I have just finished reading your article in NUVO (Cover, “Factory Farms,” Aug. 23-30); I am appalled at the misinformation that you publish.

I am a pork producer, and I am a very responsible citizen. I live on and very near these buildings that you claim pollute, and have lived there for many years. I also raised my family there and all have grown into healthy adults. To suggest that pork producers pollute the water and foul the air suggests that I don't love my children enough to protect them. Nothing is farther from the truth. Did you know that the average homeowner who applies fertilizer to their lawn puts more nitrogen in the soil per acre than any hog operation ever could? Pigs do not make more waste than humans, pigs do not take baths, pigs do not do laundry, pigs do not do dishes, pigs do not wash their cars.

Pig farmers are never permitted to discharge pig waste in the ditches; are you aware of what happens in the city when it rains a lot, all that human stuff down the creek. Also, farmers never get tax breaks; that's the big factories in town.

I could go on forever; please know your article is full of misinformation. I would encourage you to contact me for more facts and to visit my hog farm and learn what pig production is all about. I ask that you at least get the facts before you write; these organizations you write about do not care about the family farm or the environment, or the community that I have lived in all my life. They just want to see animal production stopped. Also you should get to know the governor; he truly loves the state of Indiana. My experience is that when you love something you tend to take very good care of it.

Alan Wilhoite
Immediate past president, Indiana Pork Producers Association
National Pork Board Member
Pork Producer