The Greene County Supervisors recently approved the continued use of the Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s master matrix system for establishing concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Board Chair John Muir says by following the master matrix process the public is empowered to voice their opinions at a public hearing when a CAFO is proposed, and the producers have to meet certain requirements which he believes is a more black-and-white system to follow. Muir points out if they didn’t use the master matrix, there wouldn’t be a public hearing and the producer would submit a notification that they were going to build a CAFO, which could come after construction has already started. Muir gives his explanation about why he voted in favor of the master matrix.

“It’s the game in town that I think right now is the fairest to everybody. Are there places where it could be tweaked? I think for several years there’s been discussion that there’s things that have changed in agriculture and in the buildings. And I don’t want to stop pork production in Iowa or anything. But there’s things that could be looked at but right now it’s the best game in town for everybody involved I think.”

Last year, only ten Iowa counties didn’t use the master matrix. The Greene County Supervisors voted unanimously to continue to use it through January 31, 2020.