Nebraska's new governor fires back at ‘cheap stunts’ attacking his hog farms

LINCOLN — Newly sworn-in Gov. Jim Pillen is firing back at billboards in Lincoln and Columbus that went up recently attacking the governor’s hog operations, calling the billboards “cheap stunts.” Pillen, in a press release Tuesday, said the aim of the billboards was to “destroy Nebraska’s way of life by shutting down our state’s largest industry – livestock.” “As the Governor of Nebraska, I will always stand and defend our businesses, farmers and ranchers against radical activists who value cheap stunts over bettering the lives of Nebraskans,” he said in the release. They criticize Pillen for the “suffocating stench” generated by “factory farms” and call on him to shift the state to more plant-based, climate friendly agriculture. Pillen, in his press release, said the physician’s group failed to acknowledge the “significant economic benefits” from cattle, hogs, dairy and poultry production in the state. In 2000, 18 residents who lived near some of Pillen’s hog-confinement operations in Nance and Boone Counties filed a lawsuit, alleging that the hog sites were a nuisance that generated “unbearable” odors.