The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets
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Oligarch Watch
/ March 12, 2026
The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets
Jeff and Deb Hansen spend hundreds of thousands to keep the state friendly to their business.
Chuck Collins
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The Iowa Pork Queen stands near the Iowa Pork Producers Association tent at the Iowa State Fair in August 2019. Jeff and Deb Hansen are major donors to the Iowa Pork Producers Association.(Caroline Brehman / CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “High on the Hog.”
There are about 75 million pigs being raised on farms in the United States, with about a third of that total in Iowa, the nation’s top hog state. Jeff and Deb Hansen founded Iowa Select Farms, now the largest pork producer in the state, in 1992. The Hansens offer a case study in how regional oligarchs can deploy their wealth, political influence, and charitable giving to defend their enterprises from local, state, and federal regulation. Through their capture of Iowa’s political apparatus, the Hansens drive national pork policy.
The pork industry has been consolidating since the 1990s, with a 70 percent decline in the number of farms with hogs, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Large conglomerates have steadily replaced the smaller integrated farms that once used modest amounts of waste from their hogs and other animals as fertilizer.
Watching the consolidation of the poultry industry, the Hansens first became successful manufacturing concentrated animal-feeding operations (CAFOs). Large production sheds, known as “confinements,” hold up to 2,500 sows, which are pumped full of antibiotics to help them survive their cramped, windowless existence. CAFOs generate colossal amounts of manure waste, forming gargantuan anaerobic lagoons that foul the air and pollute local water supplies around the farm.
By the early 1990s, the Hansens’ CAFO business was bringing in $90 million a year. “After steadily expanding their confinement-building business,” writes Iowa native Austin Frerick, the author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry, “the Hansens decided they could also make money by raising their own hogs.” Starting with a herd of 10,000 sows, Iowa Select Farms grew into the country’s fourth-largest hog producer, with roughly 260,000 sows.
You can smell these hog-raising operations from miles away, much to the detriment of their neighbors. In 2003, the company settled a lawsuit filed by residents of Sac County, who complained that a farm with 30,000 hogs produced foul odors, noxious gases, and swarms of flies. An …
This deserves loud pushback.
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The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets
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Current Issue
Oligarch Watch
/ March 12, 2026
The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets
Jeff and Deb Hansen spend hundreds of thousands to keep the state friendly to their business.
Chuck Collins
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
The Iowa Pork Queen stands near the Iowa Pork Producers Association tent at the Iowa State Fair in August 2019. Jeff and Deb Hansen are major donors to the Iowa Pork Producers Association.(Caroline Brehman / CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “High on the Hog.”
There are about 75 million pigs being raised on farms in the United States, with about a third of that total in Iowa, the nation’s top hog state. Jeff and Deb Hansen founded Iowa Select Farms, now the largest pork producer in the state, in 1992. The Hansens offer a case study in how regional oligarchs can deploy their wealth, political influence, and charitable giving to defend their enterprises from local, state, and federal regulation. Through their capture of Iowa’s political apparatus, the Hansens drive national pork policy.
The pork industry has been consolidating since the 1990s, with a 70 percent decline in the number of farms with hogs, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Large conglomerates have steadily replaced the smaller integrated farms that once used modest amounts of waste from their hogs and other animals as fertilizer.
Watching the consolidation of the poultry industry, the Hansens first became successful manufacturing concentrated animal-feeding operations (CAFOs). Large production sheds, known as “confinements,” hold up to 2,500 sows, which are pumped full of antibiotics to help them survive their cramped, windowless existence. CAFOs generate colossal amounts of manure waste, forming gargantuan anaerobic lagoons that foul the air and pollute local water supplies around the farm.
By the early 1990s, the Hansens’ CAFO business was bringing in $90 million a year. “After steadily expanding their confinement-building business,” writes Iowa native Austin Frerick, the author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry, “the Hansens decided they could also make money by raising their own hogs.” Starting with a herd of 10,000 sows, Iowa Select Farms grew into the country’s fourth-largest hog producer, with roughly 260,000 sows.
You can smell these hog-raising operations from miles away, much to the detriment of their neighbors. In 2003, the company settled a lawsuit filed by residents of Sac County, who complained that a farm with 30,000 hogs produced foul odors, noxious gases, and swarms of flies. An …
The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets
This deserves loud pushback.
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The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets
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Magazine
Latest
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Politics
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Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
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About
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Current Issue
Oligarch Watch
/ March 12, 2026
The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets
Jeff and Deb Hansen spend hundreds of thousands to keep the state friendly to their business.
Chuck Collins
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
The Iowa Pork Queen stands near the Iowa Pork Producers Association tent at the Iowa State Fair in August 2019. Jeff and Deb Hansen are major donors to the Iowa Pork Producers Association.(Caroline Brehman / CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
This article appears in the
April 2026 issue, with the headline “High on the Hog.”
There are about 75 million pigs being raised on farms in the United States, with about a third of that total in Iowa, the nation’s top hog state. Jeff and Deb Hansen founded Iowa Select Farms, now the largest pork producer in the state, in 1992. The Hansens offer a case study in how regional oligarchs can deploy their wealth, political influence, and charitable giving to defend their enterprises from local, state, and federal regulation. Through their capture of Iowa’s political apparatus, the Hansens drive national pork policy.
The pork industry has been consolidating since the 1990s, with a 70 percent decline in the number of farms with hogs, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Large conglomerates have steadily replaced the smaller integrated farms that once used modest amounts of waste from their hogs and other animals as fertilizer.
Watching the consolidation of the poultry industry, the Hansens first became successful manufacturing concentrated animal-feeding operations (CAFOs). Large production sheds, known as “confinements,” hold up to 2,500 sows, which are pumped full of antibiotics to help them survive their cramped, windowless existence. CAFOs generate colossal amounts of manure waste, forming gargantuan anaerobic lagoons that foul the air and pollute local water supplies around the farm.
By the early 1990s, the Hansens’ CAFO business was bringing in $90 million a year. “After steadily expanding their confinement-building business,” writes Iowa native Austin Frerick, the author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry, “the Hansens decided they could also make money by raising their own hogs.” Starting with a herd of 10,000 sows, Iowa Select Farms grew into the country’s fourth-largest hog producer, with roughly 260,000 sows.
You can smell these hog-raising operations from miles away, much to the detriment of their neighbors. In 2003, the company settled a lawsuit filed by residents of Sac County, who complained that a farm with 30,000 hogs produced foul odors, noxious gases, and swarms of flies. An …
