In the background for farm bill: How many farms and what size?
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reached back to the Carter era in calling for a transformational 2023 farm bill that helps small and medium-size farmers earn more from the land rather than move to town. Secretary Bob Bergland "issued a warning to all of us about" the problem of too much consolidation in agriculture, said Vilsack.
EPA would exempt CAFOs from right-to-know reporting of manure gases
The EPA has proposed a rule that would exempt industrial livestock farms from a requirement under a “community right-to-know law” that they notify state and local officials of gases produced by the manure on their farms. (No paywall)
Smithfield aims for manure digesters, not lagoons, in three states
In order to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, Smithfield Foods set a target on Thursday of equipping 90 percent of its hog-finishing facilities in three states with manure-to-energy digesters to capture biogas for eventual sale as renewable natural gas.
Jury awards hog-farm neighbors $473.5 million in nuisance lawsuit
A federal jury awarded six neighbors of industrial hog farms in North Carolina $473.5 million in damages on Friday. The lawsuit is the third so far on the waste-management practices of Smithfield-associated hog farms in the state. Earlier verdicts have awarded plaintiffs about $75 million.
How CAFOs divided an Arkansas community
As a young man, Johnny Carroll Sain dreamed of owning an industrial hog farm like his uncle. Eventually, he did, raising hogs for Cargill on 55 acres in northern Arkansas. He's out of the business now, and in FERN's latest piece, published with Arkansas Life, he explores how industrial meat production has damaged the environment, the economy, and the social cohesion in his rural community. (No paywall)
In two decades, big farms took over hog industry
Historically, small or medium-sized farms produced the majority of the annual pig crop. But in the space of two decades, three at the most, the hog industry was transformed into a sector dominated by large farms with at least 5,000 head apiece, says the USDA's Overview of the U.S. Hog Industry report, issued for the first time since 2009.