MERRIAM, KAN. — Seaboard Foods LLC received permits from the Ford County Commissioners to build two hog farms east of Bucklin, Kan.

The farms would span seven acres of land and house around 2,500 female hogs, weighing between 45 to 300 lbs, according to a fact sheet from Seaboard.

The company does not plan on building an outdoor manure treatment for the facilities. Instead, the barns will feature 8-foot-deep concrete pits under slatted floors where the manure will be managed and injected into the soil's surface as fertilizer. Seaboard said it will closely work on land application of the manure to assure compliance with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Each farm plans to use 15 acre-feet of water per year. Throughout each month, an estimated 16 trucks will transport animals and their feed in and out of the farms.

The new facilities are expected to benefit Ford County through property taxes, job opportunities, and opportunities for contract manure application.

Seaboard Foods currently owns and operates hog farms and animal feed mills in Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Iowa. In Kansas alone, Seaboard operates 155 farms.