Like many rural people, I’m not a fan of the giant livestock operations that have stolen the markets from ordinary farmers. These giant facilities raise thousands of animals in buildings where the animals are crowded so that they are forced to spend their lives without rest or respite. Known as Confined Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs, the facilities are not required to treat animal waste, so their poo is poured onto agriculture fields as raw manure so that it will be taken up by crops. It is a good source of nitrogen but for some reason farmers keep using chemical nitrogen on top of the manure. As Chris Jones says in his book “Swine Republic,” the excess goes into creeks, then flows to rivers and, eventually, creates a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
I am not a fan. So imagine my excitement when news came from both Tyson and Smithfield that they are closing facilities (which they unfortunately call “farms.”) According to USA Today, Tyson announced four closings: North Little Rock, Arkansas; Corydon, Indiana; Dexter and Noel, Missouri. “The company plans to reallocate resources to “more efficient plants,” Tyson President and CEO Donnie King said during a Monday earnings call. A spokesperson for Tyson declined to say how many jobs will be eliminated due to the closures.”
What about the farmers that went into the poultry business expecting enough income to pay their bills? What about the schools? Hospitals? Churches? What about the manure? What about the animals? When I checked the website for Missouri’s Department of Natural Resources, there was no more news, meaning that Tyson hasn’t figured out exactly how they’ll make these closings happen.
So that’s the bird story. Here’s the news on swine, according to KY TV: Smithfield, which since 2013 is owned by a Chinese corporation called WH group, is closing 35 plants, mostly in northwest Missouri. While WH is a Chinese corporation, using money borrowed from the Chinese government, and while they own facilities in Missouri, they speak from their headquarters in the Cayman Islands, a good strategy for a corporation that wants to avoid taxes.
When the Missouri facilities were built in 1989 by an American corporation called Premium Standard Farms, communities in Putnam and Mercer counties were particularly affected. Just a short drive to Kirksville and only two hours from Kansas City, they were just coming out of the farm crisis and beginning to build human population again. But the prospect of having thousands of porcine neighbors and open pit lagoons meant that yuppie growth ceased. Instead, PSF brought in workers from the most helpless sectors of society. They found ways to use government programs like Welfare-to-Work to train moms in hog tending and pork processing. The new population distressed schools and services.
Slowly, the communities adjusted to their new neighbors. And now the facilities are closing.
Once again, the DNR has no information about these closings and how Smithfield will dispose of the manure, hogs and, oh yeah, workers. Smithfield has notified DNR only that they will “depopulate” the facilities.
But my husband always says, “Look for the silver lining” and here’s one: Missouri has at least 27 under-utilized strip malls for sale, abandoned as people have started shopping on-line. These malls are perfect for creating the “more efficient” CAFOs for Tyson and Smithfield. Here’s my thinking:
First of all, it makes sense to move giant livestock facilities closer to the population centers of carnivores, so re-building strip malls into CAFOs will save fossil fuel. And since rural blacktops were never meant to take care of hog-heavy 18-wheelers, moving the truck traffic to where the pavement is more substantial will save millions of tax dollars.
Not only that, but the buildings around the new CAFOs can easily be converted to housing for CAFO workers. Since a Missouri study says that property values plunge in the three miles surrounding a CAFO (“each CAFO in the state lowered surrounding property values by an average of 2.68 million dollars”), landlords will be happy to rent to low-income workers.
Looking at the silver lining more closely, there’s potential for converting even tall buildings to swine or poultry confinements, so here’s good news for the cities. In China, according to The Guardian, there’s a 12-story hog confinement touted mainly for its ability to stop swine diseases before they can spread. It’s a Win/Win.
And, here’s the best part: These urban and suburban buildings, are already plugged into municipal sewer systems. Using those facilities, that valuable poo can be easily captured and applied to city parks and golf courses saving (once again) tax dollars! The Dead Zone Problem: Solved!
Even the CAFO gasses can be converted, presto change-o, to some inflammable gas that produces power.
University Ag Schools—get on this right away! CAFOs are moving to the city!
Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, October 1, 2023
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