MASON CITY — A manure management plan for a 3,400-hog operation will come before Cerro Gordo County supervisors Monday after county health staff identified nearby wildlife areas and a Winnebago River tributary crossing one of the fields designated for manure application.
The Board of Supervisors will meet at 10 a.m. Monday, September 28, in the boardroom at the Cerro Gordo County Courthouse, 220 N. Washington Ave., Mason City. The agenda includes public comment limited to agenda items.
Supervisors are scheduled to consider an environmental health report on the manure management plan update for Indigo Family Farms, also identified as Ashley’s Farm, and whether to forward the report to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The existing operation is located at 3160 Wood Avenue in Hancock County’s Ellington Township, approximately three miles west of the Cerro Gordo County line. According to the county’s review, the farm is not expanding, and its manure application fields are unchanged from the previous plan.
The operation produces an estimated 1.12 million gallons of manure annually. Its plan identifies eight application fields totaling 875.8 acres across the two counties. Six fields account for 658.2 acres in Hancock County, while two fields cover 217.6 acres in Sections 7 and 18 of Cerro Gordo County’s Grant Township.
In a September 24 memorandum, county Environmental Health Service Manager Lauren Hunt identified several public wildlife areas near the manure application area. Sandpiper Hills Waterfowl Production Area is adjacent, while Haugen Wildlife Area and Otter Bend Wildlife Area are each listed a quarter-mile away.
The review also identifies a tributary of the Winnebago River that crosses the application field in Section 18 of Grant Township.
Other public lands listed in the report include Kuhn Wildlife Area, Mallard Marsh, Wild Goose Marsh Wildlife Management Area, Teal Basins Waterfowl Production Area, Winnebago Oxbow, Hansen Wildlife Area and Prairie Pothole Wildlife Area.
The memorandum identifies those locations as concerns for the county’s review. It does not report a manure spill, documented water contamination or a violation by the operation.
According to Hunt’s memorandum, the review follows a county resolution directing environmental health staff to examine manure management plans and prepare issues for supervisors to forward to the DNR.
The item follows another recent county review involving manure application near public wildlife habitat. Earlier this month, NIT reported on a manure plan for a large Thornton livestock operation near a waterfowl protection area.
Monday’s agenda also includes county claims, payroll, drainage matters and an item for the county engineer, along with approval of the September 21 meeting minutes.