They wanted everyone who didn’t agree with them to leave the Mt. Union Community Building last night.
Although we were asked to leave, we stayed because it was advertised as a public meeting. The group hosting the meeting, “Des Moines County Farmers and Neighbors”, is a group of people who are concerned about an influx of factory hog farms, known as CAFOS, in the area.
Diane Rosenburg, of the socially responsible agricultural project, says southeast Iowa is now prime territory for expansion of so-called “factory” hog farms. She said last night that those farms have started to affect peoples health, property values, quality of life, and roads, among other things.
Rosenburg says a lot of people are fighting back, but if the operation is under 25-hundred head, Iowa law is on the side of the pig-farm owner.
“CAFO” by the way, stands for Confined Animal Feeding Operations.
