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The typical hog lot is a series of large warehouse-like buildings surrounded by agricultural land and sometimes by liquid manure pits called 'lagoons'. The buildings are ventilated and their temperature is regulated to maximize the pigs' growth. The buildings are usually arranged in rows, surrounded by farmland where crops such as corn and soybeans are fed to the hogs.
Each warehouse contains from 5,000 to 10,000 pigs packed in each building. There may be up to 100,000 hogs in the series of buildings. The overcrowding often spreads disease and leads to other health problems for the pigs.
Davidson quotes another farmer, "It has ruined our whole environment. We cannot live here. We've become angry." [1]
In 1995, a dike surrounding a 12ft manure-lagoon broke allowing ~25,000,000 gallons of feces and urine to flow into the New River in North Carolina. This resulted in the deaths of thousands of fish and contamination for miles downstream.
Between 1982 and 1987 some 21% of IowaIowa Flag of Iowa (In Detail) (Full size) State nickname: "The Hawkeye State Other U. States Capital Des Moines Largest City Des Moines Governor Thomas Vilsack Area Total % water Ranked 26th 145,743 km2 0. 71% Population Total ( 2000) Density Ranked 30th hog farmers went out of business. By 19921992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday. Events January January The Internet Society is formed. January 1 Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General January 1 George H. Bush becomes the fi, another 12% had gone out of business. Critics argue that this is, in large part, a result of hog lot expansion. [1]
Osha Gray Davidson writes: "As the rural economy continues its slide, the beachhead established by the far right will continue to grow. A significant number of rural ghetto residents are going to be cut off and are sure to seek their salvation in the politics of hate."
Davidson adds, "Adam Smith argued that market concentration is a threat to society. I believe democracy is endangered by the destruction of the family farm. The countryside is dominated by superfarms, corporate hog lots, and factory towns where people labor for poverty wages in unsafe and unhealthy conditions."
[1] Osha Gray Davidson: "In the wake of huge hog lots, what is replacing the heartland's family farms?" Des Moines Register (January 5, 1997). Adapted from his book Broken Heartland: The Rise of Americans' Rural Ghetto.
Agriculture