WINNEBAGO County, Iowa - After some lively discussion, the Winnebago County board of supervisors voted to deny a construction permit for a hog confinement facility during their meeting Tuesday morning in Forest City.
The proposed facility, located near the intersection of County Road R16 annd 380th Street in Grant Township south of Buffalo Center, would have consisted of two deep pit swine finisher buildings, which would have had an Animal Unit Capacity of around 200 animal units (or nearly 5,000 hogs) after completion.
Supervisor Bill Jensvold says the board denied the permit based on comments from nearby landowners and a golf course located two miles south of the site.
"The main issue brought up was the nuisance. The smell was concerning, and they would've had to put up with the odor of someone else building a facility," Jensvold says.
In addition, a well that would be dug on site would be too close to secondary road right-of-ways, which is in violation of state law, as well as trucks turning and possibly striking that well.
Jensvold is not opposed to farmers using natural manure for fertilizer, but adds the facility could be built in a better, more remote location away from residences.
"You shouldn't be able to build something that's going to be a problem with your neighbors. To some, it smells like money, but to others, it smells like you know what," Jensvold says.
However, Allie Heneman, who lives in Buffalo Center, is in favor of the facility.
"It brings more money into the community for us, and it's a good thing, because Iowa and the whole Midwest is based on farming. It's just our way of living," Heneman says.
