Prairie Rivers Network is helping yet another group of residents who have joined together to oppose the construction of a hog factory farm in their community. The residents live in Menard County, home to Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site. The proposed 9,300-hog facility would be located about 5 miles west of the historic site […]
Factory Farms
IDOA approves factory farm over local objections
Save Our Sandy continues to fight this mega-hog operation. Despite local objections, another large hog operation has been approved for construction by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Local Marshall County residents fear their new neighbor will pollute nearby beautiful Sandy Creek and foul the air with unbearable odors. For months Prairie Rivers Network has been […]
A rural paradise lost
David Leifheit once lived on “a little slice of heaven” in Ogle County, about halfway between the churning metropolis of Chicago and the muddy waters of the Mississippi River, Illinois’ western border. He proudly maintained the home he built himself on his mother’s ancestral land – land homesteaded by his great-great-grandparents over 150 years ago. The house sat at the edge […]
Prairie Rivers Network Releases Documentary and Petition on Illinois Factory Farms
“From the very beginning of the hog facility, we started experiencing, there is no other word to describe it but gut-wrenching odors that could just wake you up out of a dead sleep.” This line kicks off our new documentary on the harmful impacts that Illinois factory farms can have on rural communities. The […]
Marshall County Board Votes Against Massive Hog Factory Farm
On May 8, the Marshall County Board voted 11-1 against the construction of a proposed hog factory farm. Members of Save Our Sandy were elated by the vote, which surely reflected their months of grassroots activism. The proposed Sandy Creek Lane facility would house almost 20,000 hogs on a few acres near Sandy Creek, a […]
