CAFO Tour Report
Karen Myers from wahm diary up un Jasper County attended an open house and tour at the confined pig operation which was permitted to open up adjacent to a sensitive wildlife preserve. Karen was part of the group that fought the CAFO along with several of her neighbors, so the tour was a bit of a “defeat lap.”
She reports that the tour leader was open and appropriate with her voiced concerns. She was surprised by the complexity of the operation, which will produce 1,200 piglets per week, once it is up and running:
A HUGE amount of their operation will be automated and carefully controlled/monitored by computer (with regards to feed). Each sow will receive their own portions of feed, delivered automatically through a computer controlled feeding system.
Special enzymes (called “green moss”) will be added to their feed to ensure proper digestion, and hopefully eliminate and/or reduce a large amount of pathogens from their waste. Again, the amount of additive will be scientifically controlled and delivered via the automatic feeding system.
Even the “teaser bores” will be walked up and down the aisles in front of the confined sows (to get them “excited” and ready for insemination) will be done using a robotic leading system.
She also reflects the anger that many in the community feel about how this facility ended up being installed in their neighborhood:
BUT, as I expressed near the end of our tour, had they come into this area in an honest and open manner, instead of sliding in through the back door hoping no one would notice them until it was a “done deal” …maybe — just maybe — we wouldn’t be so defensive about the whole thing. It didn’t speak well for “responsible” business ethics
