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Vandalism or organised political terrorism?

andybob

Well-known member
IOWA CITY, Iowa: A dozen of one farmer's cows have been gunned down since August. Another lost a 370-head hog nursery in a January fire investigators believe was intentionally set.

Reports of vandalism to farm equipment, buildings and at livestock construction sites have been turning up across rural Iowa. Some farmers also say they've received threatening telephone calls and letters from people condemning the bigger-is-better approach to raising cattle and pigs.

The question facing law enforcement officials is whether the incidents are random acts or deliberate, orchestrated attacks by those with personal, political or social agendas.

"We don't have any trends that we've identified in the past year or two that would suggest there is any organized effort to attack factory farms or large-scale hog operations," said Jim Saunders, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety. "The reasons behind all these incidents could vary."

Since August, the Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers has identified at least seven significant acts of violence and threats aimed at farmers. The majority targeted hog producers who have expanded their operations or pursued government permits to do so, but cattle producers have also been victims, said Aaron Putze, executive director of the coalition, which helps farmers meet environmental regulations.

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"There has always been farm vandalism on some levels. But we have certainly noticed an escalation in the more violent, threatening types of reports," Putze said. "It could be that farmers are more comfortable reporting incidents these days. But the real question is what is the motivation behind this?"

Iowa is the nation's leading hog producer, and the industry's rapid growth in the past decade has provoked a public backlash on several fronts.

Detractors complain that large-scale hog and cattle operations threaten the environment and public health, depress property values and economically squeeze smaller producers.

As a result, opposition to corporate and super-sized operations has branched out beyond the usual suspects — animal rights activists and urban environmentalists, agriculture academics and supporters said.

"People locally are promoting a lot of anger and misinformation," said Mike Lawrinenko, a hog farmer from La Porte City in central Iowa.

When Lawrinenko started building a new barn to expand his operation last fall, threats and violence followed, including a suspicious, late-night fire ignited in a garbage can that damaged a corner of his home. Nobody was hurt in the blaze, which Lawrinenko said he doused with a garden hose.

"A lot of it has subsided," he said. "But there was a lot of harassment. All we're trying to do is make our farm more profitable."

Mark Partridge, a professor at the Swank Program for Rural-Urban Policy at Ohio State University, said protesters can range from urban transplants to residents of nearby towns and even retired farmers who resent the changing industry.

"You can really go to almost any state and you're going to find these incredible levels of anger of these kinds of large-scale operations," Partridge said.

Yet cases of violence and intimidation such as those reported in Iowa are rare in other states, according to industry officials.

Last year in South Dakota, four county commissioners who voted in favor of a dairy farm permit had nails scattered across their driveways. An Indiana farmer reported last year that his locked well was poisoned while he pursued an expansion to his dairy operation.

"It's not something we really track," said Dave Warner, spokesman for the National Pork Producers Council. "We've seen some cases of it. I know it's something that's gone on to a certain extent as long as there has been the animal rights movement."

No arrests have been made in the Iowa cases, and investigators believe the acts are the work of locals rather than radical, outside groups known for attacks on labs, universities or companies that use animals for research purposes.

Still, Adams County farmer Gary Boswell said he is certain the attacks are prompted by the rise of larger-scale farms. Boswell was especially disturbed that two cows of a friend who farms in a neighboring county were shot and killed after the farmer filed for permits to expand his cattle operation.

"He got a call later with the person saying 'Now I guess you know we mean business,'" Boswell said. "This is an industry that is going through some changes, some growing pains. But this intimidation through violence is not part of our rural values."
 

Mike

Well-known member
Enviro-Whackos.

There's sure been an increase in Anhydrous Ammonia thefts down here due to Meth labs.

Both of these groups should be put in one category. "Under". :shock:
 

andybob

Well-known member
Maple Leaf Angus said:
Hey andybob, have you ever seen anything like this before? It might almost be enough to make you think you are back in Rhod - no, I mean Zimbabwe?
It is certainly following the same pattern that we witnessed during the 70's, starting with the livestock and equipment, then quickly escalating to attacks on the farming families. The 2000 farm invasions were a whole different ballgame, due to the orchestration by the Central Inteligence Agency,targeting political rivals for specific horrific atrocities.
 
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