THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 2, 1994 TAG: 9411010088
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Long : 168 lines
AN OUTSIDER MIGHT be hard pressed to imagine the prospect of two more hog farms causing controversy in this home of the world-famous Smithfield ham.
After all, a lot of citizens in Isle of Wight - and nearby communities - earn their living in hog-related businesses.
The two local meatpacking plants are among the top employers in the area and the county is one of the biggest pork and pork product processers in the country.
Isle of Wight already is the site of Virginia's largest concentration of hogs on one site - 50,000 on five farms owned by Carroll's Foods of Virginia.
But when a few residents got wind of the plans for two more pig farms last August, they expressed fears of reduced property values, groundwater contamination from liquid swine waste and lowered quality of life due to the foul odors from the farms.
The dispute has not subsided. The opponents formed the Isle of Wight Defense League this summer and are fighting one of the farms in court.
One of the proposed farms is a 120-acre parcel farmed by Henry L. Pulley along the east side of state Route 649 in Central Hill, which would house 1,700 hogs. The second, farmed by Robert P. Taylor and located two miles from St. Luke's Church on Route 10, the county's most popular historical site, would also house 1,700 swine.
The two farmers would operate the county's first contract hog farms for Carroll Foods. Both the Taylor and Pulley permits have been approved by the State Water Control Board.
At a meeting on Oct. 17, opponents discussed ways to combat the farms. Stephen Merrill, the Isle of Wight Defense League's attorney and a Windsor resident, is challenging the land ownership of the Pulley site in a civil proceeding. The case is pending.
``Our goal is to preserve the way of life here,'' Merrill has said, ``and that doesn't include a million hogs and millions and millions of gallons of animal waste spread across the countryside.''
The Taylor site is unchallenged.
One of the bones of contention is a new state law that allows hog farms on any site already zoned for agriculture.
The law requires localities to redraw their rezoning laws by April 1 to remove any requirements for special-use permits for such farms.
The county Planning Commission will hold a public hearing next Tuesday to discuss adopting a zoning ordinance that would restrict future hog farms by requiring buffer zones.
The dispute has caused mixed emotions in the community.
R.L. Walker, 64, a resident of Central Hill, close to the proposed Pulley farm, said he is against more farms coming into the county.
``That's not a hog farm,'' said Walker. ``They're putting up a hog business. Everything is being shipped, and they're sitting there babysitting hogs.''
Walker, who lives in the same house in which he was born, said he has lived a mile from a small hog farm for years.
``We've got four churches around here, and the scent gets so bad from one hog farm during the summer time that people can't stand to go to church,'' he said.
``The smell gets in the air conditioning. It gets into the house. People need fresh air.''
It's not as if hog farms are new to Isle of Wight County. In fact, tucked away on state Route 621 in the Central Hill area are the five Carroll Foods farms.
Built in 1987, they use 65 buildings to house hogs from birth to 240 pounds. At 240 pounds, the hogs are shipped to Smithfield Foods Inc. packing plants for slaughter.
Randy George, senior production manager for the farms, said it takes about six months to grow a hog to slaughter weight. About 10 truck loads of hogs go to market each week from the five farms in the Central Hill area.
Adolf Miller Jr., general manager for Carroll Foods of Virginia Inc., has said there have been very few complaints from neighbors near that five-farm site area.
However, at Lucille Eley's house, about a mile down the road, she said she can smell the hogs.
``Some days are worse than others,'' she said. ``You can smell it pretty good at night. We accept the smell, but we could do without it.'' For Isle of Wight farmer Ashton Wells, who lives four miles from the Carroll Food's five farms, the smell is light during the summer, he said.
``It don't bother me,'' Wells said. ``I think they need more hog houses. That would stop people from building their big homes out here.
``People know what's out here to begin with - farming and raising cattle and hogs. If they want to be in town, they should stay in town. If the man down the road wants to put up a hog house, and that's his living, he has the right to do that,'' he said.
C.H. Barcroft, another Central Hill resident, said he doesn't believe the rural life of farmers needs to be disrupted by restrictions.
``I wouldn't object to anyone putting a hog house next to me,'' he said. ``I got one close to me now.
``I remember years ago when the environmentalists raised hell because the hogs were out on the ground. Now we got the hogs in a house, and they're not satisfied with the hogs in a house. I guess we're just going to have to raise 'em in space - this is common sense stuff,'' Barcroft said.
Robert Goerger, Isle of Wight Extension Service agent, said there are 65,000 hogs, with a cash value of $9.8 million, grown annually in Isle of Wight County by 50 hog producers.
Although the county's swine population is small in comparison to the state's total, Goerger said the Virginia swine industry has been shrinking since 1980 when the population was 1.2 million to 683,000 in 1993.
In comparison, during the same period, North Carolina's swine population has grown 109 percent.
Goerger said restrictions in Virginia have influenced producers to go to North Carolina to raise hogs.
Robert A. Sharpe, vice president of Corporation Development for Smithfield Foods Inc., said swine growth in North Carolina is due to the state's ability to ``recognize the economic value of the industry'' by not placing costly restrictions on producers there.
``Virginia hasn't had the growth it could have had,'' Sharpe said.
``And we've almost completed our expansion phase on the hog side here in Virginia. But there's still a little room for growth,'' he said.
Sharpe said there is a problem with the perception of hog farms.
``Most people'svision of a hog farm is a big hole of mud, and a pig slopping around in it. We've come a long way from that. You'll never see a pig if you're a neighbor of a hog farm. All our pigs are inside,'' he said.
Even the smell of hog farms is a perceived problem, he said.
``We had some people from North Carolina that thought they smelled the hogs coming from one of our North Carolina farms. But the farm hadn't been populated yet. And yet, they assumed they smelled hogs - but there were none,'' Sharpe said.
Carroll Foods operates 40 company-owned farms and contracts with 20 more farms.
Sharpe said the farms, located in remote areas, are a part of the typical farming heritage in rural areas.
`It's consistent with the rural image,'' he said. ``The friction comes from the more recent arrivals into the community, who are asking to change or restrict what our heritage is here.
Sharpe said the hog farms are an economic advantage for the communities they're in - if the communities take advantage of the farms.
``This isn't a we vs. them thing,'' Sharpe said. ``We are all economically in this together. If there aren't any hogs available to the plant, what's the plant going to do? What do the people do who work at the plant? And what do the product and services that rely on the plant do?''
``We want a peaceful coexistence,'' said Sharpe. ``We welcome new people into the county. We hope that they welcome us back.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
On the Cover
Randy George, senior production manager for five hog farms in the
Central Hill area, said about 10 loads of hogs go to market each
week from the farms
R. L. Walker, 64, a resident of Central Hill, close to the proposed
hog farm, said he thinks there already are enough hog farms in the
area.
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Randy George, senior production manager for Carroll Foods,
supervises five hog farms in the Central Hill area. About 10 truck
loads of hogs go to market each week from the farms.
R.L. Walker of Central Hill opposes more hog farms coming to the
county.
The scent gets so bad from one hog farm during the summertime that
people can't stand to go to church.
R. L. Walker, Centrall Hill Resident
Randy George manages farms where 50,000 hogs are raised.
KEYWORDS: ZONING ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
by CNB