DaytonDailyNews.com

NEAVE TWP., Darke County — A hog farm's owner has applied for state permits to house up to 12,000 young hogs at 3105 S. Ohio 121.

That would be the most hogs permitted at one farm in Ohio, said Bill Schwaderer, Ohio Department of Agriculture spokesman.

But the hogs weigh under 55 pounds and don't generate as much manure as mature hogs do. At capacity, the farm would generate about 800,000 gallons of manure annually.

The hog farm has four buildings, and no more would be built. The farm is owned by Erik Veitch, who operates it with his wife, Madonna Veitch.

Erik Veitch said the farm, which began as a veal farm in 1980, has had hogs since 1998 and raises them under contract with Cooper Farms. With the state permit, Veitch anticipates raising 10,500 hogs at a time, slightly more than he currently raises.

"Nothing here is changing at all," he said. "We do everything by the book."

He said he'd prefer to have a smaller operation, but said that wouldn't provide enough income. "We would love to be able to just have one barn, but we support three families on this farm," he said.

ODA requires farms capable of holding at least 10,000 baby pigs to get state permits, said Kevin Elder, head of ODA's livestock environmental permitting program.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.