Feeding operation request pulled: Jackson County hog farmer cites change of heart, legal expenses as factors for withdrawal

A Jackson County farmer plans to withdraw his request for a special exception that would allow construction of a 4,000-head hog farm near Brownstown.

Grant VonDielingen said he is confident his request would receive approval at tonight’s Jackson County Board of Zoning Appeals hearing and withstand any resulting legal challenges.

But the prospect of those challenges and the acrimony directed at him forced a change in heart, the 26-year-old farmer said in an interview Monday afternoon.

“The stress and frustration my family and I have suffered has taken my heart out of this project,” VonDielingen said. “A wise man told me, ‘If your heart isn’t right, nothing is going to work.’”

VonDielingen told Building Commissioner Mike Weir about his plan to withdraw the request Monday morning. He said he

intends to formally withdraw it at tonight’s zoning board meeting.

The location of the proposed confined animal feeding operation drew opposition from some Brownstown residents and residents of Lake & Forest Club, a housing addition. Both are about a mile from the proposed farm location.

Joe Bradley, a Lake & Forest Club resident who has spoken against the hog farm, was surprised by VonDielingen’s decision and appreciative of it.

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