July 2017

Olive Branch Acres, a project of Professional Swine Management, wants to build a 20,000 hog Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) in Schuyler County, near Littleton. This means disaster for the over 40 families who reside in the area and will be facing up to a 90% loss in their home property values. Illinois’ overly weak CAFO regulations and the up-swing in world pork demand and prices have brought too many new CAFO projects to this state.  The Illinois Department of Agriculture consistently approves these industrial animal feeding factories and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency does not even have a complete listing of where all of these water, air, and land pollution sites are located.  Professional Swine Management has been in the news for abuse of animals as recently as last year.

Water pollution from CAFOs  in Illinois has polluted over 67 miles of streams resulting in nearly half a million fish killed from 2005 through 2014. Vote with your dollars! Buy organic and locally grown meat products whenever you can and try to be sure it does not come from a CAFO.