Friends of Rural New York

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Not your typical farm

A few weeks ago, residents of Nichols bordering a field were informed it was going to be sold to a factory farm owner who intends to place a large size chicken operation there.

There will be six barns holding 30,000 chickens each that will be shipped to New York City at 6 weeks of age. So, assuming a week cleaning time between new flocks, seven to eight times a year there will be 30,000 new chickens per barn. That equals roughly 1,350,000 chickens housed and shipped away in our neighborhood per year.

Some Tioga County officials have said to the residents that almost a million and a half chickens per year will produce little smell and no environmental impact and is not a health or economic concern to the area. I say “prove it.”

This is not illegal use, as the field is zoned agricultural. But this is not your typical small family farm. Thank you to our local town board for its wisdom in declaring a moratorium to study the impact of this factory farm on the residents, the environment and the local economy.

Deborah Stephens

Nichols

© 2005 Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin