Hogging It!

Iowa (USA) produces a third of US hogs. The animals are raised in sheds known as 'confinements'. That state's hog population has doubled since 1982. This has been claimed to be a good development for rural communities but the opposite appears to be true (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/05/us-industrial-hog-farming-rural-towns). Iowan counties with most hogs (e.g. Hamilton) experienced higher levels of depopulation and more job losses than comparable rural communities with no factory farming of pigs. More retail businesses (e.g. grocery stores) also closed in the pig-heavy locations. It seems that factory farming of pigs actually 'hollows out' rural communities in Iowa. Pigs replace people.