HAWARDEN, IA -
Burger King wants to change the way your food is raised.
The fast food chain announced it wants all of its pork products to come from "cage free" pigs.
Animal rights groups are applauding this change in the way livestock will be raised, but Siouxland hog farmers are worried.
Tim Schmidt co-owns a hog operation near Hawarden, Iowa.
With 250 sows he helps raise up to 4,000 pigs every year.
"We raise them from birth to market," said Schmidt.
But a fast food chain wants to change the way those pigs are raised.
Burger has pledged that all of its pork products will come from cage free pigs by 2017,A move that could hurt Siouxland farmers.
"They're going to make some of us smaller farmers be forced out of business," said Schmidt.
He raises hogs both ways; In open pens and inside buildings in what are called "gestation crates."
When those pigs are inside they're warm in the winter and cooler in the summer.
Schmidt can individually adjust how much food each one gets, he says it's also easier to keep track of each animal and keep them healthy.
Benefits that wouldn't be realized in outside pens.
"We can not control in pen situations how much feed they get, we can not control all day long whether they're going to be picked on by a bully sow," said Schmidt.
A move outdoors wouldn't only be harder on pigs, it would be harder on farmers, especially in terms of inefficiencies.
It would take more space and more labor to get the job done, something that doesn't quite add up for Schmidt.
"Burger King doesn't come here and do my chores every single day, how can they say how I'm supposed to do this?" said Schmidt. "I just don't quite understand that."
Burger King says it also wants the egg products it uses to come from "cage free" chickens.
