By Sara QuamAs Rock County wraps up inspections of all feedlots, one family operation just completed an obstacle course to increase its permitted number of animals.The county’s feedlots continue to get stamps of approval through the inspection process that started in June 2002. One of the first to sign up for those inspections, which are called Level III inventories, was Binford Farms, owned by brothers Grant and Eric Binford. The rural Luverne farmers and livestock producers also became the latest to get another permit for more than 1,000 animal units. They are now permitted to have up to 2,300 cattle and 5,000 hogs at a time among the various facilities within their operation.Grant said, "We wanted to get to a level where we felt we would be sustained for some time."Eric describes the expansion as an important part of continuing to turn a profit in an industry that doesn’t have the margins previous generations enjoyed. He said, "We’re a family operation wanting to make a profit, so we’re investing now to help that happen.""We’re no different from the majority of modern farms," Grant said.The Rock County Board of Commissioners just passed the conditional use permit last week, but the entire process took almost a year.The permit is federal, but is written by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The county also issued a separate conditional use permit and had to take public comment, which extends the time of getting the permit.Commissioner Richard Bakken said, "Once you cross that threshold of 1,000 animal units, it’s a very long, difficult process."Binfords’ feedlot is one of only 10 in the county permitted for more than 1,000 animal units. Inspection resultsBefore the inspections began, the county had 618 registered feedlots. Some additional ones have come forward to be registered and permitted, and others were discovered by county workers during the process. Of the 641 feedlots in the county, just a handful remain to be inspected.About 570 have been visited so far, and 80 percent of those have no environmental concerns. Twenty-eight sites need engineer assistance to come into compliance.Total cost to the county has been $121,573 so far. The Level III inventories were court ordered to ensure no environmental harm was done during the tenure of former Rock County Land Management Director John Burgers. He was implicated in a bribery case involving a hog operation.Even with the scandal, Rock County is still seen as having a progressive Land Management Office, which many use as a model for their county programs. Grant said, "From a producer’s standpoint we’re appreciative of the local office. It’s easy and less intimidating to go in there to get questions answered, and I think we’re far ahead of many counties."With the new larger permit the Binford livestock operation follows guidelines set at the federal, state and county levels. They can be spot checked by state officers at any time, so they keep up-to-date records on phosphorous and nitrate levels in land and manure.Grant said they don’t mind the stringent rules in most cases. "We want to leave things better than we started, which is natural for us," he said. The Binfords have found raising animals in confinement facilities more efficient for them but also see other successful livestock owners using open pastures.Grant said, "Some people want to set mandates so everyone has to do it the same way. But there are many possibilities that are environmentally sound that we can work with."The Binfords also got a permit for stockpiling manure, which will be used on their cropland.Eric Hartman, LMO director, said, "When you look at the types of feedlots in the county, you have essentially 58 percent that are open lot facilities, and another 22 percent are combination sites that have both total confinement structures and open lots. When you take into consideration that 80 percent of all active sites have open lots and about 20 percent of all sites have some environmental concerns, I think that the efforts of the producers and the efforts of the office show when you take a look at the big picture."
