If you read the front page story in the Globe today concerning behemoth hog confinement pens that are being constructed in Northwood and somewhere around Ventura, you can easily see the direction things are moving. This proposed inventory will feed the needs of Prestage and it will only grow larger and larger.
A short while ago I touched on this subject, and at that time I advocated all things involving pigs move south to Mexico. It is all pluses, no negatives. It eliminates the health risks….of which there are multiple. It provides employment for the Mexican population, lower wages and broader profitability to the packer – no ocean between us. The processor can build all the CAFO’S they want.
If China was awake they would own and run these facilities. They already own ocean going container ships. Iowa could legislate laws prohibiting anyone from owning more than two pigs per family. In addition Iowa could shift 100% of all agriculture needs to crop production. This would not entirely solve our water problem because of spraying chemicals on the ground that go into the ground water and into the streams that come to our kitchen faucets. But it would be a big start to cleaning up mother earth and the damage we’ve done to that segment of our state for decades. Also there is strong evidence that the farmer and their families are at a higher risk of cancer due to working with these materials in a race to get inside the meat case or the cereal boxes.
You might think that moving everything labeled pork is a far fetched idea but you would be wrong. It makes perfect sense in today’ climate with health concerns and what has been increasing meat costs that have accelerated steadily year after year. I have seen whole ribeye loins priced in the meat cases of supermarkets at $88.00….and this isn’t prime.
Now someone wants me to tour a modern day farm; what am I going to see….thousands of gallons of carcinogenic chemicals from Monsanto that they’re going to spray on the ground to kill weeds, along with that we’re going to see a large amount of steroids that are injected into the baby pigs to get them to market faster; the chemicals in these injections are not something you want to digest. I think I’ll pass on the tour……I already know what corn looks like.
Peter Children
Mason City, Iowa
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Complete whacko man you are so misinformed.
There are farmers near here who raise cattle with no antibiotics and no steroids. From what I’ve heard, the meat almost melts in your mouth. Of course it costs more, but isn’t it worth it? The farmer I know will sell you beef by the half. That’s a lot of meat but you can split it with other people. Too bad more people don’t know about this. But will they pay the higher price?
This might be the most laughable article I have ever read!! LMAO
Hog sham – thank a farmer three times a day for – 1 polluting Iowa water ways with toxic pig shit 2 spraying toxic chemicals into the air that I breathe and the food you serve me(also the contaminated toxic meat i consume due to the steroids you feed them along with the GMO poison corn you raise and feed these animals – thank you for taking my hard earned tax money for your subsidized nice life style. DO YOU REALLY THINK ANYONE WITH AN IQ of over 20 believes your hillery/obama democrap drivel ?
I like that food I put in my mouth and a soothing glass of water – too bad it’s slowly killing me.
Truth always hurts – Hoggy Wild – a product of chinese owned/leased hoglots in Iowa. Hey Pete I think the old Trumpster is going to organize a hog roast at China’s neighbor – Rocket Man’s residence the theme will be casual so bring you own sparklers hoggy.
The guy who wrote this ate lead paint chips as a child. Long live cafos, and to my all my farmer friends live long and prosper. You can’t stand in the way progress! Remember to thank a farmer three times a day!
For the poison in our food and water.
no that is coming from your own sewage plants if you check out what is going on there. there was a good article in the star tribune exposing the findings of all the poisons coming from the sewage plants of cities. so you better be sharing any blame you want to dish out about the subject. Then go investigate your locale landfill and see that it is located in a designated wetlands right next to a creek. just a matter of time before it pollutes the creek and surrounding groundwater.
. “just a matter of time before it pollutes the creek and surrounding groundwater” Your probably right, just a matter of time. The landfill has been there for 46 years and there has been no problems. Just a matter of time. The creek you talk about is a creek in name only. It starts just a mile south of the landfill, and actually it’s source is from farmland tile. So, I’m going to bet that any poison/pollution found in the water, comes from farmland runoff. Besides, the wells in the area are tested yearly. As for the sewage problem, you could be right about that too. I don’t read the star tribune, and don’t know where it’s from, and you didn’t name any of the cities that were affected.
Do you really think the government is going to admit to the potential risk of pollution to the creek and groundwater? You are a fool to think that they might! As for the wells in the area, I know everyone around there, including myself, and the wells are not tested yearly, so you best not claim to know fact that is not true.
At Anonymous September 21, 2017 at 4:20 pm
Excuses, excuses, your such an idiot. You don’t know your ars from a hole in the ground.
And farmers in Iowa can thank the rest of us taxpayers for the 26.9 BILLION dollars in welfare that they have received since 1995.
But oh, they prefer the term “subsidy” as it does not have the stigma of being the moochers that they are.
You know why all farmers ball caps have curved/rounded bills?
That is from looking in the mail box for that government paycheck.
we thank you every day by providing your fat mouth with economical food. And many daily products you use, so if you want to pay more just let us know. wait till your bitching results in agriculture being completely taken over and run daily by the big ag corps. then you will appreciate the family farmer.
and if your so jealous, you are more than welcome to come out and start farming so you to can become “rich from the government subsidies”.
In the meantime take your comedy act to vegas
This is just Brad again. When he’s not doing lord-knows-what to his animals in the barn, he’s on NIT leaving really nasty comments. We’re keeping tabs, Brad. See you around and thanks for the page views.
And this from the clueless & narcissistic ass-clown that wants to be on the Mason City council. It would be funny were it not so pathetic.
You got spanked by Janet Solberg four years ago, seriously how embarrassing to be beat by someone as ignorant as Solberg is.
Brad. You mean the guy that owns all those CAFOs south of Clear Lake? Man, they gots a distinctive aroma – a real tourist atrraction. What does he do to those piggies when no one lookin’?
I’m picturing that scene in Deliverance but maybe a whole lot more squeelin and loose fur fallin in the dirt
“animals have rights” September 21, 2017 at 2:59 pm
and
“burt reynolds’ wet suit” September 21, 2017 at 3:20 pm
..are typical NIT & Marquardt supporters.
Like moths to a flame, the ignorant, idiotic and dregs of NI society flock to NIT in support of hypocrisy, lies and outright bullshit.
At Anonymous September 21, 2017 at 5:15 pm
” hypocrisy, lies and outright bullshit”
or is it?
When will the farmers realize the more pigs you raise the cheaper the price will get? China is buying somewhere else. This is an old joke; the farmer goes into the bank and tells the banker he wants to borrow $250,000. What are you going to do with the money the banker asks. ” I am going to raise pigs with it till it’s gone, the farmer replies.
So the farmer who doesn’t raise pigs is rich? Advice from a old ex beer joint owner you need to get real . YOU really don’t have a clue. Leave your house much?
Why don’t the farmers stand up to Monsanto and tell them you refuse to use their product? Tell the public your meat is chemically free of steroids and any other fast growth additive. Instead the farmer has bought into this deadly marketing plan. Niemann ranch is doing it and,shipping their meat nationwide? Band together, fight back. Get out, on f the pork business.
peter, nieman ranch uses antibiotics and growth hormones in their pig operation as I have seen their feed tickets from the elevator. furthermore those hogs are standing up to their belly in their shit where they are raised. but we forgot that you are too afraid to venture out of your box to see both sides of a story and prefer to just run your fn mouth like you have a terminal disease. you better see a doctor for your illness and dillusional vision.
I was at the Nieman butcher shop yesterday and bought a leg of lamb ($51. and change). That was my first visit….liked the store again. AS far as pork goes I have pretty much given up on eating that. Chickens are shot up almost from the dy they hatched.
Our food sources are in a sorry state; ground water run off is a proven fact as are chemically inoculated animals. The farmer is in business like all others….to profit. The farmer has become subservient to the Monsanto’s of the industry….Monsanto in my opinion is run much like a Mafia family….they are dominate with almost no opposition.
The farmer is carrying debt that needs to be paid so he does whatever is needed not to default….but he needs to attempt to be resistant to the process he is using. Band together with neighbors, form your own association, fight back if only for your own family that bears the brunt of the exposure. You eat what you raise, you process it at the local locker plant…..but you also know its dangerous to eat….unless you are raising a pig on the side that is chemically free.
Why does the topic of growing pigs turn into bashing other posters, just because you don’t agree with their views. WoW…
Don’t you just love the smell of ham cooking on the grill
No, I prefer Lamb
Why don’t you solve the problem by not eating anything produced by the American farmer. Or any other farmer in the world. It will make it easier for the real people out in America. And I am sure prove your point to yourself and everyone.
Farm Bureau is leading farmers to their demise like a Judas goat leading sheep up the chute to their slaughter..Pushing corn, road to road, cut down every tree, tear out the fences, cover every inch of land in corn..
result?
Over abundance drives prices down..Has the price of food gone down with low commodity prices? I’ve not seen it..Farmers aren’t gettin rich..Who benefits?
The PROCESSORS..ADM, Cargill, Continental Grain, etc..
Overproduction drives prices lower for the processors to get cheap raw materials, higher profits..
Now, they are doing it with meat..Domestic consumption of pork flatlined in 2010, now even going down from the rate it was in 2010..(source-Market to Market on PBS)..
There is now a glut of hogs..prices are low, & dropping..Producers, in debt a million $+ per barn, are losing money..Again, who gains? The PACKINGHOUSE!
Anyone remember the 80’s when farmers dinged piglets in the head with a hammer, because they couldn’t afford to feed them?
Watch how many cafo owners go under..swallowed up by the packinghouse..They will own the land, the pigs & the slaughterhouse..
50% of the hogs are foreign owned. 25% by Smithfield (China)
25% by BUS (Brazil)..China is buying farmland in America as fast as they can..
“He that controls the food, has the power”..
How but we ALL go Vegan. Case closed!
how about you die a slow painful death
Peter…… your off the wall concept makes perfect sense to me after I get over the initial shock, pick myself up off the floor and think rationally about your proposal. I like your agricultural philosophy. Alot. I don’t know whats in the water you are drinking but pour one for me too brother!
obviously peter’s water contains all those prescription drugs that pass thru the city’s sewage plant and seeps into the water supply. but oh wait it is all the hogs fault the drugs are there. lol
I hear prairie ridge has an opening for you peter, since you have a drug problem
I have been on a lot of farms, it was back when land was $150.00.per acre. For what a corn picking machine costs today you could have bought two farms. I have seen farmers today wearing real store bought suits. These are the new mulit-millionaires financed in part by government subsidies. If the congress dropped the corn subsides land prices would plummet. As long as Grassely is alive you’ll be alright.
Understand this, I’m not mad at the farmers….but when you want to envelop communities in pig shit, then I am going to crawl out of my hole.
Peter, in one brief sentence you have exposed the real reason you are against the American farmer and technology. By just stating that “farmers today wearing real store bought suits” it clearly indicates that you are prejudice to the ability of today’s American farmer being equal to the rest of society. do you also condone the corporate world for wearing a store bought suit? Probably not. And on the topic of government subsidies, you clearly have no understanding as to why the government does so. Farmers never get wealthy from a “government subsidy” as they exist only for the benefit of the government and its citizens. Government uses them to control a guaranteed cheap food supply for all your urban welfare recipients. Keep up the good work of making yourself look foolish and once again ignorant when voicing your lack of knowledge concerning agriculture. We will be patiently waiting with popcorn in hand for your next comical posting. Do you want butter with that popcorn, sir?
Just try smiling, then maybe laugh a little. It will do wonders for you. Don’t be so serious
well peter, if the last time you were on a farm was when land was $150 an acre then it’s definitely time for you to come out of the stone age and into the new century. We now know how out of touch you really are about ag and farming. The only info you know about ag today is what you can selectively search for on the internet to suit the result you prefer, not the truth. Do all of us a favor and stop talking about ag as it becomes more apparent you really are out of touch with truth of what is happening on a farm. keep believing all the false facts what that racist activist chris peterson spews
Peter why dont you come up with a logical solution instead of spewing this dumb drivel you always spew. You sir are a true Idiot and keyboard jockey.
My thoughts are already written in this article. Yesterday I called the Chinese consulate in Washington DC to express my thoughts. Do you have the slightest idea of how,many Chines ships dock in LA each day? This is workable.
poor peter, too scared to venture out in the real world are you? a closed minded person like yourself is called an ignorant ass. your rants get even more laughable and entertaining than watching a Loral & Hardy show. I would think an opportunity to see for yourself what you choose to criticize would give you better validation that you are right in your stance. but your refusal to even venture out of your casket tells a lot of your actual character, i.e. you have none!!! We will now conclude that you realize you may be wrong in your ideology of agriculture and your “send it back to the dark ages” mentality where people starved, went to war, and died for lack of food. You must not be a humanitarian. If you and your group of “convenient” environmentalists are so concerned about pollution let’s issue limits on the number of vehicles on the road. or how about a limit on the amount of trash each person can produce per individual. maybe best of all would be a limit to number of items made in china you can purchase, forcing people to buy American which are would be more expensive. all are economically unrealistic just like your thinking there should be a moratorium placed on agricultural technology. Meanwhile we will enjoy the comical laughter your columns provoke in the real world.
Those vast oceans of corn and beans along side 4 CAFO pens holding 20,000 hogs are the real killing fields in America.
What a jackass! How about you move to Mexico?
The current state of agriculture in Iowa and the United States is pathetic and deplorable.
How so?
you seem somewhat agitated