WILLMAR -- A conditional use permit was approved Monday for an expansion of an existing swine operation in an A-1 agriculture zone in Holland Township.
The Kandiyohi County Planning Commission unanimously approved the permit for Jerome Taatjes for construction of a 72-foot-by-160-foot total confinement farrowing barn and a 156-foot-by-162-foot total confinement gestation barn. The structures will house 290.8 animal units.
Both the barns will have a concrete holding pit for manure.
Taatjes currently has facilities for 700 animal units.
When completed, the feedlot will house a total of 990.8 animal units, or 2,827 head of swine.
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According to the permit, animal waste will be land spread in accordance to a manure management plan.
Two conditions require dead animals to be properly disposed of and that all Minnesota Pollution Control Agency requirements for manure management must be followed.
County Commissioner Harlan Madsen, who is also a member of the Planning Commission, said Taatjes' operation has an "outstanding history" of being a "quality operation." When the viewing committee toured the farm, he said there was no odor detected. "It's a class A operation," Madsen said.
There was no one at the meeting to object to the permit.
Taatjes said he is expanding the operation because two of his children are returning to the farm to help run the family operation.
