Feedlot permits double

The Rock County Land Management Office issued more than twice as many livestock feedlot permits in 2015 than it did the year before, according to LMO assistant director Doug Bos.
In 2015 the LMO issued 24 feedlot permits, up from 11 issued in 2014.
Bos, who also serves as the county’s feedlot officer, said all of the county’s 600 feedlots are permitted through the LMO office, with each site permitted a specific number of animal units.
Each farm animal species is designated a number based on its size and manure production.
For instance, a mature dairy cow over 1,000 pounds is equal to 1.4 animal units — the highest amount. A duck has the least at 0.01, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency website.
Bos said feedlot operations expanding to more than 1,000 AUs needs to apply for a conditional use permit through the MPCA.
“These permits come from the state but it does go through the (county) zoning board and to the County Commissioners for approval,” he told Rock County Board members at their Jan. 5.
“You ultimately are the ones that decide on any site of 1,000 animal units or more.”
Expansion of hog production facilities led the list of permits issued in the county in 2015 with 11, seven of which were new sites. In 2014 there was one new hog barn expansion.
Also in 2015 there were seven cattle feedlots expanded, up from two the previous year.
In addition to the cattle feedlot permits, four new cattle barns (two were new sites) were constructed in 2015. There were six built in 2014.
Two dairy feedlot expansions were permitted in 2015 compared with one new dairy calf barn permitted in 2014.
Already for this year, Bos said there is one application for a new hog facility, with three more in the planning stages. Three new cattle barns are also in the planning stages.
“For our farmers, they keep expanding,” Bos said. “We don’t have any huge sites but we have some pretty good operators, and economically for the county and for our area of people, jobs are important.”
In other business at the Jan. 5 meeting, commissioners approved the 2016-17 MPCA County Feedlot Program Delegation Agreement Work Plan.
Under the plan, the LMO will randomly inspect 43 feedlots in 2016 and in 2017, up from 42 last year.
As a delegated county, the LMO is charged with the registration, inspection and compliance with state and federal mandates in order for producers to safely operate a feedlot in Minnesota.
In 2016 the county will receive $50,632.