(Arnolds Park)– A major announcement Wednesday when it comes to the local tourism and livestock industries.
Representatives of the Iowa Great Lakes Association and several major pork producing firms announced they’ve signed an agreement designed to help protect the environmental integrity of the Iowa Great Lakes.
Bill Van Orsdel, Chairman of the Iowa Great Lakes Association, says it established a four-mile buffer zone around the Iowa Great Lakes where no new livestock farms will be build and no existing livestock farms will be increased in number of currently permitted animal units.
The agreement is effective immediately.
Some major pork producers have signed off on it, including Christensen Farms, New Fashion Pork, Schwartz Farms, Lynch Livestock, and others. In total the participants in the agreement represent more than half of the entire pork breeding herd represented in Successful Farming’s Pork Powerhouse rankings.
Other terms of the agreement call for parties outside the perimeter of the “eco-tourism buffer” to notify in advance of any filings or applications of their intention to build a new farm or to increase the animal capacity of an existing farm and to participate in a public meeting facilitated by the Iowa Great Lakes Association with area residents to discuss their plans.
Officials admit there’s nothing in the agreement that would keep a company or individual who hasn’t signed on from coming in with a large confinement operation somewhere close to the lakes. They add, however, the agreement should serve as an impetus for anyone with such plans to give them a second thought atleast.
