Developers tighten plans on dairy to avoid protest from neighbors

Plans to open a dairy near Ravenna that would hold 7,500 cows are closer to approval after developers adjusted to get around a protest by adjacent landowners. via Lincoln Journal Star

[Older but much smarter]

With the recent “go ahead, build a corporate dairy” from the Buffalo County Zoning Board tells me they as a board do not care about the probable contamination of the water supply, the long term effects on health, loss of land value, or the economy. They seem to see it as economic development. Economic development and economic growth are two different things. Let’s not confuse the two.
The methane digester is the great Band-Aid for all the possible problems this dairy will create. How big is it? Is it above ground or below ground? We don’t know, as there are no plans for the digester in the paperwork that was filed by the Woitaszewski brothers. Willie Skala said they only need 2 or 3 pivots to disperse the lagoon water. However, the estimate from the NRCS is much larger. They need at least 5000 acres for dry waste to be spread. With a minimum use of over 1 million gallons of water per day, how long do you think it will take for the high nitrates and bacteria to contaminate the ground water? They are only 60 feet to water on top of pure sand. Sand does not contain the ability to absorb water and toxins like clay. This area is all ready in a red zone for water shortage. How many irrigation wells will fail in order to keep a dairy of this size going? The ethanol plant will also feel the effects of water loss. That does not seem to matter.
The number of cows proposed will produce as much waste as a town 6 times the size of Kearney. According to their own zoning regulations 6.4, a waste plan needs to be approved by the DEQ first. No waste management plan was ever included to the Zoning Board. That does not matter.
The U.S. Dept. of Interior and the State Fish and Game Dept. have said that it poses too great of a risk to the South Loup River and the Ogallala Aquifer. That too, does not matter.
There are currently 29 waste lagoons in Nebraska that are leaking according to the DEQ. That also does not matter. What will it take for the Boards to have it matter??
If a small business owner can’t make his loan payments or keep up with rising costs on his own, he loses his business. Let’s not forget that corporate farms have very deep pockets and are masters at being subsidized, using grant money and having tax breaks and loopholes. All this is being paid for by you over and over again, no matter how inefficient and negligent they become. Who else can get those same benefits? You and I cannot compete with the “big boys”. Corporate farms will gladly use your money to make their profits to sell you out.
If they make too big of a mess they just move on to a more “cow friendly” state and leave the mess. Since coming to Nebraska, Aspen Dairy has had multitudes of complaints with the DEQ, but no discipline seems to happen. The boards seem to ignore that fact; they just know the DEQ will protect the northeast corner of Buffalo County even though they haven’t protected the southwest corner of Buffalo County.
A few people have toyed with the idea they might be able to sell corn to the dairy. With the Woitaszewski brothers farming 8000 acres of land, at 200 bushels per acre, do you honestly think the dairy will need to buy any corn from you? The Woitazewski brothers will most assuredly have those contracts sewn up with the incoming dairy. Why else would they be fronting this project in the first place? Wake up and smell the coffee burning!
Ironically some of the people that want this dairy don’t want it in their back yard either.
I wonder why not?
I too, am agricultural. I also believe we need to see more dairies in this state. Why not give benefits to about 15 small dairies to help them get started rather than one large mega one. It can be done with a lot more people benefiting than just a few. That’s economic growth.

[CBN-TBKS]

YOUR TOWN IS A FREAKIN' JOKE. GET THE HECK OVER IT. THE WHOLE TOWN IS JEALOUS THAT WOITACZESKI'S ARE GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO AND ARE SUCCESSFUL AND NOT EVERYONE CAN SAY THAT. I'M FROM SOUTHEAST NE. BUT AM FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA. WASTEWATER, WHATEVER. THE LADY ON THE NEWS TONIGHT LOOKS GOOFY AS HELL.