State-of-the-Art Cesspools/Outhouse / Straight Talk by Martha Stevens

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.

Amazing! A report by Steve Marbery in Feedstuffs describes what might be referred to as a glitch in Pig Heaven.

I refer to his recent story regarding the Iowa Pig Palaces built by Continental Grain in 1993 that recently sold at a “by invitation only” auction. (“By invitation only” keeps out the riff-raff – like a family farmer who might attempt to sneak in on corporate hog factory territory!) The operation was described as “seven years old, 800 acres, with 50% killable.” That’s what the article says, killable. Interesting.

At any rate, it seems that Iowa has enacted a law saying packers can’t raise swine in that state, and while Continental entered the state’s porcine arena by virtue of questionable “family farm” status, the situation abruptly changed when that little “family farm” acquired majority interest in Premium Standard Farm, Missouri’s largest state-of-the-art pig producer and its much publicized state-of-the-art packing house. As a result of this packing house purchase, Iowa no longer views Continental as “just a little old family farmer.” Hence the auction; “by invitation only” auction.

Don’t you just love the term, “state-of-the-art?” I’ve never quite figured out just what it means – really. In particular, I don’t understand the terminology “state-of-the-art” as it relates to hog waste cesspools by government and/or hog factory official when in reality they are little more than huge holes in the ground (uncovered!) and filled with hog manure. That concept wasn’t even “state-of-the-art” in my grandparents’ day! Even then, the digging of the hole was followed by the erection of a cover. (Commonly known as an outhouse, privy, toilet, or dung collection center.)

Speaking of cesspools, I find it interesting also that the article by Mr. Marbery refers to a 1996 revised permit for the Iowa Continental facility that required a plastic liner to replace original leaking two-stage cesspool system. (THEY refer to them as lagoons, but I agree with Don Webb of Stantonsburg, North Carolina who reminds us that “lagoons are pools of clear water with pretty girls swimming in them.” THESE ARE CESSPOOLS!)

And therein lies the truly amazing part. Here in Missouri, cesspools don’t leak; they’re impermeable; jug tight. Our MO Dept. of Natural Resources and hog factory PR people say so. Must be true, then, right?

So, why has Iowa determined that their cesspools leak while Missouri official – including our esteemed MDNR – remains steadfast in their claim that there is no problem? Good question.

Consider the gruesome discovery when a local former hog producer who had, several years ago, been assured that the clay liner used in the bottom of his hog waste cesspool would protect against leakage, hadn’t.

In closing his cesspool a couple of years ago, he was shocked to find the condition of his “jug-tight, leak-proof hog waste cesspool.” The impermeable clay liner had disintegrated, leaving a black crumbly mess that in no way resembled the clay he had been assured would protect the surrounding area and groundwater from pollution.

Truly amazing, isn’t it, that a small operation of just a few hundred hogs destroyed this independent farmer’s cesspool, but the numerous multi-gallon hog waste cesspools serving nearly a million hogs and baby pigs in north Missouri are deemed “jug tight?” A cracked jug. A BIG crack.

Or maybe, those jug-tight, impermeable, leak-proof hog waste cesspools aren’t quite as leak-proof after all. Perhaps it’s time for an independent, unbiased, non-associate of the company test of the ground area surrounding those cesspools. Hm-m-m?

Today’s Quote: “It’s ludicrous to have operations that put out five times the waste of Kansas City say it’s state-of-the-art to just put it into a hole in the ground.” – Roger Allison, Missouri Rural Crisis Center.