Families clash over proposed hog farm in Zumbrota Twsp.
Published 8:04 am Monday, September 18, 2017
Elizabeth Dunbar
MPR News/90.1 FM
A family proposing a large hog operation near Zumbrota Township on Thursday showed up at a press conference held by neighbors who oppose the facility.
Backed by the Land Stewardship Project, Zumbrota Township retired farmer Dale Post and about a dozen others held signs such as “No Factory Farms” and “Family Farms NOT Factory Farms” as they spoke in a downtown Lakeville park about their concerns about odors and hydrogen sulfide gas, which results from animal waste and can be harmful to health at certain levels.
“We’ve been there for seven generations, ever since my great grandparents immigrated there from Germany in 1883 looking for a better quality of life, which we’ve all enjoyed up until now. But now it could be in jeopardy with this proposal,” Post said.
Mike Kohlnhofer of Circle K Farms is proposing the project. Kohlnhofer and his brothers operate several other hog facilities in southern Minnesota.