Swine farm informational hearing answers questions

Shamus Brown, Preferred Capital Management, a division of Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, gave a brief overview of the plans for Blue Hills Swine Facility, before time for questions. Many of the public’s questions and concerns, dealt with water quantity and quality, manure management and road maintenance. Photo by Julia Wolf

By Julia Wolf

An informational hearing gave community members the chance to get answers to their questions about Blue Hills Swine Facility. The hearing took place Sept. 8, at the Sheldon Community Center, as a special meeting for the Town of Marshall.

To begin the hearing, attendees heard a short presentation on the background of Blue Hills and the plan moving forward.

The facility will be located at W6004 County Line Road, Sheldon, southwest of Sheldon. The facility got approval for animal waste permits by the Rusk County Land and Water Conservation in August.

Shamus Brown, Preferred Capital Management, a division of the Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, LLC., says the facility is meant to raise replacement gilts (females) for family farms.

The pigs will come in as three-week-old weaned pigs and be kept for about six months at the location, until they are roughly 300 pounds.

Brown says Preferred Capital Management was started to help oversee and operate a gilt replacement operation for family farms. He says the core focus remains helping family farmers succeed by managing and creating opportunities for them in the swine industry.

“Our customers are independent pork producers,” said Brown, adding most of their customers are in southern Minnesota, northern Iowa and South Dakota.

The Blue Hills location will have a compost shed, gilt development unit/barn and a machine shed with water storage. Brown says the location was chosen to promote high health in the swine.

“We don’t plan to build more pig barns, because we want to keep these isolated and high health,” said Brown.

He says one semi load of pigs will go out from the farm every week, with daily evaluation of which will go on to become replacement sows and which will go to market instead.

Brown says they plan to stay around 2,350 animals. One adult pig equals 0.4 animal units, as set by the state.

“If weather and the supply chain works out, we would like to start construction yet this fall,” said Brown.

If work is able to start in the fall, the first animals would arrive the beginning of 2022.

Brown says the facility will bring about seven new, full-time jobs, with benefits, overtime. There will also be use of contract services, such as trucking, maintenance, snow removal and mowing.

He says the facility would also like to source the feed for the animals locally.

Brown says the facility does have to meet Wisconsin Nutrients Requirements 243. He says they have met all of the state requirements, as well as the county.

The nutrient storage tank/manure pit will have eight-foot concrete pit walls with slats on top. Since the pit is under the building, rainfall or excessive water should not be able to get into the pit.

“So any dung, nutrient material, goes through the slat, and is contained in here and then applied,” said Brown.

Application of the manure can happen in the fall, or the spring, depending on the weather and field conditions, explaining how the manure is pumped to tanks to be applied to crop land.

“That way, we can contain everything,” said Brown. “Lowest chances of any sort of spill or anything of that nature.”

Brown also showed pictures of similar barns, to give everyone an idea of how the air flow is set up for the pigs and said that, along with the covered lagoon, helps reduce the smell.

Following the presentation, community members were invited to ask any questions they had.

Nancy Kraft, community member, questioned why Rusk County was chosen for the location, especially when the farms they are serving are in other states.

“It goes back to that high health I mentioned,” said Brown. “You don’t have a lot of pigs.”

He says the low pig density in the area helps protect the pigs from health concerns.

Kraft also questioned how Blue Hills will affect the groundwater in the area. Brown says, as part of the process to get the permit, they had to do soil and water testing to make sure their barn placement disturbs the ground the least. He also added the build of the pit shouldn’t spill or leak, so that should not affect the groundwater.

Community member Joe Lorence asked how many gallons of water will be pumped out of the ground each day. They estimated about 2,300 gallons of water per day, since a 100-pound pig drinks about a gallon per day.

Paul Ruen, Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, added there will also be some wash water, but will not have sprinklers to keep the animals cool, since they are using airflow for that.

“Have you dug any test wells or anything like that, to see if there’s that much water available?” asked Lorence. “What is that going to do to the surrounding property owners?”

Ruen says the water storage in the machine shed helps to avoid surges in water use. He says they also have two wells on the farm already and did dig a test well. Ruen says they don’t see water as being a restriction for the location.

“There are places around here, where they have a lot of trouble getting water,” said Lorence.

Brian Guthman, chairman of the Town of Lake Holcombe board, asked if they have tested the wells for a baseline level of nutrients in the water.

Ruen says they have not tested those levels. Guthman expressed concern that without baseline levels, it would be diffi cult to check for water contamination.

Community member Jim Wheeler asked if they could request that the Town of Marshall ask for baseline measurements for water quality and quantity. Others agreed that would be a good idea.

“I think it kind of needs to be done,” said Scott Jones, Town of Marshall chairman.

Lorence says he has also heard attorneys with the Wisconsin Towns Association recommend getting baseline numbers in these type of situations.

“It’s not all just manure, it’s what’s happening to the actual water that’s being pumped out of the ground, too,” said Lorence.

Brown also says the nutrients will not be applied near the Jump River.

“The nutrient plan requires you to have so far of a setback,” said Ruen. “So, we can’t apply it within so many feet, within a certain distance of any open water or any drainage that could lead to open water.”

Ruen says they also plan to incorporate the manure into the soil, instead of applying it on top of the ground, in amounts that the crops can best absorb. He says the manure is either disced or knifed in at the level of the roots of the plants, six inches maximum depth.

Ruen says they have enough storage, about 12 months of storage, instead of the required six months, giving them the flexibility for fall or spring application.

“In all likelihood, it’ll be some of both on different acres,” said Ruen.

Ruen says they have over twice as many acres signed up for manure as are required. He says those farms are part of the nutrient management plan and already had to do soil testing on those fields.

Someone who is certified to do the application of the manure must do the injections and certified manure applicators carry insurance.

Wheeler asked if the farm makes money off of selling the manure to other farmers. Brown says they usually don’t. He says it is set up as a cost-share program for the application.

Guthman questioned if they feed a lot of antibiotics to the hogs. Ruen says they will use some if there is a disease problem, but only use them when they need to.

“There’s been a lot more control the past 10 years,” said Ruen, adding they now need prescriptions to use antibiotics in the feed or as injectables.

Guthman asked how frequently antibiotics are used. Ruen says some of the young pigs have antibiotics in their feed. However, Ruen says they do not plan to use antibiotics daily, since there are a variety of ages of pigs on the farm, but will use antibiotics if there is a problem.

Wheeler also asked for greater detail on the structure of the family farms Fairmont Vet serves. Preferred Capital Management is a division of the vet clinic that serves more as a management company, helping farmers with things like hiring, training and manure management. They do not own the facility.

Brown says the farms they serve are 100 percent owners.

“They take the risks and market the pigs,” said Brown.

He says there are other groups that do contract ownership, where they raise animals for someone else, and they don’t own the pig.

“Our farmers all own those pigs,” said Brown.

Marj Evjen, community member, asked if they were the same group who tried to bring a swine farm to the Town of Cleveland a few years back. Ruen said it is the same vet clinic.

“It was not turned down,” said Ruen. “We decided to discontinue going for the permit.”

Ruen says they decided not to continue in the Town of Cleveland, because they didn’t think it was a good fit. There was a moratorium put in place to stay building for a period of time, but they had the permit application put in prior to that, so they could have continued if they wanted.

When it comes to the roads, Lorence asked what the plans are for hauling in feed, manure and other things, since there are roads bans for a portion of the year. Brown says they have already talked to the necessary townships and counties about getting the roads upgraded. Ruen added they will pay for the upgrades.

Brown estimates feed for the hogs will involve a truck every other day. There will be more truck traffic during manure hauling season. Brown says they are also sometimes able to run hoses for manure, to reduce the number of tanks on the road.

Lorence asked if they have any plans for expansion, beyond what they are planning now. Ruen says they currently don’t have plans for further expansion, but they would need to go through the permit process again, if they ever decide to grow.

Lorence also asked how humanely the pigs will be raised. Brown says there will be multiple pens split by ages.

“We raise pigs the right way,” said Brown, adding they are proud of the people they work with.

Wheeler also asked about the cleanliness required for humans who enter the barns. Ruen says people will be required to remove clothes, shower and use the farm’s clothes before entering.

“Because, we’re trying to avoid bringing other pig diseases into that barn,” said Ruen.

Brown also says the animals are tested before they are shipped and are hauled on clean trailers that are powerwashed, disinfected and baked at a high heat.

Kraft asked if, down the road, the organization will help support community projects in a philanthropic manner. Ruen says they have in the past, and like to be involved with projects concerning youth and agriculture.

Carol Luce, clerk for the Township of Marshall, asked if there will be a contact person on the farm for routine questions. Ruen says there will always be a primary manager at each location. He says the farms are not staffed 24/7. Instead, a typical workday would be 7 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m., or something similar.

There are alarm systems for emergencies on the farm, such as a power outage, temperature swing or fire, with a series of phone numbers that are called. There is also a back-up generator system.

Ruen can be contacted at pruen@fmtvets.com or Brown at shamusbrown@preferredcap.com.

[caption id="attachment_268577" align="alignnone" width="300"] Paul Ruen (standing, front), Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, answers questions about Blue Hills Swine Facility, set to go in southwest of Sheldon. The question and answer time was part of an informational hearing for the public, Sept. 8. Photo by Julia Wolf[/caption]