Des Moines Register
A four-story animal feeding operation under construction in east-central Iowa prompted concern on Twitter this week that one of the so-called high-rise hog hotels generating buzz in China had made their way to Iowa.
As it turns out, the facility belongs to Fremont Farms of Iowa, an egg company that s building two multi-story buildings for 1.3 million laying hens east of Grinnell. Fremont Farms says national demand for cage-free eggs prompted it to invest $85 million to convert a traditional egg-laying facility into one that gives the hens room to roam.
The company said the project also includes converting an existing affiliated farm into a cage-free facility with 355,000 pullets, or young hens.
A tweet suspects farming facility to cram hens in new multi-story unit usatoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from usatoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Des Moines Register
A four-story animal feeding operation under construction in east-central Iowa prompted concern on Twitter this week that one of the so-called high-rise hog hotels generating buzz in China had made their way to Iowa.
As it turns out, the facility belongs to Fremont Farms of Iowa, an egg company that s building two multi-story buildings for 1.3 million laying eggs east of Grinnell. Fremont Farms says national demand for cage-free eggs prompted it to invest $85 million to convert a traditional egg-laying facility into one that gives the hens room to roam.
The company said the project also includes converting an existing affiliated farm into a cage-free facility with 355,000 pullets, or young hens.
The Daily Yonder Information on Factory Farms Is Spotty at Best. The Government Has Been Hogtied from Doing More There is no comprehensive list of all the concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, in the Midwest. A lawsuit prevented the federal government from making one, and states take different approaches.
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Hogs feed in a pen in a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, on a farm, in Lawler, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Deborah Bunka knows she’s in Hardin County, Iowa, when the smell of manure starts to filter in through her car’s air conditioning.
As the membership director for Iowa Farmers Union, Bunka has spent a lot of time talking to farmers in counties like Hardin, where pigs outnumber people about 37 to 1. And she’s seen firsthand the effects of living in close proximity to so many animals.