CCI member Eric Wessels: To Branstad: Put moratorium on new hog confinements

The Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture came out last week asking for a moratorium on hog confinements [Iowans wanting improved water call for an end to factory farms, Sept. 22]. We know Gov. Terry Branstad doesn’t care about the environment, but he does care about corporate ag.The Pork Network recently published a report stating that farrow-to-finish operations lost $15 per head two weeks ago,  up $8 per head from the week before. Adding confinements will drive the value down even further. A moratorium will help the ag industry. We know they won’t do anything voluntarily, so Branstad should help them out.— Eric Wessels, Dallas CenterPublished in the Des Moines Register.