"NC Hog Farmers Important" say Activists | Contradict Statement with Actions

“Although we understand that the pork industry is important…”

Words said by activists opposing North Carolina hog farms and their efforts to implement innovations.

They say that they understand that the NC pork industry is important, but do they really?

Do they comprehend what 44,000 jobs looks like?

Do they understand what $10 billion does for the state’s economy?

Do they know that our hog farmers feed 20 million people every year?

Do they realize just how important the pork industry is to NC families and communities?

The same families and communities they are supposedly advocating for and protecting.

Saying “we understand that the pork industry is important,” while suing us, filing legal complaints against us, attacking us, blocking efforts to implement innovative technology, and even effectively causing farms to shut down — saying we’re important while simultaneously scorning us is a backhanded compliment that no one is falling for.

They don’t believe we are important. They only say that to save face and bolster credibility. To them, we are a scourge to this state. We cause egregious injustices, pollute the environment, and are greedy. We are not important. It would be just fine if we were run out of town.

And even if they do mean what they say and understand the positive impacts the pork industry has on North Carolina communities, their actions and words tell a different story.

Here are two examples:

(1) “Although we understand that the pork industry is important, researchers have repeatedly found that pollution from the state’s industrial hog operations disproportionately affect African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans in a pattern that they concluded, ‘is generally recognized as environmental racism.’’’—Robert Moore, president of the Duplin County Branch of the NC Conference of the NAACP.

The research that they refer to is flawed and inaccurate. Hog farms do not disproportionately affect these groups. The pork industry does not impact communities in such a way that is to be considered environmental racism. Whatever importance they see in the pork industry is clearly nullified by their opinion of the affect hog farms incur on certain communities. What’s more, their incessant need to use bogus and negligent research shows they are not interested in truly recognizing the benefits the pork industry offers.

(2)  During the nuisance lawsuits against hog farmers, covered lagoons were highlights as an example of a better, more sustainable option than the current lagoon system. But when the pork industry made efforts to implement covered lagoons that would create renewable energy, the opposition was fierce. Why are these activists trying to stop farmers from implementing sustainable and innovative technology that is good for the community? Because they don’t truly believe the pork industry is important.

Long story, short, when these groups say that the pork industry is important, it rings hollow and untrue. It’s an effort to play the good guy. They don’t believe it, not really.

Farmers are humble, hard-working people who don’t like to shout about our importance. But we know our worth. We just wish these groups did, too.

Activists Oppose Innovations that Improve NC Hog Farm Environmental Sustainability

If you’ve ever wondered about the true motivation of the activists who relentlessly attack our family farmers, here is a clear indication: their puzzling opposition to generating clean, renewable energy from North Carolina hog farms.

 Smithfield Foods and Dominion Energy have pledged to invest $500 million to capture methane from hog farms and convert it into renewable natural gas through a partnership known as Align Renewable Natural Gas. The project’s initial efforts involve hundreds of farms in three states — many of them located in Duplin and Sampson counties.

 It’s a solution that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create clean renewable energy, and further reduce threats from flooding by using covered lagoons and digesters to capture methane gas. 

Image from Align RNG

 Yet, the Waterkeepers and others refuse to support the project. Check that — it’s not simply that they don’t support the project, they are actively trying to kill it.  

 And that shows their true intentions.

 These groups won’t support any innovations that help our farmers and make our industry more sustainable — no matter how much they will help the environment. They simply want to put hog farmers out of business.

 What other logical reason is there for opposing a project that will establish eastern North Carolina as a leader in renewable energy, creating new jobs and attracting new investment in our rural communities?

 In a recent blog post from the Waterkeeper Alliance, Pamlico Tar Riverkeeper Jill Howell argues in vain that capturing biogas won’t help our environment.

 Huh?

 It’s clear that the very notion of saying something — anything! — even halfway positive about the innovative steps being taken by our industry to help the environment is simply impossible for these activists. That’s all you need to know.

 If you would like to show your support for the Align Energy project, you can submit comments on their proposed air quality permit to DAQ.publiccomments@ncdenr.gov. Use subject line: Align Energy. The deadline for comments is Friday, November 20. 

Attacks Keep Coming for NC Hog Farmers

The attacks keep coming…

There’s a popular movie from the 1990’s where Bill Murray plays a weatherman who is forced to relive the same day over and over and over again.

If you’re a North Carolina hog farmer, it must feel like Groundhog Day every time you see a story from freelance reporter Barry Yeoman. It’s yet another attack on our farmers, fueled by activists and trial lawyers who want to put us out of business.

This latest attack appeared recently in Indy Week, an alternative weekly newspaper in the Triangle. It purports to tell the story of a Wilson County man who has experienced “20 years of hell” because he lives near a hog farm. (His home is more than a half mile away from the nearest farm.)

It’s no surprise to learn that the story focuses on one of the plaintiffs in the ongoing series of nuisance lawsuits. And like the other plaintiffs in these lawsuits, this particular individual isn’t seeking any changes to the farm’s operations. These plaintiffs and the trial lawyers who represent them only want money.

And like most of the other plaintiffs, there’s no record of neighbor complaints about the farm’s operations — until the trial lawyers showed up with promises of lucrative payouts.

You see, this case isn’t really about 20 years of hell. It’s about the unfettered greed of trial lawyers who have set their sights on North Carolina farmers and the corporations who are vital to the success of our pork industry.

These nuisance lawsuits have been another Groundhog Day experience for our farmers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will finally hear oral arguments involving Murphy-Brown’s appeal of the nuisance lawsuit verdicts on Friday, January 31. This is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for — the opportunity to point out serious errors by the judge that unduly influenced the outcome of the trials. We’ll share updates from the Fourth Circuit after the hearing.