Spring 2016 - Illinois Farm Bureau

Spring 2016
Volume 10, No.1
A publication dedicated to informing policymakers about Illinois farming and rural issues
Prairie Ridge Lodge in Pike County attracts visitors year-round for
events and outdoor recreation. In addition to Prairie Ridge, Harpole’s
Heartland Lodge operates two other resort lodges and a 1,200-acre
all-terrain vehicle park. (Photo by Harpole’s Heartland Lodge)
These barns near Griggsville help provide shelter, food and water for 7,200 pigs until they reach a weight to be sent to market.
Area farmers Matt and Lori Bradshaw built the barns in February 2009. (Photo by Kay Shipman)
Pike County’s livestock, recreation industries thriving together
BY KAY SHIPMAN
Pike County’s economy thrives on agriculture and
outdoor recreation, two growing industries in the western Illinois county sandwiched between the Mississippi
and the Illinois rivers.
“We’re trying to capitalize on our natural resources
without hurting them,” said Pike County Board Chairman Andy Borrowman. Borrowman starts his eighth
year on the county board, his sixth as chairman.
While serving in county government, Borrowman
experienced expansions in the county’s livestock sector, including two proposed swine barns that resulted
in public information meetings.
“The Illinois Department of Agriculture does a good
job of regulating and permitting livestock facilities so
far as I’m concerned in Pike County,” Borrowman said.
“The Agriculture Department and the people wanting
to build, they did their work –- as it should be.”
Modern livestock farms require technical, complex
facilities, and Pike County lacks the engineering
expertise to evaluate those plans, according to Borrowman. “I have an engineer on the highway department,
but that’s highway stuff,” he said. “We could hire an
engineer, but there’s no need when the state (department of ag) has an engineer.”
Questions? Call the IFB Legislative Department at 309-5572308 for state issues or 309-557-3152 for national issues.
Latest government statistics show the livestock sector
in Pike County contributed $108.1 million to the local
economy and directly employed 361 people. However,
Borrowman noted many other jobs and industries also
benefit, such as trucking firms that transport livestock
and feed.
Outdoor recreation also contributes to the area’s economy. In July, Gary Harpole, owner of Harpole’s Heartland
Lodge, expanded his all-terrain vehicle (ATV) park to cover nearly 1,200 acres. His ATV park has attracted attention
across the country and drawn international visitors.
Since opening his first resort lodge, Harpole continues to expand, and developed two additional lodges
that attract visitors year-round, including hunters in the
fall. His goal is to attract 20,000 visitors this year.
“We (outdoor recreation and livestock) complement
each other,” Harpole said. “From the resort side, I’m very
supportive. We work well together. I see no conflicts.”
FarmWeek For Lawmakers Page 2 Spring 2016
A farmer proposes to build a livestock farm in Illinois — What’s next?
BY KAY SHIPMAN
The Livestock Management Facilities Act (LMFA)
establishes a statewide procedure for siting, public
information meetings and construction of livestock
facilities and manure handling systems.
First step involves notice to construct
A farmer submits a notice of intent to construct a livestock management and/or manure
handling facility form with the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA).
The application includes detailed information
about the project, including size, type, location
and possible compliance with state setback criteria.
IDOA staff must review each application to
determine if the application information meets all
applicable siting criteria set in state law and
administrative rules pertaining to the LMFA.
IDOA sends the farmer an acknowledgment of
setback compliance. If IDOA determines it needs
more information, staff will send a request seeking that and specifying what needs to be clarified.
If the project size or project type meets the
qualification for a possible public information
meeting, IDOA sends a county board a notice
about that, and offers to schedule and conduct a
meeting.
LMFA outlines process when a project qualifies for a public meeting
A county board can request a public information
meeting when a proposed livestock farm will house,
for example, at least 2,500 adult hogs or 714 dairy or
1,000 beef cattle; OR use an earthen lagoon to handle
manure.
The IDOA sends a notice signifying the potential for
a public information meeting and publishes a notice in
a local newspaper.
Once the county board receives IDOA’s information, county board members have 30 days to request a
public information meeting. During the 30 days, any
county resident may petition the board to request a
meeting by collecting signatures of at least 75 registered voters in the county.
When the county board requests a public meeting,
IDOA schedules and conducts a meeting within 15
days of the board’s request. During the meeting, the
farm owner or operator will describe the project and
answer questions. The public and county board members may present oral or written comments about the
project.
The county board must submit a nonbinding advisory recommendation about the proposed construction to IDOA within 30 days of the public meeting.
Thirty days after the meeting, IDOA staff must
review the farmer’s application and the county
board’s recommendation, and determine if the proposed project complies with LMFA provisions. IDOA
staff have 15 days to make that determination. If
IDOA staff decide they need more information to
make a decision, staff can request that information
from the farmer. In those cases, an IDOA staff decision will be made after the farmer responds to the
request for more information.
IDOA issues an initial notice of approval of construction planning completeness for each proposed
project that complies with state regulation.
When a proposed project also was the subject of a
public information meeting and if IDOA determines
the project complies with state regulations, IDOA also
issues a final determination letter signifying the project meets state requirements.
FarmWeek For Lawmakers Page 3 Spring 2016
What’s covered by the Livestock Management Facilities Act?
BY KAY SHIPMAN
T he Livestock Management Facilities Act
(LMFA) regulates Illinois livestock farms and
manure handling systems since the law took
effect May 21, 1996. This marks the 20th year
LMFA has regulated livestock farms and manure
handling. In the Midwest, Illinois became one of
the first states to implement statewide livestock
farm regulations.
Recognizing the changing
livestock sector, the General
Assembly amended the law
in 1998, 1999 and 2007.
LMFA established requirements for design, construction and
operation of livestock farms and
waste handling facilities.
Under LMFA, livestock farmers
must be trained and certified.
Standards, requirements for farmers
The law requires farmers whose farms are
designed, for example, for more than 750 adult hogs,
214 dairy or 300 beef cattle to obtain state certification
from the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA)
and renew their certification every three years. Farmers whose farms meet larger threshold requirements
must undergo more stringent requirements for certification. Thresholds vary depending on the animal
species and the size of animal raised on the farm.
Farmers with farms designed, for example, for
more than 2,500 adult hogs, 714 dairy or 1,000 beef
cattle must develop a detailed management plan outlining how manure will be stored and handled and
where it will be used for natural fertilizer. The plans
must meet specific requirements, including application rates based on the manure’s nitrogen content and
the amount of nitrogen the anticipated crop will need
based on a five-year average yield. Plans must include
emergency response plans.
In compiling their management plans, farmers
must analyze the soil fertility levels of each field within the last five years, nutrients available from manure
and nutrients needed by the crop.
The plans must minimize the likelihood of any
environmental damage to the surrounding area
caused by spills, runoff and leaching.
Farmers must maintain their plans and make them
available for review by IDOA inspectors. Farmers
whose farms are designed for larger thresholds must
develop detailed manure management plans and submit them to IDOA for its approval.
Siting criteria for new livestock farms
New livestock farms designed, for example, for 125
adult hogs, 35 dairy or 50 beef cattle or more must meet
setback radius requirements. These range from a quarter
of a mile to a mile depending on the size of the farm and
the number of adjacent homes and/or the possible presence of populated areas.
If the farm plans to compost livestock manure, the
compost area must be at least a quarter of a mile away
from the nearest occupied home unless the home is
located on the farmer’s land. The compost area must be
at least 200 feet from the nearest drinking water source.
If a farm is proposed to be located within a 100-year
floodplain, a karst area or a place with an aquifer within
5 feet of the bottom of a livestock waste handling facility, it must meet more stringent construction standards.
Construction standards for livestock facilities
The law establishes construction standards for manure
lagoon and nonlagoon handling systems.
Lagoon design requirements vary based on the distance
from the lagoon bottom to an aquifer. The distance determines whether a liner or groundwater monitoring systems
are needed. IDOA inspectors must inspect the lagoon
before and during construction.
A licensed professional engineer, who will certify the
site meets all requirements, must supervise soil core samples and the construction or installation of liners. At locations that require groundwater monitoring wells, water
samples must be tested periodically for various potential
contaminants.
Some farms may need to build secondary berms
and/or plant grass filter strips, waterways, terraces or a
combination of those structures to provide additional
environmental protection.
Farmers must also follow design and construction standards for nonlagoon livestock manure handling structures. The standards vary depending on the type of facility
and the type of manure it will handle. For example, structures built of concrete must meet strength and load
requirements specified in the Midwest Service’s Concrete
Manure Storage Handbook.
The standards also cover holding capacity, which varies
depending on the type of manure handled. For example,
concrete structures that handle liquid manure must be
designed to hold at a minimum the amount generated at
full capacity for 150 days.
A structure storing solid or semi-solid livestock manure
must meet design requirements in the Midwest Plan Service’s Livestock Waste Facilities Handbook or similar
standards set by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
A farmer storing livestock manure in an aboveground
structure must use odor control practices determined
acceptable by scientific review and approved by IDOA.
FarmWeek For Lawmakers Page 4 Spring 2016
(Map by Tony Wilson)