The dozen family farmers, Township Supervisors, and community activists excluded from testifying at the House Ag Committee's April 26th hearing on the Nutrient Management Act have vowed to be heard at the Capitol on that day. Instead of fostering sustainable agriculture, our state legislative leaders have too often favored narrow corporate interests, and in so doing have put citizens at risk. Among other activities planned for the 26th, several excluded witnesses will be participating in a press conference to highlight their concerns about factory farm corporations. Their full testimony will also be presented to members of the House Ag Committee.
Several witnesses plan to attend the hearing itself.
North Carolina's crackdown on industrial hog farms apparently is sending the corporations South Carolina's way. In South Carolina, state health officials appear likely to approve the proposed hog farms, which would warehouse an average of nearly 32,000 hogs at any given time. But local governments are scrambling to block the proposed farms. South Carolina has 265, mostly small hog farms, but nothing on the scale of the two proposed for the Pee-Dee. Between them, according to permit applications on file with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the two farms would produce almost 25 million gallons of hog waste a year.