As you may know by now, John & I are in the process of expanding our current farrow-to-finish hog operation into a larger contract finishing operation. As you also may know, we have had to defend ourselves, educate the public, and be very proactive in using the resources we have available to us. We have become quick friends with the folks at IL Pork Producers Assn., especially Jim Kaitschuk. Nic Anderson has also been an amazing advocate for us, in addition to several members of the IL Soybean Association.
So what is the process, how do you get there, and what do you tell people? What people don't know is that John & I have been researching this project for well over 4 months before we even began the permitting process. For countless hours, we poured over building plans from over 15 companies. We changed and edited building plans, feeder size and type, gating layouts, etc. We also spent a lot of time discussing these plans with our banker, who is also a neighbor living directly east of one of the buildings.
Once we received approval for the loan, we contacted Frank & West, Inc. (FWI) to solicit their help in the permitting and law following process. At that time, all of our information was submitted (via FWI) to the IL Dept. of Ag for review. IL Dept of Ag had 10 days to review all the siting requirements, and sent out a wonderful representative (really, no sarcasm here) to ensure that we were meeting all siting requirements. After IL Dept. of Ag approved the two site locations, they sent their notice to the LaSalle County Board. At the same time, notices were also sent to neighbors living within the 1/2 mile setback (radius) area around each site, and public notice was put in the newspaper. Either the County Board, or any resident of the county who submitted a petition with 75 signatures could have requested a public info meeting. The LaSalle County Board's Development committee was the first to review the letter from the state Dept. of Ag. The committee voted to hold a public informational meeting, but wished to have the full Board's approval before they sent their response to the state.
John & I were notified of the committee's decision when a reporter from the LaSalle NewsTribune contacted us. Here is a link to that initial article that went out from the reporter who contacted us. http://www.newstrib.com/articles/news/local/default.asp?Article=008243B06AC0812F6919E941B12F8075DB55A9857D53823F
As you can read, the article had a definite spin on it. Putting words like "Massive" in the title just showed that the report is not familiar with agriculture at all, and definitely displayed his opinion front and center. Did I mention that this was front page news? Well, as you can imagine, this article lit my fire, and I began making phone calls. My first call was to Jim at IPPA, who was supportive, informative, and encouraging. Three qualities that John & I desperately needed at the time. Jim referred us also to Nic Anderson, who is the voice for most IL commodity groups. Nic helped us put together what he called a "one pager", or a short, one page info sheet about our operation. With some editing assistance from Jim, Nic, and Tim (also at IPPA), we were confident in sending our "one pager" to the NewsTribune in response to the article. Our response article was placed in the Sat. edition of the NewsTribune just prior to the County Board meeting on Monday, June 13.
Also, I started calling County Board members. What I found was the Board was split in half. Half of them knew about the project from the committee. Half of them hadn't heard about it, although some admit reading the article. Of the 29 phone calls, I spoke directly with 18 Board Members. I left messages with all the rest. In speaking with the other 18, I found only one member who was vehemently against us, but only because he was worried about the issue of being transparent for his voters. I found many who claimed they were on the fence, which I was taking to mean they just didn't want to tell me no to my face. The rest were surprisingly supportive. Many said that I made up their minds because I took the time to ensure they were well aware of the situation. Although we tried to gain their votes, we were up front and honest about how the process worked. However, going in to the Board Meeting on the 13th, John & I were not positive about how the vote would go.
At the meeting on Monday, June 13, 2011, I was given a chance to speak along with Monty Whipple, a neighbor and LaSalle County Farm Bureau's President. John & I were surprised and a little frustrated when we entered the room and saw the packets that were placed on everyone's chairs with the drafted letter for the IL Dept of Ag right on the top of the pile. Despite our frustration, I spoke on behalf of John & I about how our family has been part of the Ag community in our county for 80 years, and how we plan to be here for at least 80 more. I also spoke about how this operation will have a positive impact on the two townships and four school districts involved. After I finished, Monty spoke. Monty's speech was eloquent, succinct, and professional. He urged the Board to step aside and allow our family farm to continue it's legacy.
Following our speeches, the Board needed to vote. Chairman Hicks asked for the motion, to which no one responded. After calling for the motion four times, one member made a motion to discuss and vote on whether or not to send the letter to Dept of Ag requesting a public info meeting. Somewhere around 10 board members spoke, all of them stating that they were confident that we were not what they initially thought we were, namely a "Factory Farm" or "CAFO" (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation). Also, the chair of the Development committee got up and spoke on our behalf stating that the committee had "made a mistake". We were excited, but still a little apprehensive as they called for the roll call vote. However, we were pleased to hear 28 "NO's" ring out in the room. The Board voted unanimously against having a public informational meeting. Many of the Board members said that the phone call they got from us was the deciding factor. Others were waiting to hear what Monty had to say. Regardless, we were thrilled.
After saying our thank you's to the Board, we left the room, and were immediately taken into an interview session with the local papers. Here is the NewsTribune's article:
http://www.newstrib.com/articles/news/local/default.asp?Article=EDCE92E07C75E6C0FD955427E0AE278EE1F566DB6436ADB5
and the article from the Ottawa Times:
http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=434689&query=hagenbuch
After the whirlwind of the last month, we are pleased to announce our tentative ground breaking date of 7/5/11. I will copy our "one pager" and a copy of my speech into another blog post. I welcome questions, comments, and any feedback. Thank you for your support.
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