C&H Hog Farms

In early 2013, brothers Richard and Phillip Campbell and their cousin Jason Henson opened C&H Hog Farms in Mount Judea (Newton County). The farrow-to-wean farm, where piglets were raised from birth until weaning, had enough space to raise as many as 80,000 pigs per year in a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO.

The farm’s proximity to Big Creek, a major tributary to the Buffalo National River, drew concern from environmentalists. Soon after plans for the farm were announced, the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance formed to conduct research on the effects of the farm on Big Creek and the Buffalo River and to pursue legal routes to shut down the farm.

Environmentalists identified their main concerns with the farm as the waste management plan and its interplay with the area’s karst topography. At any time, the farm could have up to 6,500 pigs, whose waste was stored in large outdoor lagoons and then spread as fertilizer on nearby agricultural fields. Some of the fields lay within the Buffalo River watershed, and the geology of the area facilitated quick absorption into groundwater. Karst geology—porous chert or limestone ground covered in a thin layer of topsoil, which is common in the region—is unable to handle the quantity of waste applied to it, resulting in toxic bacteria quickly leaching into groundwater or being carried by rainwater. The potential spread of waste from C&H into the water and the air would have negative implications for environmental and human health.

Locals grew increasingly concerned about the farm’s impact on the appeal and health of their towns. Many complained about the smell, the proximity to the Mount Judea Elementary School, and the potential impact of the farm on property values and tourism, a significant industry in the area. As a result, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) issued a moratorium on future permits for CAFOs within the Buffalo National River Watershed in 2014. Under the moratorium, farmers were permitted to have no more than 749 hogs weighing over fifty-five pounds and no more than 2,999 under that weight.

Debates among the National Park Service, environmental groups, and the C&H Hog Farms representatives about the environmental impacts of the farm continued until 2018, when the ADEQ denied a new permit for the farm, citing concerns about waste disposal methods. ADEQ studies from that year found an increase in E. coli, associated with fecal waste, that exceeded water quality standards.

In 2019, Governor Asa Hutchinson reached an agreement with the owners of C&H for the state to purchase the property for $6.2 million and place the land in a conservation easement, which regulates future use. When Gov. Hutchinson announced the agreement, he emphasized that the farmers were not at fault, but that “the state should never have granted that permit for a large-scale hog farm operation in the Buffalo River watershed.” The farm was fully closed in January 2020.

The closure of C&H was not the end of the hog farm debate, however. Hutchinson supported ADEQ’s efforts to make the moratorium on hog farms in the Buffalo River watershed permanent, which concerned some farmers. In early 2025, state senator Blake Johnson and state representative DeAnn Vaught, both farmers, sponsored Senate Bill 84, which would end the temporary permit moratorium and would require that all future moratoria receive approval from the Arkansas Legislative Council, rather than state agencies like ADEQ. The bill gained little support and was withdrawn. Johnson later sponsored a similar bill, Senate Bill 290, but it was amended to preserve the two existing moratoria covering the Buffalo River and the Lake Maumelle watersheds.

For additional information:
Bontrager, Eric. “Thousands of Concerned Citizens Urge Gov. Hutchinson to Protect Buffalo National River from Hog Waste Contamination.” National Parks Conservation Association, March 17, 2017. https://www.npca.org/articles/1502-thousands-of-concerned-citizens-urge-gov-hutchinson-to-protect-buffalo (accessed May 23, 2025).

Brantley, Max. “Buffalo River Protectors Say It’s Time to Stop the Hog Farm in Buffalo Watershed.” Arkansas Times, January 17, 2018. https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2018/01/16/buffalo-river-protectors-say-its-time-to-stop-the-hog-farm-in-buffalo-watershed (accessed May 23, 2025).

“Buffalo River Among Most Endangered Rivers, Report Finds.” Free Weekly, April 13, 2017. http://www.freeweekly.com/2017/04/13/buffalo-river-among-most-endangered-rivers-report-finds/ (accessed May 23, 2025).

“C&H Hog Farms Officially Closes.” Arkansas Money & Politics, January 7, 2020. https://armoneyandpolitics.com/ch-hog-farms-officially-closes/ (accessed May 23, 2025).

Eligon, John. “2,500 Pigs Join Debate Over Farms vs. Scenery.” New York Times, December 17, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/us/2500-pigs-join-debate-over-farms-vs-scenery.html (accessed May 23, 2025).

Hahn, Jonathan. “Buffalo River Hog CAFO Threatens America’s First National River.” Sierra Club, February 24, 2017. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/green-life/buffalo-river-hog-cafo-threatens-america-s-first-national-river (accessed May 23, 2025).

International Plant Nutrition Institute. “Human Health and the Use of Animal Manure in Crop Production.” Stewardship Specifics 12. https://fertilizer.org.au/Portals/0/Documents/General/IPNI%20Resources/StewSpec%2312_out_pr2.pdf?ver=2019-12-10-013205-947 (accessed May 23, 2025).

Ramsey, David. “Hog Farm Near the Buffalo River Stirs Controversy.” Arkansas Times, August 15, 2013. https://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/hog-farm-near-buffalo-river-raises-concerns-for-watershed-and-community/Content?oid=3013811&storyPage=6 (accessed May 23, 2025).

Thompson, Brian. Save the Buffalo River…Again! A Story about a National River and a Hog Farm. N.p.: Ozark Society, 2022.

Walkenhorst, Emily. “C&H Hog Farms Takes State Buyout; $6.2M Deal Cut to Preserve Buffalo River.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 14, 2019. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/jun/14/c-h-hog-farms-takes-state-buyout-201906/ (accessed May 23, 2025).

Kylee Taylor Cole
Fayetteville, Arkansas