One of the more contentious public hearings for a new hog confinement project was held Monday in the Greene County Courthouse courtroom.
Over 50 attended and ten people spoke out against the confinement, which will be in section 26 of Greenbrier Township. Those against the project included: Jody & Chad Byerly, Roberta Brown Henning, Dennis & Janet Hendricks, Dale Hanaman, Chris Henning, Kent Bates, Erica Blair and Bill Frederick. The Byerly and Hendricks families are most directly affected by the confinement as some of its closest neighbors. Jody Byerly said she didn’t think it was right for the owners, Megan Carman and Nick Miller, to infringe on her property rights. Janet Hendricks said she was in favor of a family farm, but not a factory farm, which she believed is what the confinement is going to be. Erica Blair with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI) requested the Supervisors deduct 110 points off of the master matrix with written objections regarding: manure structure, truck turnaround, feeding and watering system and a closure plan.
Those that spoke in favor of the project were: Brian Hunter and John McCormick. Hunter spoke highly of Andy Carman and Miller when they worked for him with his hog business while in high school and college, and said they had experience dealing with hogs. Both he and McCormick thought that having hog confinements gives opportunities for young farmers to enter the farming business. The Carmans and Miller declined to make any comments or address any concerns when given an opportunity to speak.
We’ve previously reported that the Supervisors approved the construction permit for Oakview Pork LLC, who is feeding for Iowa Select Farms, 4 to 0, with Supervisor Mick Burkett being absent from the meeting. In a previous interview with Raccoon Valley Radio, Supervisor Chair John Muir talks about whether or not Greene County is approaching a saturation point with hog confinements.
“There needs to be a conversation of what people view as saturation. We’ve had operators who are responsible and did a good job. Everything in their control they’ve done the right way. I think the conversation has to be had of saturation. But it’ll be a lengthy conversation because the viewpoints are a long ways apart.”
Following the approval of the project by the Supervisors, all comments, concerns and questions will be sent to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, who will make the final determination. According to the DNR’s confinement website, Greene County now has 103 Certified Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) , with the most being 17 in the Junction Township. All 103 sites meet the threshold to be subject to the master matrix system and/or have a manure management plan.
During the public hearing, several people brought up how out of date the master matrix is. Any changes to the master matrix must be made at the state legislature. District 24 Senator Jerry Behn encourages anyone to reach out to them with their ideas of how to change it.
“If there’s a specific adjustment to that matrix that needs to be made, those ideas should be brought to your respective legislators be it a House member, be it a Senate member. They can submit those ideas in bill form and then they can get talked about in the committees.”
There was a bill for a moratorium in the state on hog confinements, but the bill was declared “dead” this session, due to it not making it out of the first funnel week. However, ideas can still be brought to Behn by emailing him at jerry.behn@legis.iowa.gov
Certified Animal Feeding Operations in Greene County:
Bristol Township: 11 sites
Cedar Township: 10 sites
Dawson Township: 5 sites
Franklin Township: 4 sites
Grant Township: 1 site
Greenbrier Township: 7 sites
Hardin Township: 9 sites
Highland Township: 14 sites
Jackson Township: 2 sites
Junction Township: 17 sites
Kendrick Township: 5 sites
Paton Township: 4 sites
Scranton Township: 4 sites
Washington Township: 3 sites
Willow Township: 7 sites
Total: 103 sites
Jefferson and Ralston Townships: 0 sites