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Martha Stevens is livestock farmer who lives and farms near Hatfield, Missouri. This article is part of an ongoing series by Martha Stevens - Straight Talk - commenting on the life and politics of farming in Missouri and the U.S. as a whole.

"The best laid plans of mice and men" (and monopoly seekers) can sometimes run up against a stone wall. (The latter is my own finale for this oft used quote!) Such is the case with Smithfield, the nation’s largest hog factory which has been gobbling up other biggies at a record pace.

But, WHOA, there pander! Attorney generals Jay Nixon (Missouri) and Tom Miller (Iowa) have determined that this conglomerate is not a family farm by any stretch of the imagination. And we are all aware of how far that imagination can sometimes stretch! While I agree with the actions of the AG’s, I still have a problem with others allowed to operate unhampered: Continental Grain, Iowa Select, Farmland, to name just a few.

Missouri AG Nixon filed a lawsuit in early January seeking to stop the acquisition of Murphy operations in Missouri by Smithfield, saying that the purchase would violate state laws prohibiting corporate farming. There are many within this state who, while applauding at least partial enforcement of this statute at long last, wonder what rock the AG has been hiding under for the past six or seven years as corporate hog factories have virtually wiped out independent swine operations?

Smithfield, under an agreement signed recently in Missouri, has just 10 days after closing on the purchase to "divest itself" of the Missouri property. But don’t hold your breath. It will be interesting to see what loophole the company will come up with that will allow it to continue operating in the state. I have no doubt whatsoever that such cicumvention of the statute will occur.

AG Tom Miller (Iowa) is following Missouri’s lead with similar action on behalf of his state.

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In other news from the Missouri AG office, it seems that the much lauded (by the company!) environmental plan of Premium Standard Farms/Continental Grain Company is somewhat lacking. They have been sent back to the drawing board to come up with a better way to solve their massive pollution problems.

To the dismay of many citizens of north Missouri, the AG reached an agreement last summer with PSF/CG in which the company agreed to commit up to $25 million in environmental improvements. Of course, the pollution expert, PSF/CG, was given five years to come up with this improvement plan, which means that the citizens living near their operations were given a five year sentence of continued air, land, and water pollution.

So, what big "environmental improvement plan" did this company come up with? In a nutshell: NONE. They asked for (and received, compliments of the MO. Dept. of Natural Resources) permits to construct even more huge pollution-prone cesspools, and they requested permission to spread that manure over even more Missouri land.

Air dams? When I firs heard the term "air dam" I scratched my head in wonder at what possible use a "dam" would be in regards to an intangible, "air." Have you seen them? I no longer scratch my head in wonder; I just laugh out loud. They appear to be plywood structures, about the height of the confinement building, and placed a few feet away from the exhaust fans to direct the air UP -- for a few feet.

Now, I am no rocket scientist, but wouldn’t the shooting of the stench up another few feet do little more than send it into the air currents to spread its stink over even more area? While it MAY reduce the odor in the immediate area, it does nothing to eliminate the problem; it just sends it a little higher into the atmosphere to come down somewhere else on an unsuspecting citizenry.

Today’s Quote: "It’s a rare salesman who can keep a straight face while he tells you that pigshit doesn’t stink." -- Robert Bryce, Texas Observer

Published in In Motion Magazine - March 5, 2000

Also read other essays by Martha Stevens