South Idaho county approves three feedlots

TWIN FALLS, Idaho – The Cassia County Planning and Zoning Commission in Southern Idaho has approved permits for three feedlots near Malta that will each hold 7,500 animals.

The company that obtained the permits on Thursday, East Valley Cattle, LLC, already has a permit it obtained last year to operate a 26,000-animal feedlot next to the area where the three new feedlots have been approved.

The company was required to apply for three separate permits this time because Cassia County put in place an ordinance last year limiting the number of animals in feedlots to 7,500.

The four feedlots combined add up to 48,500 animals and cover up to 800 acres.

Matt Thompson, a dairy consultant and environmental engineer, represented the company through the application process. He said it was best to locate feedlots in one area to reduce the number of neighbors who are affected.

“If we have to go out and look for another site, we’re going to get closer to our neighbors, not farther away,” Thompson told commissioners. “This is the best site.”

Bruce Beck, the only commissioner to vote against approving the feedlots, said he had concerns the company hadn’t yet obtained signed contracts from land owners willing to take manure for fertilizer from the feedlots.

“I really feel that if we’re going to allow something, we’re going to need some definite commitment,” he said. “Once you get something built, it’s awfully tough to shut it down.”

The company said it has a verbal agreement with a neighboring farmer to distribute manure over 1,460 acres of land.

“If we have a neighboring farmer that wants manure, then we’re going to give it to him first,” Thompson said. “We want to keep that open for our neighbors.”

As part of the approval for the permit, commissioners required that the company keep and provide to the county annual records of manure distribution.

The manure generated by the feedlots not going to neighboring farms will be taken care of with a composting plan, the company said. Hilary Simpson, a nutrient management specialist with the Idaho Department of Agriculture, certified that the company’s composting plan could take care of that manure.

Also as part of their approval, commissioners limited to eight months the length of time manure could be stored at the feedlots before being loaded on trucks for transport. Such staging areas have the potential to leach into groundwater, creating health risks for water users in the area.