On June 12th, two concerned citizens of Poweshiek County who live on 420th Ave received a letter regarding the "Construction of a Swine Finishing Building" near their homes just a few miles southwest of Grinnell. For Marla Morrison Inks, Morrison Family Farm, LLC has been in her family since 1867, when it was homesteaded from the government. The construction of the proposed facility will significantly impact the preservation of her family farm home-site and future plans to build and occupy by the family. Her mother, who is 99 and alive and well at St. Francis Manor, spent decades of dedication enriching the land there, and she would be devastated if a hog confinement moved in. There are several other century family farms in the area that are threatened by this proposed construction. For all of these farms, a hog confinement in the area threatens their livelihood and the value of the land that their ancestors have farmed for generations. Moreover, this will affect the air and water quality of our entire town and state and the public health of our entire community. Due to COVID-19, the Board of Supervisors has declared that there will be NO PUBLIC HEARING on this proposed CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation), and all comments opposing the construction must be received by June 18th at 10AM. All comments and objections, including this petition, must be submitted by June 18, 2020.  

We must act now! We, the undersigned residents of Iowa, oppose the construction of the McNulty hog confinement because of the negative impact it will have on several nearby century farms and on the air, water, soil, health and quality of life of our community.

For your reference, here are specific facts about why we should all oppose CAFOs in Iowa!

• Iowa is the land of many great things -- hog confinements are not one of them. Our state is home to the largest population of hogs anywhere on planet Earth, 23 million pigs, 1/3 of the United States total. In addition, there are 110 MILLION total livestock animals being raised in Iowa --  chickens, pigs, turkeys and cattle -- in confinement. These Confined Animal Feeding Operations are the polar opposite of how animals should be raised: they are living in concrete buildings and forced to wallow in their own manure rather than being given the space of a green pasture and grazing the beautiful land here in Iowa.
• Huge feedlots like these that have taken over our state are the reason Iowa is home to meatpacking plants like Tyson and Hormel. These meatpacking plants bring even more danger to our communities!
• The manure from the 110 million animals in Iowa is equivalent to the waste of 168 million humans. Since we only have 3.1 million humans living here, this is quite a lot of unnecessary waste which is harmful to our communities and farm fields! (https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2019/06/10/iowa-leads-nation-poop-manure-university-iowa-livestock-clean-water-pollution-shades-brown-waste/1379973001/
• The Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine said swine manure can generate toxic chemicals, including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and methane. The toxins are delivered to local rivers and streams, affecting drinking water, fish and aquatic organisms (https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2018/07/30/cafos-iowa-residents-ban-together-fight-hog-confinements/863989002/
• John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future puts it: "The hog industry is ruining Iowa’s rural communities, as well, driving out small and medium-sized businesses through consolidation and vertical integration—small businesses can’t compete with the monopolies. Adding to rural communities’ despair are the stench, the allergens, and the plummeting property values, all of which can be traced to the dominance of corporate hog operations." (https://clf.jhsph.edu/stories/support-iowa-moratorium-hog-confinement-operations

We Iowans are tired of big agriculture ruining our state and the health of its citizens and natural land! Let us band together and put an end to CAFOs in Poweshiek County!