Applications for animal feedlots on the rise

Construction of animal feedlots in the state has gone up considerably since 2010. In fact, the number of permits for new construction in 2011 has already surpassed last year?s total, according to statistics released by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in July.

The DNR is responsible for regulating animal confinement operations, and keeps tabs on how many new operations are built in the state. In 2006, there were 834 applications for new construction on animal operations such as hog buildings, poultry confinements, cattle lots and dairy manure storage facilities. That number declined to 704 in 2007 and fell even farther to 486 in 2008.

Applications for construction nearly dried up in 2009 when there were only 107. The following year was no better with only 105. In just the first seven months of 2011 there have been 144 applications.

Washington County Planning and Zoning Administrator Steve Lafaurie said that six of those 144 have come in Washington County. Lafaurie said that while the DNR is ultimately responsible for regulating animal operations, he is responsible for informing the rest of the county departments that have an interest in those operations, such as the Environmental Health Department, the assessor?s office and the Washington County Board of Supervisors.

One thing that Lafaurie pays attention to is the ?animal unit capacity? (AUC) of the building, which is not necessarily the same as the number of animals in the building. The animal unit capacity of a building determines the regulations it falls under. Bert Noll of the DNR field office No. 6 in Washington said the Environmental Protection Agency has devised a system whereby different numbers of animals are allowed in a given space based on the kind of animal they are and how much they weigh.

Lafaurie produced a table showing that sheep and lambs count as one-tenth that of feeder cattle or immature dairy cattle.

Noll said that animal operations with less than a 500 AUC are considered small animal feeding operations (SAFO). For instance, an animal operation with 1,200 head of swine over 55 pounds would have an AUC number of 480. Noll said these operations are subject to the fewest regulations. They must not be within a certain distance of well water.

Those operations with an AUC number between 500 and 1,000 are required to produce a manure management plan, said Noll. The owner of the animal operation must show how he will dispose of the manure. Noll said this means demonstrating how much manure the farmer needs to fertilize his crops.

?You may need X number of acres to use up this manure,? said Noll.

These facilities cannot be built within a certain distance not only of well water but also of residences, schools, businesses and churches.

?An operation between 500 to 1,000 has to be 1,250 feet from the neighbor,? said Noll. ?Those distances increase as the AUC increases.?

Animal operations of more than 1,000 are required to receive a special construction permit.

?They have to answer a series of questions, and if the site is big enough, they may need an engineer to design it,? said Noll.

The majority of counties in Iowa have adopted another layer of regulations on animal operations known as a master matrix. Noll explained that animal confinement operators are scored based on a number of factors, such as whether they are farther away from other buildings than the requirement, and that only after scoring a certain number of points do they pass the master matrix. Washington County is one of 11 counties in the state that do not use the master matrix. Neighboring Keokuk and Iowa counties do not use it either.