Hog site may have been targeted for vandalism

Associated Press

ROWLEY April 23, 2008 11:41 am

— Authorities are investigating an act of vandalism last week at the construction site of a rural Buchanan County hog facility, with some suggesting the site was deliberately targeted.
Officials found construction equipment that was tampered with on the property of Bob and Diane Muchmore. The land is located about four miles west of Rowley.
The Muchmore’s believe they were targeted because of the land’s future use as the home of two 1,000-head hog confinement buildings.
“It’s so disheartening. We have gone to so much trouble, and people are so destructive with others’ property,” said Bob Muchmore.
Muchmore, 70, said he still loves farming too much to retire.
But with fertilizer costs escalating quickly over the last few years, he has sought out a more cost efficient way to use the 360 acres of land he owns. He thought hog manure was the answer — so he and his wife invested about $500,000 in the buildings.
“We’ve worked so hard to get this together — made sure we did everything right — then someone comes in and does this,” said Diane Muchmore. “I was absolutely sick.”
Authorities believe that some time late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, sand was poured into the engines of a John Deere bulldozer and excavator, causing about $25,000 in damage. The machines are owned by Rasmussen Drainage Services of Independence, which was hired to prepare the site and dig the manure pits.
“Someone probably doesn’t want a hog building,” said Tim Rasmussen, owner of the damaged equipment.
The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the vandalism. Capt. Steve Hepke said it is too early to say whether it was a random act or a calculated maneuver.
Rasmussen bases his hunch on experience. In 35 years of drainage, tiling and construction work in the region, he said, this is the first time any of Rasmussen’s equipment has been vandalized.
He has also heard about numerous other incidences of vandalism against livestock producers or people associated with the industry in recent years have convinced Rasmussen. He estimates his real losses — including down time and rental — at $40,000. He doubts insurance will cover all of his costs, either.
“That’s money away from my family. But it will not stop the hog buildings from going up,” he said.
The Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers, an advocacy group based in Des Moines that promotes responsible growth of the livestock industry, has recorded more than 20 cases of vandalism against farmers in the past decade, the majority in the last three years.
Still, coalition spokesman Aaron Putze said it is too early to blame the anti-confinement sector for the latest act of vandalism.
“I won’t speculate, but there has been a pattern of construction equipment involved in building new livestock farms vandalized,” Putze said. “That’s troublesome.”