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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.

Every now and then I go through my multitude of scrapbooks and files re corporate hog farms. I do this when seeking verification that my personal "memory store" hasn’t led me astray. Such was the case after reading a teeny little mention in the St. Joseph News Press regarding per capita income, county by county. Secondary headlines for the article made mention of Livingston County with the highest figure and DeKalb, the lowest.

But it wasn’t the headlines that got my attention, it was a minute little mention in the sixth paragraph that revealed that Mercer County, hose of Premium Standard Farms (PSF) -- corporate hog farm extraordinaire -- barely escaped the lowest per capita designation.

WHOA!! That highly touted home to PSF, Princeton aka the "boom town" of north Missouri with all those JOBS? (PSF jobs, of course!). Mercer County escaped the cellar designation per capita income by less than $300? Naturally, I had to refresh my memory on all the wonders of Economic Development, PSF style.

First came the media blitz that portrayed PSF as the savior of north Missouri. Residents were force-fed feature stories that portrayed Mercer County in general, and Princeton in particular, as a veritable garden of Eden. Reading the diatribe that spread across area newspapers, one would have thought the streets were paved in gold! The company and political proponents liked to talk about added tax $$$, but a study of the economic impact by the University of MO showed that while PSF and its employees might add $1.3 million in taxes to the area, just under $1 million in additional tax revenue would be needed to maintain increased municipal and school costs.

Then in 1995, the real costs of having a giant hog factory in our midst began rearing its ugly head. Numerous spills with the resultant vast fish kills and deliberate over-application of waste to the land, coupled with constant and consistent neighbor complaints of the stench emanating from the buildings and cesspools provided insight into an additional "cost" of these types of operations.

I won’t even get into the PSF bankruptcy filing that resulted in erasing much of the company debt incurred with a fancy "campus" and lavish life style except to point out that the source of all that "economic development" has reportedly never shown a real profit since its inception, or the "merger" with Continental Grain that effectively allows PSF to operate outside the three-county exemption area via "contracting" with CG.

Through it all, the company has maintained that the economic development brought by PSF and like facilities were the best thing that ever happened to north Missouri. In virtually every ad, every news story, every meeting between company and citizens, the primary "booster" used to promote the company and its operation is the jobs they provide: jobs the company claims as proof of economic improvement for the community. Now, it appears, even that claim has been laid to rest by the reality of the financial situation in Mercer County.

Score another accurate prediction on the part of real farmers vs factory hog facilities! The following is a brief description of other accurate predictions:

* Spills of manure into our streams and rivers

* Fish kills from hog waste

* Over-application of hog waste on the land

* Contamination of surface and/or ground water

* Neighbors becoming ill from the stench and pollution

* Loss of markets for independent producers

* Loss of local businesses (feed, hardware, etc.)

* Loss of small pork producers

* Efficiency myth resulting in bankruptcy filings

* Hog factory jobs requiring long hours for low pay

So, what will now be the selling point by mega hog factories? It appears to be (since recent new regulations announced by the EPA for environmental protection!) a newly discovered "commitment to the environment!" What else? Excuse me if I don’t believe a word of it!

Mega Hog Factories. Economic Development? Bah! Humbug!

Published in In Motion Magazine - July30, 1999

Also read other essays by Martha Stevens