Public hearings will be held Monday, Sept. 18, on two proposed confined animal feeding operations that would add five buildings with capacity for 12,200 hogs to the county.
The county supervisors reviewed the master matrices for both construction applications on Sept. 11.
A master matrix submitted by Bruce Youngblood for a two-building, 4,800-head operation in Section 25 of Bristol Township scored 450 on the matrix. A score of 440 is required for approval of the permit by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Pinnacle prepared the master matrix for Youngblood.
Board chair John Muir asked for confirmation that a large drainage intake on the southwest corner of a nearby field would not be impacted. Pinnacle representative Kent Krause said drainage tiles and field waterways are exempt from the master matrix process.
The public hearing on the Youngblood site is scheduled for 9 am.
The second public hearing, scheduled for 9:30, is on the proposed Kave Farm Finisher Site, owned by Grey Owl IV, LLC, in Section 27 of Highland Township. Grey Owl is owned by Iowa Select Farms. The proposal is for three buildings with a capacity of 7,400 hogs.
That master matrix also scored 450 points. Darrell Hunt of New Modern Concepts, builder of the proposed site, was at the meeting.
No operator has been named for the site. According to Hunt, there are already several CAFO owners or operators feeding for Iowa Select in the county. They are provided training before they start and are periodically evaluated on production and animal health by a regional supervisor. An operator for the new facility will not be named until after it is approved.
