South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Sioux Falls Stockyards

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Stockyards

What the Heck is going on at Smithfields?

l3wis 2Comments

Folks, I can handle a little farm stink. I grew up on a hog and sheep farm and have scooped my fair share of hog sh*t and have drug hundreds of dead bloated animals from barns and thru farm yards, but what I smelled today was so bad I almost threw up. I drove past Falls Park to see how it was barricaded (there were four police cruisers in the park, 2 parked on the Westside and 2 on Eastside. They were conveniently parked driver window to driver window. I guess if you have to be at Falls Park, best to get in your SFPD water cooler gossip in). I couldn’t see if the police were wearing gas masks, because as I got to the Silver Moon the evil smell of both manure and dead animal was swallowing up the air. It was horrendous, the smell didn’t end until I got to about 8th street. I did notice there isn’t much of a wind today, but one wonders if the scrubbers are NOT in operation at Smithfield. The rumor is they had to remove equipment from the 1st floor and close down killing operations due to the impending flood. Either way, if a strong wind comes up the whole town will be smelling like crap.

John Morrell's Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Stockyards

Stink Factory is going to get more Stinky

l3wis 21Comments

Oh joy, more hog barns by our biggest tourist attraction!

The Virginia-based company has received a building permit for a $12.5 million expansion to the Sioux Falls plant for a holding barn addition. That follows a $2 million holding barn addition permit filed in May.

And that is what brings the tourists in!

When turning the corner to enter the cafe we walked into a thick, and pungent wall of odor emanating from the business across the street. I grew up in southwestern MN and have had my fair share of brushes with pig farming and even helped feed pigs at one time, but this was on a whole other level.

Never in my life have I been hit so hard with pig manure odor that I almost gagged! We quickly entered the cafe, but upon losing any sense of hunger we each held our breath and made a dash out of the cafe! (Some advice, do not hold your breath after breathing in an awful smell as it only increases the difficulty of getting that odor out of your throat and nose.) Falls park is an extremely wonderful experience for the senses, it would just be nice if one of the senses could be taken down a notch!

And that’s what keeps the visitors coming back, as my stepfather would say “Smells like money.”

I have often argued if we are ever going to re-develop our Downtown we need to eliminate the train traffic, JM’s and the Prison.

Sioux Falls Stockyards

Now if we can just close down John Morrell's we'd be set

l3wis 13Comments

The cattle operation of the SF stockyards is going to close down and the land is for sale. Let’s cross our fingers and hope JM’s moves to Sioux City so we can finally breathe the air once again in Sioux Falls;

The Sioux Falls Stockyards is being offered for sale by the financially embattled company that owns it and will end cattle sales by June 30 because it cannot comply with city restrictions on wastewater, according to stockyard manager Paul Scott.

 

Once the largest stockyard in the nation, the 92-year-old venture is falling victim to, among other things, tougher environmental standards and changing market forces that dictate how cattle are bought and sold.

Don’t get me wrong, it will have a short term effect on the Sioux Falls economy and housing market if John Morrell’s moves to, but in the long run we can finally cleanup that part of town and make our city a cleaner place to live. Sometimes GOOD change hurts a little.

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