(Spirit Lake)– Opposition over large scale hog lots in Dickinson county is apparently increasing.
A group calling itself “Dickinson County Citizens Against Hog Sites” is scheduled to address its concerns Tuesday with the board of supervisors, even though they have no say on the location of feedlots–that’s up to the state.
The group is on the agenda for 10:30 a.m.
Plans by New Fashion Pork to put in a four-thousand head confinement on the Little Sioux River in western Dickinson county has resulted in a resurgence in local opposition to what’s known as Confined Animal Feeding Operations…or CAFO’s.
The issue had been absent for the most part in Dickinson county since a group of local residents was successful several years ago in buying out a Fairmont, Minnesota company that wanted to put in a large hog lot southwest of Milford.
The head of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is critical of that. In a recent visit to the Iowa Great Lakes, Jeff Vonk heard from residents concerned over the latest proposal from New Fashion Pork. Vonk responded by saying Dickinson county residents had become complacent as a result of the buy-out several years ago. He said if opponents are that concerned, they should have done more in the meantime to lobby the legislature to pass tighter limits or push for local control on the locations of CAFO’s.
