Photographs by Steven Higgs
Brenda and Rex Jones have lived on their Henry County farm near Lewisville for 16 years. Their nearest neighbors are Rex's parents and two CAFOs.
Brenda Jones remembers the first time in March 2006 that the dairy CAFO spread manure on the field just yards from her front door. It made a "horrible noise." And because she suffers from a lung disease, she ended up in the hospital on a ventilator.
Brenda and Rex shared their stories with the Alternative's Amber Kerezman. Rex says local and state officials couldn't care less about them. "It's the money," Rex says. "It's the money."
Eric Stickdorn lives with his wife Lisa on a Henry County farm near Cambridge City. A small dairy CFO drains onto their 120-acre farm.
Unlike the Stickdorn's cattle, shown here, animals in CAFOs never see the light of day. They spend their entire lives inside pens inside buildings.
Like their rural neighbors in far East-Central Indiana, the Stickdorns rely on underground wells for their drinking water. Eric says one manure spill from his neighbor looked like a "root beer float."
Kathryn Petry, center, and Loretta Miller, right, live surrounded by CAFOs in Randolph County. Petry says 228,000 hogs live in their county. And that's not counting the babies. They shared their experiences with the Alternative's Amber Kerezman.
Kathryn Petry, left, says local residents' property values are being decimated by CAFOs, most of which are run by or contracted with out-of-state agribusinesses. "Who wants to live within a mile of a CAFO," she says.
This Randolph County CAFO is viewed from Petry's side yard. Randolph County has the fifth highest concentration of CAFOs in the state. Adjacent Jay County is No. 1.
Judy and Allen Hutchinson live within five miles of 75,000 hogs. Allen got so frustrated with a lack of response from IDEM that he took a class in water testing. He tests and maintains meticulous records of water pollution from CAFOs near their home.
Barbara Sha Cox, a registered nurse and family farmer, is a leading organizer of citizen opposition to CAFOs in East-Central Indiana and the rest of the state. Citizens are organizing against Gov. Mitch Daniels, whose policies are directly responsible for the health and financial impacts CAFOs are having on these family farmers' lives.