Originally published September 6 2005
Indiana's plan to double pork production in next twenty years would harm the environment
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Increasing hog production in Indiana from the 6.3 million hogs raised for market last year to about 13 million by 2025 would threaten the environment, and environmentalists fear that adding all those extra hogs — and their excrement — would worsen the state’s air and underground water quality.
An agriculture plan that calls for Indiana to double its pork production by 2025 has worried some environmentalists who fear that adding all those extra hogs --- and their excrement --- will worsen the state's air and water quality.
Rae Schnapp, the Hoosier Environmental Council's water policy specialist, said the hog production goals of the state's "Plan for 2025" will inevitably cause more pollution from runoff of manure that can harm waterways and taint groundwater.
The plan, which was released in May by the state's new Department of Agriculture, outlined how the state's farmers, companies and universities can work together to develop Indiana's overall agricultural industry during the next 20 years.
Agriculture Department Director Andy Miller has said that doubling the state's pork production, along with boosting timber production, are among the plan's key goals.
But Schnapp said increasing production from the 6.3 million hogs raised for market last year to about 13 million by 2025 would threaten the environment.
That conflict is evident in Redding Township, where a southern Bartholomew County woman is attempting to gain approval from Jackson County planning and zoning officials to build two 4,000-head hog barns northeast of Reddington.
Lykins' plan is being backed financially by Jackson-Jennings Farm Bureau Co-op, which is already involved in five other confined hog feeding operations.
Miller said Schnapp's concerns overlook that a key element of the state's hog production goals encourages farmers to tap into emerging technologies that control animal waste and odors to satisfy a growing demand for pork predicted by the USDA.
He said Indiana's hog industry has been reshaped during the past decade, with declines in the pounds of pork, number of individual hogs raised for market and hog births.
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