Analyzing a business or industry requires understanding the most fundamental aspects of the business model. How does the raw materials make their way to a final product and eventually to a profit. Understanding risk through this process is critical. Not just the financial risk though--the reputational risk, the environmental risk, and long term sustainability risks. In this slideshare, we'll take a look at a significant risk in the hogging industry. Across the country, factory style hogging operations are raising incredible numbers of hogs, crammed by the thousand into small barns, and disposing of the hog's manure with methods that invariably lead to water pollution, fish kills, and serious problems for the people and communities in the area.

1. HOW FACTORY FARMS
DISPOSE OF 12,000 HOGS
WORTH OF WASTE
IN PICTURES: THE SMELLY REALITY OF HOW BIG BUSINESS
FACTORY HOG FARMING GAMES THE SYSTEM TO BIG
PROFITS AT THE EXPENSE OF COMMUNITIES, THE
ENVIRONMENT, AND SMALL FARMERS
By Motley Fool Contributor Jay Jenkins
The images in this presentation are used
with permission from the WaterKeeper Alliance

2. THIS IS THE STILLEY SWINE FACILITY IN
TRENTON, NORTH CAROLINA.
IT’S TYPICAL OF FACTORY HOG FEEDING
OPERATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

3. THIS FACILITY IS HOME TO 12 BARNS
CAPABLE OF HOLDING 1,000 HOGS
PER BARN…
THAT’S 12,000 HOGS

4. THIS IS A “LAGOON,” FULL OF 12,000
HOG’S WORTH OF WASTE

5. THERE IS JUST A THIN CLAY BARRIER
ON THE
BOTTOM OF THIS “LAGOON.”
THE WASTE OF 12,000 HOGS IS
ESSENTIALLY FREE TO LEACH INTO THE
GROUND.

6. WHEN THE “LAGOON” GETS TOO FULL,
THE WASTE IS SPRAYED ONTO THESE
FIELDS

7. IN THEORY, THE WASTE IS ABSORBED AND
FERTILIZES THE GRASS, CORN, OR OTHER
CROPS GROWING ON THE FIELDS.

8. BUT THE FACILITY SPRAYS EVEN IF THERE
IS
STANDING WATER ALREADY ON THE FIELDS.

9. REMEMBER, THIS IS NOXIOUS HOG WASTE.
AND THE GROUND IS LITERALLY
SATURATED WITH IT.

10. WHEN THE FIELD IS SATURATED, THE
WASTE HAS
NO WHERE TO GO, EXCEPT FOR THESE
DITCHES.

11. THERE ARE LOTS OF DITCHES FOR THE
EXCESS WASTE. THE FIELDS ARE VERY
WELL IRRIGATED.

12. THE DITCHES HAVE TO RUN SOMEWHERE…
LIKE INTO NEIGHBORING WETLANDS.

13. IT’S A STONE’S THROW TO
RIVERS, CREEKS, STREAMS,
AND THE WATER SUPPLY

14. THE OUTCOME IS
PREDICTABLE: POLLUTED
WATER, BACTERIA, FISH
KILLS, ALGAE BLOOMS

15. THIS IS NOT A NEW PROBLEM

16. EXCERPT FROM NEW YORK TIMES
JUNE 25, 1995

17. OTHER WELL-KNOWN AND NOTABLE SPILLS
• IN 2011, A FACTORY HOG FARM IN ILLINOIS SPILLED 200,000 GALLONS OF MANURE INTO A
CREEK. 110,000 FISH WERE KILLED.
• IN 1999, HURRICANE FLOYD BURST AT LEAST 5 MANURE LAGOONS AND FLOODED AT LEAST
47 MORE IN NORTH CAROLINA ALONE.
• EVERY YEAR IN THE GULF OF MEXICO, A MASSIVE “DEAD ZONE” FORMS AS A RESULT OF
ALGAE BLOOMS. IN THE SUMMER OF 2002, THIS “DEAD ZONE” STRETCHED OVER 7,700
MILES.
• NUMEROUS OUTBREAKS OF PFIESTERIA PISCICIDA HAVE KILLED MILLIONS OF FISH AND
RESULTED IN SKIN IRRITATION, SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS, AND OTHER COGNITIVE
PROBLEMS IN LOCAL PEOPLE. PFIESTERIA OUTBREAKS CAN BE LINKED TO THE SAME
POLLUTANTS AND LOCATIONS AS KNOWN HOG AND POULTRY FARM SPILLS.
• ON JULY 7, 2013, NEARLY 600 RESIDENTS IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA FILED A COMPLAINT
THAT A LOCAL HOG OPERATION HAD CAUSED POLLUTION, FLIES, AND STENCH THAT HAS
DEPRIVED THEM OF THE USE AND ENJOYMENT OF THEIR PROPERTY
SOURCE: NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL

18. IN 1997, NORTH CAROLINA ISSUED A
MORATORIUM
ON THE BUILDING OF ANY NEW HOG “LAGOONS”
OVER 4,000 REMAIN IN OPERATION TODAY,
DESPITE THE MORATORIUM

19. ALTERNATIVES EXIST, BUT INDUSTRY
PLAYERS REFUSE TO IMPLEMENT THE
TECHNOLOGY…
• MARC YAGGI, OF THE WATER KEEPER ALLIANCE, PUT IT:
“IN 2000, SMITHFIELD [THE LARGEST HOG PRODUCER IN NC] ENTERED
INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE NORTH CAROLINA ATTORNEY
GENERAL TO FUND DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SUPERIOR
WASTE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR SWINE FACILITIES.
SEVERAL TECHNOLOGIES WERE DEVELOPED THAT PRACTICALLY
ELIMINATED THE WASTE STREAM, BUT $17.1 MILLION LATER,
SMITHFIELD DECLARED THE SYSTEMS WERE NOT „ECONOMICALLY
FEASIBLE,‟ AND NO FURTHER ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN TO
IMPLEMENT CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES. ”
Source: Huffington Post

20. THE “ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY” ARGUMENT
SEEMS THIN
SMITHFIELD FOODS WAS PURCHASED BY HONG
KONG-BASED SHUANGHUI INTERNATIONAL
HOLDINGS LTD. FOR $7.1 BILLION IN SEPTEMBER
2013.
IT REPORTED OVER $13 BILLION IN SALES LAST
YEAR,
AND OPERATING PROFITS OVER $500 MILLION.
OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS, AGGREGATE
Source: Smithfield Foods 2013 Annual Report EXCEEDED $4.3 BILLION
OPERATING PROFITS

21. CONCLUSIONS:
• The “lagoon” system of waste disposal is ineffective. It pollutes local
environments, endangering wildlife and local communities.
• Multi-national companies running the industry have the capital to
implement the changes over a reasonable time horizon, but do not in
the name of “economic feasibility.”
• Regulations, while well intentioned, have fallen short.
• Its time for the industry and the government to jointly fix this problem.
Action today protects the environment, protects the
community, and protects the long term ability of the
industry to succeed in North Carolina and elsewhere.

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