8,000-head hog farm proposed near Lincoln in southern Cass County

Taylor Miller, Galveston, is seeking approval from the Cass County Board of Zoning Appeals and Indiana Department of Environmental Management to start a hog farm in the 9100 block of U.S. 35 northwest of Lincoln.

Miller is hoping to build two buildings about 100 by 340 feet each that will both house about 4,000 hogs from wean to finish.

He intends to use the manure to fertilize his farmground and his brother's farmground, which is mostly in Cass County with some in Howard County. The fertilizer would go to more than 600 acres within a 5-mile radius of the proposed hog operation, he added.

Residents and representatives of businesses in the area declined to comment or could not be reached for comment.

Miller said he recognizes hog farms can be hotly contested issues for neighbors, particularly when it comes to odor, health and environmental concerns.

"I'm doing everything in my power to make it as clean as I possibly can," he said. "I'm taking all the necessary steps to ensure we don't have those kinds of issues, those kinds of problems."

That includes plans to cut down on odor by circulating air through the barns' manure pits with fans and planting a "barrier" of trees nearby, Miller said. He intends to mitigate odor issues further by injecting the manure into the farmground rather than distributing it over the top. Miller went on to say an additive he'd add to the manure would reduce odor while increasing nutrients for the soil.

He's following in the agricultural footsteps of his father and grandfather.

"I'm doing this mainly because my family's been farming around this area for years and I want something I can raise my kids in and kind of pass down to them," Miller said.

That history includes raising livestock — a task he's well versed in, he continued.

"I'm taking all necessary steps to ensure the health of the hogs and their lifestyle," Miller said. "...I've been raising animals my whole life — pigs, cattle — I'm very familiar with animals and how they need to be treated and taken care of."

If approved, Miller said he expects to have everything up and running by early 2017.

The Cass County Board of Zoning Appeals will consider the proposed hog farm at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 22 in the Commissioners Hearing Room on the second floor of the Cass County Government Building, 200 Court Park.

It will be the second hog farm on the board's agenda that evening, along with one proposed for outside Royal Center.