To the editor:

We are a 670-acre working cow/calf ranch north of Lawrence, six miles west of Tonganoxie, and own land in Leavenworth County. We are a certified 100 percent grass-fed operation and also certified with “Animal Welfare Approved,” which stipulates “always humane care to our cattle.”

Our major concern with the Tyson “project,” along with water and air pollution, is pollution to the soil. Tyson is wanting farmers to spread chicken manure on their soil for fertilizer. Chicken poop is a great fertilizer if it is not laced with chemicals that destroy our ecosystem and our pollinators.

Tyson’s big slogan now, “No Antibiotics … ever.” Give me a break! No chickens, or any animal, can be confined as closely as their chickens and not be given some sort of antibiotics/chemicals to keep them from getting sick. They have some “new” chemical, I hear, that eliminates bad odors. Who knows what that may be putting in our soil and water! We need to find out exactly what chemicals they are using.

If Tyson didn’t use chemicals to control the smell, there would be such a stench they couldn’t get by with building inhumane structures. Chemicals are killing our soils, which kills beneficial micro-organisms that make soils healthy. We are what we eat, and eating animals that are eating chemicals is NOT good for anyone’s health. I challenge Tyson to be certified with “Animal Welfare Approved” and prove their claim! Will they? No! We don’t want their poop!