James Lamb: Hog farmers are good stewards

Harry Payne’s Oct. 22 Point of View “Seeking protections, not attacking” represented the latest in a string of attacks on North Carolina hog farmers like me. He just doesn’t understand everything hog farmers do to protect the land and the waterways where we make our living.

He accused the pork industry of “using Madison Avenue public persuasion and hardball politics,” apparently referring to the N.C. Pork Council’s ads featuring family farms and the recent rally at the State Capitol.

I attended the rally because I’m proud to be a North Carolina hog farmer. I’ve been raising hogs all of my life. It’s what I love to do, and I take pride in the fact that we take good care of our land and treat our animals well.

Many people don’t realize that N.C. hog farms are heavily regulated. We have thick binders full of regulations that require us to keep tedious daily records and take extraordinary measures to ensure we are protecting the land and water around us. Our farm – and every hog farm – is inspected by the state each year to make sure we’re following the rules. It’s a lot of work, but we’re happy to do it because we care about our farm and our community.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 4:53 PM with the headline "James Lamb: Hog farmers are good stewards."