2008 Woodie Awards
Hog wild
Mark Hardy
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: News
Six months ago, the Adair County Commissioners might have snorted at the suggestion that anyone would apply to build a Confined Animal Feeding Operation. For some residents, John Mark Miller's proposed facility sparked debate.
Miller operates a farm northeast of Kirksville in Brashear, Mo. Late in the spring, he applied to build his second CAFO, an automated building where he could raise as many as 2,400 hogs on his land. If officials cannot find any violations of Adair County health codes, they said they are legally obligated to approve his proposal. However, the county clerks have faced a wealth of opposition from Miller's neighbors who do not wish to live near such a facility.
"Our main concern as neighbors is the smell," said Colleen Primmer, a Kirksville resident who lives on the road where Miller plans to build. "Who wants to live by one of those?"
Primmer said she and other concerned neighbors found out about Miller's application during the third week of July. More than 30 neighbors who opposed the CAFO convened in a living room to discuss a course of action. A week before last Monday, the group turned in a petition with about 125 signatures citing reasons not to approve Miller's application.
"Our reasons included health, air quality, lifestyle, lower property value [and] deteriorating road conditions," Primmer said. "Once one gets started, the concern is that more will begin. Knox [Mo.] has 12 or 13."
Primmer also farms and raises hogs and said she sympathizes with many of Miller's goals.
"Well, this is just a job - it is really hard for farmers, they need to get bigger and bigger," she said. "We're not against the family farmer. We're families who farm."
Primmer's concerns also are deeply rooted in the plight of small, diversified farms that must compete with larger corporate operations. She and her husband raise about 60 pigs on a more traditional farm she said.
"If we go to MFA to buy hog feed, he gets a different price, and that's why we don't have many people like us, who farm and raise hogs," Primmer said. "We're taking a stand against corporate farmers - that kind of control."
Miller operates a farm northeast of Kirksville in Brashear, Mo. Late in the spring, he applied to build his second CAFO, an automated building where he could raise as many as 2,400 hogs on his land. If officials cannot find any violations of Adair County health codes, they said they are legally obligated to approve his proposal. However, the county clerks have faced a wealth of opposition from Miller's neighbors who do not wish to live near such a facility.
"Our main concern as neighbors is the smell," said Colleen Primmer, a Kirksville resident who lives on the road where Miller plans to build. "Who wants to live by one of those?"
Primmer said she and other concerned neighbors found out about Miller's application during the third week of July. More than 30 neighbors who opposed the CAFO convened in a living room to discuss a course of action. A week before last Monday, the group turned in a petition with about 125 signatures citing reasons not to approve Miller's application.
"Our reasons included health, air quality, lifestyle, lower property value [and] deteriorating road conditions," Primmer said. "Once one gets started, the concern is that more will begin. Knox [Mo.] has 12 or 13."
Primmer also farms and raises hogs and said she sympathizes with many of Miller's goals.
"Well, this is just a job - it is really hard for farmers, they need to get bigger and bigger," she said. "We're not against the family farmer. We're families who farm."
Primmer's concerns also are deeply rooted in the plight of small, diversified farms that must compete with larger corporate operations. She and her husband raise about 60 pigs on a more traditional farm she said.
"If we go to MFA to buy hog feed, he gets a different price, and that's why we don't have many people like us, who farm and raise hogs," Primmer said. "We're taking a stand against corporate farmers - that kind of control."
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