This article will look at legal issues surrounding the regulation of potential impacts from these production activities as regulated by state and federal authorities. Although these issues apply in many respects equally to all farm-reared animal species, hog production will be used as the primary reference in this discussion since it is this livestock industry facing the most dramatic technological and structural changes both in Indiana and in the nation.
Hogs are a major contributor to Indiana cash farm receipts.
Indiana's share of the total United States hogs marketed has been around eight percent and is expected to remain stable relative to the nation. The volume and potential impact of this production is even more impressive when you consider the total economic impacts the multiplier effects of hog producers expenditures for inputs and the turnover of producer income in the economy. While hog production has remained a critical part of Indiana's agricultural picture, the structure of the Industry has been changing. Hog production in Indiana is expected to grow modestly during this decade while the number of farms with hogs is expected to decrease over fifty percent. The remaining farms at the end of the decade will be more than twice the size they were at the beginning of the decade.