So are we OK with rural Iowa being almost uninhabitable so urban areas can have cheaper bacon?

[Herkster5]

And then they cram close to 3,000 head in each unit. Spring is the absolute worst time of the year as they clean pits before planting season. Between turbines and manure odor and casinos... it'll be tough picking Branstad's legacy.

Clean pits in the spring? Not terribly often, as most manure is spread in the fall after harvest is completed. And, I'd love to see documentation or proof that anyone is cramming 3k head of hogs into those sites. They are still regulated under 2500 head, and there'd be some stiff penalties for having extra pigs in there, or so I assume.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

Americans eat way too much meat.

better than eating a bunch of rice and wheat......

 

[Nothing_is_free]

Anybody complaining about hog confinement buildings is a low T beta cuck.

 

[seminole97]

And I vote faster-rising sea levels.

Did I do that right?

I bet you’ll be swimming in pig shit before I have beachfront.

 

[Mattski]

Ever lived in NJ?

No, but I did watch all the Sopranos episodes so I consider myself an expert.

 

[Kinnick.At.Night]

Then again I wonder if I could get zoning for a hog confinement in downtown CR, that city smells like shit anyway.

It does? I’ve lived here all my life. I smell crunch berries from time to time, but that’s about it.

 

[HallofFame]

Western Iowa = trash.

 

[Hawkeyenuts66]

It does? I’ve lived here all my life. I smell crunch berries from time to time, but that’s about it.

Probably the reason you don't notice it is because you've lived there your entire life. I can smell Quaker, Cargill, ADM and Ingredion anytime I go to CR. If you are lucky enough to catch Quaker on a good day it does smell like Captain Crunch.

 

[Mattski]

Ever lived in NJ?

I am surprised how highly Jersey rates from time to time on places to reside and raise a family.

 

[JRHawk2003]

Probably the reason you don't notice it is because you've lived there your entire life. I can smell Quaker, Cargill, ADM and Ingredion anytime I go to CR. If you are lucky enough to catch Quaker on a good day it does smell like Captain Crunch.

CR. made huge strides from the old days. Its nowhere near that bad now.

 

[JRHawk2003]

Trick question. Rural Iowa is already uninhabitable.

Not everywhere has an overwhelming smell of big crap. There are some very nice areas. I live in an exurban small town and have really come to love it.

 

[artradley]

Not everywhere has an overwhelming smell of big crap. There are some very nice areas. I live in an exurban small town and have really come to love it.

I'm mainly talking about the dying towns and the people who remain. It's sad, and I shouldn't joke about it.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

 

[artradley]

I am surprised how highly Jersey rates from time to time on places to reside and raise a family.

We were there for over 20 years and raised our kids there. It was the best, most rewarding 20 years of my life. The town had tree-lined streets and a real sense of community; and our kids walked to school from K through High School. Kids had all kinds of experiences you can't get outside of a major metropolitan area; but still spent most afternoons playing in the backyard with neighbor kids or riding their bikes around the neighborhood.

But those taxes...

 

[JRHawk2003]

I'm mainly talking about the dying towns and the people who remain. It's sad, and I shouldn't joke about it.

It is sad. A lot of towns in Eastern Iowa survive by being exurbs for Iowa City, CR, Dubuque, QCA, etc.

 

[cfbfan23]

....Kids had all kinds of experiences you can't get outside of a major metropolitan area; but still spent most afternoons playing in the backyard with neighbor kids or riding their bikes around the neighborhood.

And doing some of this:

 

[GOHOX69]

Enjoy the rectal cancer.

 

[hydro2.0]

Sorry the truth hurts.

The culturally elite populate the eastern side of Iowa

 

[BubsFinn]

Then again I wonder if I could get zoning for a hog confinement in downtown CR, that city smells like shit anyway.

That depends on which direction the wind is blowing. Sometimes it smells like corn syrup and sometimes it smells like burnt popcorn.

 

[Tenacious E]

We were there for over 20 years and raised our kids there. It was the best, most rewarding 20 years of my life. The town had tree-lined streets and a real sense of community; and our kids walked to school from K through High School. Kids had all kinds of experiences you can't get outside of a major metropolitan area; but still spent most afternoons playing in the backyard with neighbor kids or riding their bikes around the neighborhood.

But those taxes...

The don't call it the garden state for nothing. My SIL is from Morristown. Absolutely beautiful.

 

[Hawkeyenuts66]

CR. made huge strides from the old days. Its nowhere near that bad now.

I was just there last weekend.

 

[butch25uni]

Fail.

Poweshiek County, the subject of the article, is east of Des Moines.

Anything west of 380 is western iowa

 

[butch25uni]

A cousin of mines in laws own a hog confinement up by McGregor. They are filthy rich.

bacon, mmmmmmmm

Who is this cousin??

 

[428Hawk]

Oh I am not letting them off the hook. They just are not the ones in power and have not been in the governors office since 2010.

Link to your posts holding the Democrats accountable when they controlled the place?

 

[Pinehawk]

Clean pits in the spring? Not terribly often, as most manure is spread in the fall after harvest is completed. And, I'd love to see documentation or proof that anyone is cramming 3k head of hogs into those sites. They are still regulated under 2500 head, and there'd be some stiff penalties for having extra pigs in there, or so I assume.

DNR staff aren't visiting these sites regularly. The have been cut to a skeleton crew. The EPA actually stepped in a few years back and made the DNR hire more confinement oversight. Didn't last though.

DNR pretty much only shows up now for manure spills or to open new sites.

 

[Pinehawk]

"Iowa has about 5,000 more pig confinements and cattle lots across the state than originally believed, a report to the federal government last month shows.

That's nearly 50 percent more animal feeding operationsthan the state initially inventoried.

"It's clearly too easy for confinements to slip under the radar," said Jess Mazour, an organizer at Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. "This is an industry that's gone unchecked."

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources discovered the facilities through satellite imagery,used to complete a comprehensive surveyrequired under a 2013 agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

Mazour said the large number of unidentified facilities "shows that DNR is not doing its job.

"It doesn't have the budget. It doesn't have the staffing, or the appropriate rules and regulations," she said.

Of the 5,063 facilities discovered through satellite imagery, the state says nearly 1,300 of the newly discovered facilities could require some level of state oversight.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...t-likely-too-small-require-oversig/665956001/

 

[MitchLL]

Clean pits in the spring? Not terribly often, as most manure is spread in the fall after harvest is completed. And, I'd love to see documentation or proof that anyone is cramming 3k head of hogs into those sites. They are still regulated under 2500 head, and there'd be some stiff penalties for having extra pigs in there, or so I assume.

Lived in Mitchell County Iowa until just recently. I may have exaggerated a bit on the 3,000 head units... but not by much. The capacities of many are being exceeded. Other than near the Cedar River and a few smaller streams, the explosion of confinement units is hard to fathom. The local feed suppliers are working overtime to supply the units. Feed trucks on the road @ 10PM.

It's risky building a home on an acreage in the county because you could have a unit built near you pretty easily.

Farming is a go big or go home industry. I understand why, but companies like Iowa Select and others are expanding at a very fast rate.

 

[ihhawk]

I grew up in SE Iowa in a rural community. I was working in small operations up until I graduated college. I used to call pig shit the smell of money. In 2001 when I left SE Iowa our community only had 1 or 2 confinement’s built.

Now when I go back to my parents house I’m met with the brick wall of pig shit. My parents can’t hang clothes on the line to dry anymore. Sitting on the porch swing is a no no unless you want that odor soaked in your skin.

Confinement buildings have almost ruined the quality of life in rural Iowa.

 

[Tenacious E]

Anything west of 380 is western iowa

This fails in many ways. Obviously you don’t mean geographically. Politically, in terms of Iowans who actually vote, Des Moines could not be any less “western Iowa.” If you are implying anything west of I380 is trash that is just stupid as the Des Moines is hands down the best place in the state to live, not withstanding 7 times a year when Iowa city is the funnest place to be.

 

[JMNSHO]

This fails in many ways. Obviously you don’t mean geographically. Politically, in terms of Iowans who actually vote, Des Moines could not be any less “western Iowa.” If you are implying anything west of I380 is trash that is just stupid as the Des Moines is hands down the best place in the state to live, not withstanding 7 times a year when Iowa city is the funnest place to be.

I somewhat agree with the 380 thing. DesMoines is to western Iowa what West Berlin was to East Germany.

 

[Tenacious E]

I somewhat agree with the 380 thing. DesMoines is to western Iowa what West Berlin was to East Germany.

If you are being honest Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Bettendorf are all West Berlins in the middle of East Germany. Observe how the votes broke down in the 2016 by county: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Iowa

 

[Mattski]

I'm looking at a chunk of rec ground (110 acres), that's on the west side of the road from a new smaller confinement. I'd say the building is 60x120 but not sure how many hogs are crammed in it. I do know the few times I've peaked in its really clean and well kept.
I'm hoping the confinement drives down the asking price when the time comes as the only time you notice the pigs is when the wind blows from the SE which isnt real often and won't personally bother me.

 

[Pinehawk]

I'm looking at a chunk of rec ground (110 acres), that's on the west side of the road from a new smaller confinement. I'd say the building is 60x120 but not sure how many hogs are crammed in it. I do know the few times I've peaked in its really clean and well kept.
I'm hoping the confinement drives down the asking price when the time comes as the only time you notice the pigs is when the wind blows from the SE which isnt real often and won't personally bother me.

I hope you enjoy the sound of pigs screaming/squealing.

 

[Herkster5]

We've got quite a few hog barns up here in the Kossuth/Hancock/Winnebago/Worth county areas. The acreage we are hoping to buy is going to be straight north of a 5k site by about 1/3 of a mile, maybe less. They will also be injecting around the acreage in the farm ground. Is it going to stop my children and I from having fun and enjoy being outside? Not a chance.

We lived closer to barns in our previous acreage, and there was maybe, MAYBE, 5 days a year that it was really smelly. If you want to live in rural Iowa, you'll deal with rural Iowa smells.

 

[Mattski]

I hope you enjoy the sound of pigs screaming/squealing.

It is pretty funny when you hear it for the first time but the possible homesite is over a hill and again upwind. I've spent dozens of hours out there hunting and only smelled or heard the pigs a few times.

 

[SalAunese]

This fails in many ways. Obviously you don’t mean geographically. Politically, in terms of Iowans who actually vote, Des Moines could not be any less “western Iowa.” If you are implying anything west of I380 is trash that is just stupid as the Des Moines is hands down the best place in the state to live, not withstanding 7 times a year when Iowa city is the funnest place to be.

What’s so great about DSM compared to Iowa City? There’s not a whole helm of a lot going on in DSM. Clean town and easy living but that's about it

 

[Tenacious E]

What’s so great about DSM compared to Iowa City? There’s not a whole helm of a lot going on in DSM. Clean town and easy living but that's about it

edited to provide some pics

Sounds like somone hasn't spent much time in DSM that isn't work related. Here are some things many people think are great, most of which I do not believe are available Iowa City:

1. Wells Fargo Arena and all of the concerts/acts/events that come through.
2. The Civic Center and all of the shows that come through. I get IC has Hancher but that is mostly art student crap that no one actually wants to see. In contrast, we have seen Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked, the Lion King, and a few other shows in the past few years.
3. The Iowa Science Center
4. Blank Park Zoo
5. The downtown farmer's market which is like a huge game-day type experience every weekend, with live bands playing on multiple street corners.

6. Various "fests" that are held downtown throughout the summer (Art Fest, Oktoberfest, 80/35 music festival, etc). The farmer's market and fests and such can be seen here: https://www.dsmpartnership.com/downtowndsmusa/experiencing-downtown/festivals-and-markets

7. A vast system of bike trails and bars/places to stop on them

8. Principal park and the I-Cubs

9. Relatedly, the Iowa Wild and the Iowa Wolves
10. The Principal Charity Classic (golf)
11. A pretty good bar/dining scene that doesn't cater to poor students (for the most part)
12. The nitefall on the river summer summer concert series

 

[Pinehawk]

It is pretty funny when you hear it for the first time but the possible homesite is over a hill and again upwind. I've spent dozens of hours out there hunting and only smelled or heard the pigs a few times.

So far...
Where you've got one confinement, you are sure to see other in the near future. The push back that is beginning will force new confinement growth into areas that have existing facilities.
You may be surrounded sooner than you think.

 

[SoProudNole]

Sorry, just saw this thread.

"Yes".

 

[JRHawk2003]

edited to provide some pics

Sounds like somone hasn't spent much time in DSM that isn't work related. Here are some things many people think are great, most of which I do not believe are available Iowa City:

1. Wells Fargo Arena and all of the concerts/acts/events that come through.
2. The Civic Center and all of the shows that come through. I get IC has Hancher but that is mostly art student crap that no one actually wants to see. In contrast, we have seen Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked, the Lion King, and a few other shows in the past few years.
3. The Iowa Science Center
4. Blank Park Zoo
5. The downtown farmer's market which is like a huge game-day type experience every weekend, with live bands playing on multiple street corners.

6. Various "fests" that are held downtown throughout the summer (Art Fest, Oktoberfest, 80/35 music festival, etc). The farmer's market and fests and such can be seen here: https://www.dsmpartnership.com/downtowndsmusa/experiencing-downtown/festivals-and-markets

7. A vast system of bike trails and bars/places to stop on them

8. Principal park and the I-Cubs

9. Relatedly, the Iowa Wild and the Iowa Wolves
10. The Principal Charity Classic (golf)
11. A pretty good bar/dining scene that doesn't cater to poor students (for the most part)
12. The nitefall on the river summer summer concert series

All those things are available to people in the smaller towns. Many of the smaller towns in the regional areas of the city are bedroom towns and hold their own.

The High Trestle Trail is not in Des Moines BTW...its near Woodward or Madrid.