Lyon County approves CUP for Arco feedlot, despite protest

Ghent-area farmer opposes proposed feedlot that he says puts his ‘family operation at risk’

By Rae Kruger
MARSHALL — Hog farmer Wallace Engels said his neighbor, Steve VanKeulen, isn’t being very neighborly with a proposed 825-animal unit hog operation near Engels’ farm.



“My neighbor can’t talk to me (when he will) put this feedlot this close to my farrow to finish operation,” Engels said of VanKeulen. “He would not want it.”



At Tuesday’s Lyon County Board of Commissioners meeting, Engels said VanKeulen’s site is about one-half mile from his operation.



VanKeulen is a member of the Arco Group, which will build the roughly 2,700-hog or 825-animal unit finishing operation near Ghent.



County zoning administrator John Biren said Arco is a group of farmers that buys pigs, and sometimes buys feed and other supplies together.



The proposed feedlot puts his feedlot at risk for diseases which could be carried from the Arco feedlot, Engels said.



“He wants his barn away from his nursery, yet he can put my family operation at risk,” Engels said.



Engels said his operation was built first and that should be considered by commissioners. Also, VanKeulen has two other sites for the feedlot.



VanKeulen did not comment at the meeting, other than to say, “There is a lot of misinformation but it’s kind of irrelevant...”



Despite Engels’ concerns about his operation being at risk for respiratory diseases because the Arco operation will be close to his hog feedlot, commissioners unanimously approved the conditional use permit for the feedlot.



Commissioner Rodney Stensrud raises hogs and deals with respiratory diseases



“It’s here, it’s all over,” Stensrud said.



VanKeulen’s operation is also at risk from getting diseases from other nearby hog operations, Stensrud said.



A particular strain of respiratory disease can travel through the air, although the cause or origin is rarely determined, but Biren said proper disposal of dead animals, proper storage, and spreading of manure and other best practices help to reduce the spread and outbreak of the disease. The CUP addresses proper carcass disposal, manure handling and other best practices, Biren said.



While general concerns about respiratory disease are valid, in this case particular and general concerns cited by Engels weren’t enough to deny the CUP, commissioners said.



“I have a hard time believing (respiratory disease) is going to get to (Engels’) barns from (VanKeulen’s),” Stensrud said. “It could happen, but I have hard time believing it.”



“Under the situation he has met all the requirements,” commissioner Phil Nelson said of VanKeulen’s CUP application. “It would be awfully hard to deny it. I don’t see how we can consider a disease no one understands as a mitigating factor. We certainly couldn’t write a rule (to regulate it).”



Nelson did have a suggestion for Engels and VanKeulen.



“If the two participants...could agree on a bigger distance (between feedlots) mutually, we’d consider a reapplication,” Nelson said.



“We’d consider an amendment, not a reapplication because we don’t want (VanKeulen) to have to pay the application fee again,” board chairman Mark Goodenow said.