BEATRICE – A controversial confined animal production operation has advanced again from the Gage County Planning Commission, this time on a 5-1 vote. A second hearing was held on the proposal in section 11 of Nemaha Township about five miles southwest of Adams.


The planning commission had a second hearing because some nearby property owners were missed in the original notification of the plan and hearing process.
Tempers flared at times during the hearing, after opponents challenged the accuracy of the amount of acres used in a state application for a permit, and the possible effects on air and groundwater.


Dean Otto Family Farms is working with Summit Pork, a giant Iowa-based company, to build a confined swine finishing operation of up to 6,250 head. The proposal just received its state construction and operating permit Tuesday, after an extensive review and public comment period.


Carl Jacobson of York, is with Summit, which will own and manage the farm. He says the project would produce manure that Otto Family Farms would inject as fertilizer on over 500 acres of their fields.


"The pigs will be Bruce Livingston's...out of Fairbury, Nebraska...Livingston Enterprises. They'll come in about a 50-to-60 pound pig, and will be finished out to 275-to-280 pounds, depending on the market. That will be about three turns per year through the facility. The hog site will be fitted with the latest technology of wet-dry feeders to maximize water efficiency in the building. It's a cross-ventilated barn so one side will have a curtain that will be power-ventilated with variable speed fans. Two wells are already on site to feed the barn. We have received our co-mingled permit from the Lower Big Blue NRD....and then the big thing, today...we have received from the State of Nebraska our construction and operating permit."


An engineering plan and inspection by the state will be done before construction proceeds. Joseph Guenther, of Pender is with Nutrient Advisors, which wrote the nutrient management plan.  "The operation scored a 98, on a 75-point threshold. It is recommended approval for a conditional use permit at the county. They scored a 98...so well above that 75."


Robert Wallman farms near the site and opposes the project. He questioned the amount of irrigated acres included in it. Planning Commission member Terry Acton, who voted against advancing the proposal, got into a dispute with Jacobson when he asked why the supplier of the pigs never testified before the commission.


"This county wants to see the applicant, Carl...I'm pretty sure....that's one question. (Jacobson), but, Terry, that's fine, but I hope you ask Bruce Rassiter the same questions you've brought up in the past when he comes and sits in this board room..(Acton).."I certainly will..(Jacobson)...so when he looks in your eyes and gives you honest, truthful answers, are you going to backlash him like you did, prior to me?...(Acton).."My job is to do the seven things we're told to do."


Acton referenced seven factors the commission uses when considering whether permits meet zoning and land use regulations in the county.


Ivy Blum lives a mile away from the project and expressed concerned about health effects of a large confined animal operation. "I get that Gage County became livestock-friendly some time ago. And, I think they really didn't really think of the ramifications of those of us who live here and pay taxes. Our property taxes have gone up 30-to-40 percent in the last three to four years."


Laura Fikar of rural Adams says the proposed operation is within a mile of her residence. She said commission officials should visit other Summit operations to examine their effect on residents around them. "I asked how many of you have visited one of their locations in Iowa, to get a better idea of the operation, condition of their properties and visited with nearby property owners, as to are they good neighbors. They can all talk the talk, but are they actually walking the walk? I ask any members, as well, who has not seen a location with their own eyes to withhold voting today, until they've done their due diligence to the voters of Gage County."


The commission’s approval comes with some special conditions attached.  One is a requirement that hog manure produced by the operation be injected as fertilizer, unless an emergency or catastrophic event makes that impossible. The commission required that four rows of trees be planted around the operation as screening…and that three monitoring wells, instead of two… be constructed on the property with state approval of well placement.


The permit application now goes to the county board for a public hearing and final decision.