. A good example of a corporate swine production facility is National Hog Farms in eastern Colorado. National's 17,000 sows produce 320,000 swine per year in a facility consisting of 220 buildings across 27,000 acres. The swine are housed in corrugated metal buildings which are air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. The buildings have grated metal floors, and water flushes out the hog waste every twelve hours. This waste is sent to lagoons where it evaporates or is sprayed over fields as fertilizer.2 The reproductive history of each sow is computerized. At the age of seven months, the sows are bred in a special building. Exactly 115 days later, a litter of approximately nine piglets is born. At twenty-one days the piglets are weaned from their mother and are sent to a nursery building for another six weeks. It takes six more buildings and eighteen more weeks for the pigs to finish on feed. The cycle repeats for sows, and the hogs are sent to slaughter. In this system, a pig grows from birth to the marketable weight of 240 pounds in six months at a rate of approximately one and one-half pounds per day.' The ideal climate for these hog production operations consists of moderate temperature with low rainfall and low humidity. A proximate supply of corn and soybeans for feed and a low water table are also positives. A hog population of low density in the area of the operation helps prevent the spread of disease. Finally, a low density of human population lessens the need to diffuse the odor. These attributes are typical of southwest Kansas, making the region attractive to corporate swine producers.4 Eric Voogt is a third-year law student at the University of Kansas School of Law in Lawrence, Kansas. Spring 1996

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most