Process for Launching a New Operation

Dr. Sheila Purdum Author

10/12/2018 Added

17 Plays

Description

You are all well aware of the expanding poultry industry in Nebraska. To better equip you to answer some of the questions that you are or will be asked regarding the poultry industry, Dr. Sheila Purdum and the Poultry Group has developed a webinar series to help us all better understand this industry. The target audience for this webinar series is everyone in extension. See below for topics, dates, presenters, and connect information. With each webinar, the presenter will develop a Factsheet with the major and important facts presented in the webinar.

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[00:00:00.560]Okay.
[00:00:02.770]Thanks for that reminder, Amy.
[00:00:06.350]All right.
[00:00:10.870]Can you see this second slide?
[00:00:12.650]Is it showing?
[00:00:17.410]All right.
[00:00:22.093]Okay.
[00:00:25.560]I wanted to just real quickly present again the titles
[00:00:28.980]of what we will be having the webinars on.
[00:00:31.970]Last week was Poultry Expansion 101 Facts,
[00:00:35.125]and that particular recording is available on our
[00:00:40.980]Poultry Extension webpage, Animal Science webpage.
[00:00:45.344]Then, we're going to proceed to go through the following
[00:00:47.152]topics over the next two months; and if there's topics
[00:00:51.932]that anybody wants to suggest that are not covered
[00:00:55.130]within this schedule, we can certainly look
[00:00:58.030]at adding them as we proceed to address
[00:01:01.310]this particular issue.
[00:01:05.550]Real quickly also our Poultry Interest team members.
[00:01:09.583]We are co-led by myself and Don Reynolds.
[00:01:13.260]And then we have a really good interdisciplinary
[00:01:15.890]representation from several departments.
[00:01:18.850]And would love to add an ag economist, Austin,
[00:01:22.140]if that's at all possible.
[00:01:24.170]But obviously most of you should be familiar
[00:01:27.100]with many of these faculty because
[00:01:28.741]they are extension specialists,
[00:01:30.980]but some are relatively new
[00:01:32.810]to our group and interest,
[00:01:34.430]including Eleanor Rogan from UNMC,
[00:01:37.730]who's interested in human health implications
[00:01:41.230]of livestock production.
[00:01:43.590]And Crystal Powers with the Nebraska Water Center,
[00:01:46.681]mostly has worked in extension.
[00:01:51.610]Within animal science, Dr. Ron Lewis is a geneticist.
[00:01:55.610]So we may not be interested at this end
[00:01:58.490]of the expansion discussion but certainly may have
[00:02:01.940]an interest in some of our research.
[00:02:04.590]So if you can think of anybody who would be also
[00:02:08.412]interested in being part of our team,
[00:02:10.912]please suggest their name to us.
[00:02:13.452]We're not exclusive.
[00:02:15.020]We want to be as inclusive as possible.
[00:02:18.310]So I'm going to stop there on my share
[00:02:22.980]and go ahead and, Amy, bring it over to you.
[00:02:27.100]And you can begin.
[00:02:34.513]Okay, thank you, Sheila.
[00:02:37.668]I'm gonna go ahead and get this
[00:02:39.170]into presentation mode here.
[00:02:46.710]Okay, so is everyone seeing the intro slide here?
[00:02:51.421]Mm-hmm.
[00:02:52.254]Okay, great.
[00:02:53.150]So I appreciate the chance to present today.
[00:02:56.360]And my name's Amy Schmidt.
[00:02:58.420]I'm an associate professor in biological systems
[00:03:01.400]engineering and animal science.
[00:03:03.400]And the topic I'm gonna cover
[00:03:05.040]is kind of going through what is the process
[00:03:08.220]for launching a new operation.
[00:03:09.950]And it's a similar process for any livestock
[00:03:14.250]or poultry system, but I want to talk specifically
[00:03:16.650]about the Costco and Lincoln Premium Poultry process
[00:03:19.550]because that's what we're all working with here
[00:03:24.410]in the state right now.
[00:03:27.340]Amy, could I interrupt?
[00:03:29.690]We're seeing your view of the future slides
[00:03:33.176]as kind of a smaller version of the current slide.
[00:03:39.370]Okay, give me just a second
[00:03:43.720]to share my other.
[00:03:49.068]I'm not sure why it did that.
[00:03:56.830]Is that showing it now?
[00:03:58.420]Yes, thank you.
[00:03:59.554]Sorry to interrupt.
[00:04:00.870]No, no problem.
[00:04:02.106]So I have four goals for this webinar today.
[00:04:05.832]I want to define the necessary regulatory steps
[00:04:11.400]for a person who is seeking to be issued
[00:04:13.690]a state operating permit for growing poultry
[00:04:16.470]using a dry manure handling system,
[00:04:18.310]which is what the Lincoln Premium Poultry
[00:04:21.250]growers will be using.
[00:04:24.000]I want to define the process for becoming
[00:04:26.410]a grower for Lincoln Premium Poultry and Costco,
[00:04:29.370]which is again very specific to their process
[00:04:33.023]and their operation of contracting
[00:04:35.513]with the grower.
[00:04:39.188]Then I want to talk about some questions
[00:04:41.700]that may be posed to educators
[00:04:43.320]that we have resources available to address
[00:04:47.910]that maybe wouldn't necessitate additional resources.
[00:04:51.060]And my hope is that if folks are watching this
[00:04:54.750]at a later time, you can share those questions
[00:04:57.940]with myself and Rick Kelsh, Rick Stowell,
[00:05:00.440]that you receive that maybe we don't talk about today
[00:05:03.680]so that we can help come up with the resources necessary
[00:05:07.524]to allow you to address those questions.
[00:05:11.030]And of course I want to describe
[00:05:12.660]some of the existing resources that we have available
[00:05:15.130]that will help educators engage
[00:05:19.110]with both the growers and the community members
[00:05:21.240]around them to answer the question that may have
[00:05:24.032]about how these new systems get established.
[00:05:29.390]So, I want to kind of go through our process
[00:05:32.120]and timeline for starting a new operation.
[00:05:34.270]And the first step there is reaching out
[00:05:36.980]to Lincoln Premium Poultry.
[00:05:40.140]This information was provided to me by Willow Haloubek,
[00:05:44.440]who used to be with AFAN.
[00:05:46.240]Now she's with Lincoln Premium Poultry.
[00:05:48.650]And their first step is to contact Willow
[00:05:51.630]and complete an application indicating
[00:05:55.514]the type of system that you want to establish
[00:05:59.618]and grow chickens for them.
[00:06:03.030]And I've included her information here
[00:06:05.280]at the bottom of the screen.
[00:06:08.420]Once you've filled out that application
[00:06:10.180]and they've identified you as someone who
[00:06:14.620]is serious about growing chickens for them,
[00:06:17.340]they want to see you start working
[00:06:19.210]to identify a lender because before they can go forward
[00:06:21.940]with a contract, they need to see
[00:06:24.480]a preapproval letter from a lender
[00:06:26.733]showing that you can receive financing for the operation.
[00:06:32.170]Once they've done that, then they want to see
[00:06:35.640]the preferred sites that you have in mind.
[00:06:37.490]So if there's a single place you have in mind,
[00:06:39.595]they'll want to see a map of that.
[00:06:41.682]If there's multiple locations, that's fine as well.
[00:06:45.290]Typically a good idea to have multiple sites in mind,
[00:06:48.715]as we'll talk later about siting
[00:06:51.100]and what are some of the characteristics
[00:06:53.810]of a good or better site for livestock production.
[00:06:58.747]Once they have those maps,
[00:07:00.290]then Emily Skillet, who works with them,
[00:07:02.420]also used to be with AFAN,
[00:07:03.660]so you may recognize her name from there.
[00:07:06.314]She goes through and takes that map
[00:07:09.320]or multiple maps of sites that the producer has in mind
[00:07:13.150]and she'll map out the county setbacks
[00:07:17.650]and the Lincoln Premium Poultry setbacks
[00:07:19.415]to make sure that that operation is located
[00:07:23.544]in a place that it's meeting
[00:07:26.180]all of those setback requirements from neighbors
[00:07:28.140]and other sensitive areas.
[00:07:33.020]So once they have ensured that the site
[00:07:35.510]meets that minimum requirement of the setbacks,
[00:07:38.605]the Lincoln Premium Poultry reps will come out
[00:07:41.410]and do an initial site evaluation.
[00:07:44.165]They'll visit multiple sites if the producer
[00:07:48.690]has multiple sites in mind.
[00:07:50.590]They'll try to identify what they think
[00:07:51.712]is the best site, the boast location
[00:07:55.180]within a particular farm.
[00:07:57.600]And then they'll go back to their company
[00:08:02.250]and discuss with other folks, decide what the final site
[00:08:08.930]should look like.
[00:08:09.763]And then they'll do a final visit to that farm
[00:08:13.310]to talk with the producer and then either approve
[00:08:15.780]or deny that particular site.
[00:08:18.670]So at that time, the farmer then can start
[00:08:23.090]kind of start working with the contractor
[00:08:24.960]about some of those costs of what it's gonna cost
[00:08:26.850]for dirt work and those sorts of things.
[00:08:29.870]They're also responsible for
[00:08:32.820]doing their own due diligence to find out about utilities
[00:08:36.620]and what utilities are available to them,
[00:08:40.620]how they would get those arrangements made
[00:08:43.664]to have those hooked up.
[00:08:45.590]They need to look into building, road permits,
[00:08:49.584]or driveway permits, internet and phone service,
[00:08:51.850]all of the kind of accessory characteristics
[00:08:57.680]of that site and the other things
[00:08:58.970]they'll need in order to build.
[00:09:04.190]Once they have gotten that final approval on lending,
[00:09:07.030]then they'll need to send that letter
[00:09:08.220]to Lincoln Premium Poultry.
[00:09:09.481]And then they'll work with LPP to decide
[00:09:12.470]what kind of entity they're going to be.
[00:09:14.500]And that's more on the business side of things.
[00:09:17.270]But it's one of the steps in their process.
[00:09:20.570]So if we go back to the timeline,
[00:09:22.590]I kind of have it as this first
[00:09:24.490]what I'm assuming is about 60 to 90 days
[00:09:27.020]of I've made that initial contact
[00:09:29.360]with Lincoln Premium Poultry.
[00:09:30.730]And we've got a site picked out.
[00:09:33.107]And I want to go ahead starting that regulatory process.
[00:09:36.450]So that time can vary.
[00:09:40.630]I would like to hope that it gets done
[00:09:41.800]much quicker than that.
[00:09:43.013]But we'll say 60 to 90
[00:09:44.905]just as an estimate there.
[00:09:47.540]So once the Lincoln Premium Poultry folks
[00:09:50.145]have approved of a site,
[00:09:53.270]then the next step is to have
[00:09:55.930]the Department of Environmental Quality
[00:09:57.830]do a site inspection of that proposed site.
[00:10:01.390]And so there's a form that needs to be submitted.
[00:10:03.447]It's called a site inspection request.
[00:10:05.704]And there's a $500 fee associated with that.
[00:10:09.354]Once that's submitted,
[00:10:12.870]NDQ has the regulation says that within about 30 days
[00:10:17.170]they will contact that producer.
[00:10:21.044]I think they're pretty quick to do those inspections.
[00:10:24.090]I don't think it's more than 30 days
[00:10:26.400]to get that done.
[00:10:27.233]So they'll come out and do an inspection of that site.
[00:10:30.690]And then they have 30 days
[00:10:32.130]to complete the report based on their observations
[00:10:37.460]when they were out at that site.
[00:10:40.720]So at that point, we go back to kind of looking
[00:10:44.940]at the steps that Lincoln Premium Poultry has in place.
[00:10:48.860]Once that site has been approved
[00:10:51.088]through the NDQ, then they encourage
[00:10:54.410]the producer to start meth with the contractor,
[00:10:57.320]kind of signing that construction contract,
[00:11:00.143]deciding when they want to begin building.
[00:11:04.610]And they'll get that letter of intent,
[00:11:07.940]an interest payment letter from Lincoln Premium Poultry
[00:11:10.550]that kind of says you're moving forward
[00:11:12.790]and you're serious about it,
[00:11:13.860]so we're moving forward and we're serious about it as well.
[00:11:18.503]At that point then they're gonna start,
[00:11:21.760]they'll put the producer in contact with Andy Scholting.
[00:11:24.080]He's with Nutrient Advisors out of the West Point.
[00:11:27.070]And he's doing all of the nutrient management plans
[00:11:29.870]and kind of working with the site assessment
[00:11:32.870]and the permit application.
[00:11:36.560]And so, once he knows that site is approved
[00:11:39.952]and that they will move forward,
[00:11:42.170]then he'll begin working with the producer
[00:11:43.383]on that nutrient management plan.
[00:11:46.670]And Lincoln Premium Poultry also at that time requires
[00:11:49.880]that the grower contact neighbors
[00:11:53.100]and let them know of their intent to build.
[00:11:54.780]And they offer support to them for how to do that
[00:11:56.954]in the conversations they should be having.
[00:12:02.220]So once Andy Scholting has completed
[00:12:04.620]the nutrient management plan and the additional paperwork
[00:12:08.410]that he's responsible for, then the next step
[00:12:10.940]is to actually apply for those permits.
[00:12:13.320]So they're applying for a state construction
[00:12:14.990]and operating permit.
[00:12:16.920]That's not required for draw manure handling systems
[00:12:20.890]from a regulatory sense, it's not required.
[00:12:23.320]But Lincoln Premium Poultry is requiring that
[00:12:25.850]of their growers as sort of a good faith showing
[00:12:29.681]to the community that they're going beyond the requirements
[00:12:32.595]of the state for their growers.
[00:12:36.530]There's also a Natural Resource District water permit
[00:12:39.090]that Lincoln Premium Poultry helps the producer
[00:12:42.712]apply for and receive.
[00:12:45.021]And then most counties require
[00:12:47.250]that conditional use permit, which is
[00:12:50.460]on a county-by-county basis.
[00:12:52.100]So they would be beginning that process as well.
[00:12:57.750]So if we go back to the timeline then,
[00:13:00.941]we've got that about 30-day period between
[00:13:03.970]when the inspection report is received
[00:13:06.000]and when I guess I would expect them
[00:13:09.499]to be ready to submit that NDQ application.
[00:13:12.560]Now, if they've gone much quicker through the development
[00:13:15.640]of the nutrient management plan,
[00:13:16.920]then all that could be shortened.
[00:13:18.600]But the next step then is to submit that application
[00:13:22.445]and that includes a $250 fee to NDQ.
[00:13:27.560]When NDQ receives that,
[00:13:30.100]they have five days to notify the NRD, or NRDs,
[00:13:34.490]that the particular site lies within,
[00:13:37.231]and the county board, or boards,
[00:13:39.806]if it cross county lines.
[00:13:43.314]They have five days to notify them
[00:13:45.020]that they've received an application
[00:13:46.990]for a new poultry facility in that location.
[00:13:51.093]And then there's a 20-day comment period
[00:13:53.429]for the NRDs and the county boards
[00:13:56.092]to respond to the NDQ.
[00:13:59.610]So after that 5-day notification,
[00:14:02.800]the 20-day comment period, that period ends,
[00:14:05.760]and the next step is for the NDQ
[00:14:09.730]to actually review that application.
[00:14:13.057]The regulatory documents give them 110 days to do that.
[00:14:20.210]I think they try to do it more quickly if they can.
[00:14:23.511]These operations that are going in
[00:14:25.500]are I would say kind of cookie cutter.
[00:14:29.270]So one grower facility is going to look like another
[00:14:32.580]and they're all going to be engineered
[00:14:34.060]and designed the same.
[00:14:34.970]So it's really the site that probably takes,
[00:14:40.592]then the nutrient management plan
[00:14:41.960]that they focus their review on.
[00:14:45.290]So anything that they need to come back
[00:14:46.970]to the producer for in that timeframe can extend
[00:14:49.560]that 110 days.
[00:14:53.340]So I think with these operations,
[00:14:55.573]they're getting to the point probably
[00:14:57.770]where they have it very well streamlined
[00:14:59.610]and they're giving NDQ everything they need right upfront.
[00:15:03.510]So once they have reviewed that,
[00:15:06.010]and if they intend to approve the permit,
[00:15:09.148]then the NDQ will send out a notice
[00:15:12.490]of intent to approve.
[00:15:14.060]And it goes into the newspapers
[00:15:15.683]and other local media in the community
[00:15:19.460]where that operation would be located.
[00:15:21.810]And then there's a 30-day comment period for the public.
[00:15:27.278]After that 30-day comment period,
[00:15:29.486]then NDQ has 60 to 90 days to review those comments
[00:15:33.887]and make a decision.
[00:15:36.070]And if at that point they decide it's good to go,
[00:15:38.950]then they can issue, or will issue, the construction
[00:15:42.310]and operating permit for the operation.
[00:15:45.900]So if we look over the entire length of that timeline,
[00:15:49.429]I was counting it up earlier
[00:15:51.331]and it's coming out around the year.
[00:15:55.980]In some of the situations that I've been involved with,
[00:15:58.450]I don't think that's out of the ordinary at all
[00:16:01.860]for it to take that long.
[00:16:03.400]I think Lincoln Premium Poultry probably has a goal
[00:16:05.870]of moving it along much more quickly than that.
[00:16:08.123]And I don't know how quickly they've gotten
[00:16:11.398]some of theirs through.
[00:16:12.620]But it's a fairly lengthy process.
[00:16:17.490]So, once all that is done,
[00:16:20.430]the permit's been issued by the state,
[00:16:23.443]there may be a public hearing at the county level.
[00:16:26.110]Most of them I believe have had public hearings.
[00:16:28.245]And that's usually a pretty contentious process
[00:16:32.110]for a producer to go through.
[00:16:34.150]And Lincoln Premium Poultry is there to support that.
[00:16:38.740]The producer then needs to confirm utility services
[00:16:41.170]timeline for installation.
[00:16:43.000]They'll begin construction.
[00:16:44.510]And once construction's finished,
[00:16:46.886]there's the final building inspection
[00:16:48.690]by the Lincoln Premium Poultry team.
[00:16:51.318]They sign a production agreement.
[00:16:53.690]There's some upfront incentives that are paid
[00:16:56.480]to the producer by Lincoln Premium Poultry.
[00:16:58.759]And then within a couple weeks after that,
[00:17:01.029]they'll be placing birds on the site.
[00:17:03.140]And they'll begin growing poultry under contract
[00:17:05.443]with Lincoln premium poultry.
[00:17:10.360]So I wanted to focus on a few of the questions
[00:17:13.570]that might be posed to educators.
[00:17:15.660]And like I said, my goal is to have
[00:17:18.060]some folks on the call who might be able
[00:17:19.670]to speak to some of the actual questions
[00:17:23.050]that they've received.
[00:17:24.120]So these are my assumptions.
[00:17:27.490]But like I said, if there's other questions folks
[00:17:30.810]are getting, our goal would be to hear those from you
[00:17:33.760]and try to develop some resources that would help
[00:17:37.404]with a response.
[00:17:40.103]So one of the most common ones I think
[00:17:42.510]they're going to hear is, will I smell the operation
[00:17:45.539]from where I live?
[00:17:47.703]Odors are a big concern for neighbors.
[00:17:50.701]And these folks, many have never lived
[00:17:53.752]around livestock production.
[00:17:55.520]Certainly probably not been exposed
[00:17:57.750]to poultry production here in Nebraska.
[00:18:00.240]And so, we do have a tool available
[00:18:02.802]that I know that Lincoln Premium Poultry
[00:18:06.445]is using when they do that side assessment
[00:18:09.540]for potential operations.
[00:18:12.110]It's the Odor Footprint Tool.
[00:18:14.203]And that tool is used to estimate the frequency
[00:18:17.270]of annoying odor events around existing
[00:18:20.760]or proposed livestock facility.
[00:18:22.280]So it takes into account wind direction predominant
[00:18:26.403]wind direction, wind speed at different times of the year.
[00:18:29.670]And then if you're overlaying that on a
[00:18:35.020]satellite image where you can see residences nearby,
[00:18:39.770]it allows you to identify those areas
[00:18:42.461]where there's the least amount of risk
[00:18:45.200]of those neighbors experiencing annoying odor events.
[00:18:50.240]One thing I caution educators is to never say
[00:18:54.060]you'll never smell this operation.
[00:18:56.080]We all know that's not true, probably.
[00:18:58.640]It's difficult to say, we get asked the question,
[00:19:01.720]how far do I need to be away from it
[00:19:04.390]to ensure that I'll never smell it?
[00:19:06.120]And there's just too many factors that impact that.
[00:19:09.380]So the question is, will the odor be occurring
[00:19:14.660]at a frequency that is higher than it should be?
[00:19:18.500]Or is it more of an annoying odor, a stronger odor
[00:19:22.021]than we want it to be?
[00:19:23.850]So we want to try to minimize those potential frequency
[00:19:28.530]and concentration of odors.
[00:19:33.130]And so, I put here at the bottom
[00:19:34.350]Dr. Rick Stowell, who's on the call,
[00:19:36.670]developed this tool.
[00:19:38.287]And so he's able to answer questions
[00:19:41.951]and provide more information about that tool.
[00:19:46.610]So another question that is probably going to be
[00:19:50.780]thrown around is this operation going to pollute the water?
[00:19:54.790]Groundwater, surface water, those are obviously
[00:19:57.380]very important resources.
[00:19:58.690]And it's another one of those areas
[00:20:01.680]that it's a very targeted issue
[00:20:05.170]when folks have concerns about a new operation.
[00:20:08.568]So, a group of us that's been working
[00:20:11.800]in the livestock expansion area
[00:20:13.990]and trying to develop the support tools
[00:20:17.040]that are needed for communities and producers
[00:20:19.708]to assess these types of things.
[00:20:23.580]We've kind of come up with three questions
[00:20:25.340]that we suggest asking to make sure
[00:20:29.010]that a site is positioned to protect water quality,
[00:20:31.760]or that the operation is positioned
[00:20:34.010]to protect water quality.
[00:20:36.260]So the first one is, can I access sufficient land
[00:20:38.940]for utilization of manure nutrients produced
[00:20:41.180]by the bird?
[00:20:42.013]So pollution is more likely to occur
[00:20:45.370]when there's over application of nutrients,
[00:20:47.368]when manure is not contained appropriately,
[00:20:50.106]things like that.
[00:20:51.370]So this is addressed with the nutrient management plan
[00:20:54.800]that's part of the permit for the construction
[00:20:56.305]operating permit application.
[00:20:59.080]And that's something that we can offer more insight
[00:21:03.560]into what goes into that nutrient management plan.
[00:21:05.790]But there is an aspect of the regulation
[00:21:08.127]that is looking at that issue.
[00:21:13.740]Can I store manure safely?
[00:21:15.460]So again, I want to make sure that I have designed
[00:21:18.850]a system in which the manure is stored
[00:21:22.160]and not going to, I'm not going to have
[00:21:24.655]a discharge from that storage
[00:21:26.835]because it's not properly designed or stored.
[00:21:30.030]And again, in any permitted type operation
[00:21:32.264]that requires a nutrient management plan,
[00:21:35.105]that's addressed, and then the design
[00:21:37.280]of that storage should be certified
[00:21:39.833]by an engineer, and that's part of the construction
[00:21:43.535]and operating permit as well.
[00:21:45.110]So the system for storing manure
[00:21:47.706]is within that application as well.
[00:21:54.350]And then the third question is,
[00:21:55.640]can I safely dispose of mortalities?
[00:21:57.620]So in addition to the manure that's produced,
[00:21:59.610]another potential source of nutrient contamination
[00:22:03.660]to the environment would be any dead animals,
[00:22:06.420]any dead livestock that occur on the farm.
[00:22:09.170]And that's a normal part of any operation.
[00:22:11.800]Even the very best are going to experience
[00:22:13.984]1% or 2% death loss depending on the top of operation.
[00:22:17.980]So that mortality management plan is another
[00:22:20.566]required components of the nutrient management plan.
[00:22:23.630]The nutrients that are present in those animal carcasses.
[00:22:27.743]If they're not being taken off site for say rendering,
[00:22:31.637]if their composted or kept on the site,
[00:22:35.610]then those nutrients are being included
[00:22:37.330]in the nutrient management plan so that sufficient land,
[00:22:41.910]they ensured that sufficient land is available
[00:22:43.950]for utilizing the nutrients from that disposal.
[00:22:50.550]So this one is more from the producer's standpoint.
[00:22:53.381]What can I do to demonstrate my commitment
[00:22:55.920]to farming responsibly?
[00:22:58.020]I think every industry, every industry that exists
[00:23:04.510]in the world has bad players
[00:23:06.370]that give the rest of the folks
[00:23:08.920]that are following the rules kind of a bad rap.
[00:23:13.430]And there's no difference.
[00:23:15.610]I think most farmers are wanting
[00:23:19.560]to do things responsibly.
[00:23:20.790]They live where they farm.
[00:23:22.640]They have a family there.
[00:23:23.730]They want to do things right.
[00:23:27.257]And so, there's a number of things that they can do
[00:23:29.700]to kind of take an extra step
[00:23:31.610]to though that they've considered
[00:23:33.930]all of the possible options
[00:23:37.180]that are out there to make sure that the operation
[00:23:40.730]they're building and the site they've selected
[00:23:42.310]is going to impact their environment
[00:23:44.610]and their neighbors minimally.
[00:23:47.290]So one of the those is the Nebraska Animal
[00:23:49.510]Feeding Operation Siting Matrix.
[00:23:51.730]That's available online.
[00:23:53.050]And I'll get to a link here in a bit
[00:23:54.710]that will get you to all of these tools.
[00:23:58.800]This has not necessarily been adopted by all counties
[00:24:01.450]as a kind of checklist or scoring system
[00:24:03.870]for deciding if an operation is acceptable
[00:24:08.725]for that particular site.
[00:24:11.180]But it goes through a point system,
[00:24:13.040]and if they've got a nutrient management plan,
[00:24:16.130]the mortality management plan,
[00:24:17.470]all of those things that are part
[00:24:18.530]of the permit application.
[00:24:20.120]They've pretty well covered their basis
[00:24:22.678]with the main things that would be recommended
[00:24:26.580]for managing nutrients and and odors responsibly.
[00:24:33.250]There's also a site called Ag Site Planner.
[00:24:36.060]And I'll show the link for that in just a minute.
[00:24:37.840]But on there is a risk assessment tool
[00:24:40.500]that can be used to kind of assess the area
[00:24:44.550]around a particular proposed or existing operation.
[00:24:47.894]And look at what risks may exist
[00:24:50.550]from a water quality, air quality, social standpoint.
[00:24:55.450]The Odor Footprint Tool of course
[00:24:56.880]is another one that we encourage them to go through
[00:25:01.310]before meeting with their neighbors.
[00:25:03.230]And then the Land Application trainings
[00:25:05.997]that the University of Nebraska offers,
[00:25:08.196]they're designed to help these folks make better decisions
[00:25:12.442]with land application of their manure.
[00:25:15.060]And so, there's a number of resources that we encourage them
[00:25:17.466]to look at and to talk about with their neighbors
[00:25:22.310]and their community.
[00:25:24.620]So the last one I put up here,
[00:25:26.535]why is Nebraska allowing factory farms
[00:25:29.100]instead of protecting family farms?
[00:25:31.240]This is a very common one as well.
[00:25:33.069]If you're expecting me to give you a silver bullet answer
[00:25:37.030]for it, I'm not gonna do that.
[00:25:38.660]I wish I had one.
[00:25:39.710]But this is more of a philosophical question.
[00:25:43.711]And what I usually, I know how I answer that,
[00:25:48.450]but it's not the same for everybody.
[00:25:50.320]And so there's some good resources out there that talk
[00:25:52.810]about their diversity of farms.
[00:25:55.616]There's really no good definition for family
[00:25:58.050]versus a factory farm.
[00:26:00.350]But there's some good information out there
[00:26:01.780]that producers can use to talk about their operation
[00:26:05.128]and why it's still a factory farm to them.
[00:26:10.030]So I put that up there just as a resource
[00:26:13.440]for that particular type of question.
[00:26:17.080]So that's all I have.
[00:26:18.630]I know I went over my 15 minutes a little bit there.
[00:26:22.113]I didn't go into details on some of the resources we have
[00:26:26.250]because that can take quite a bit of time.
[00:26:27.710]But this Ag Site Planner website here,
[00:26:30.924]agsiteplanner.unl.edu.
[00:26:33.760]You can find the Odor Footprint Tool,
[00:26:36.229]critical questions to ask,
[00:26:39.460]the Regulatory Guidance Tool that gets you through
[00:26:44.460]the step-by-step process for applying for a permit
[00:26:46.980]and provides links to those forms.
[00:26:49.800]And then the risk management tool that I mentioned,
[00:26:52.540]as well as livestock development siting matrix
[00:26:55.570]and other manure and nutrient management tools
[00:26:59.480]that are available for
[00:27:01.759]the UNL Animal Manure Management Team.
[00:27:03.889]And then I put my phone number
[00:27:05.227]and my e-mail address up there.
[00:27:08.590]Feel free to reach out directly if you have questions.
[00:27:10.850]And like I said, our goal is to provide the resources
[00:27:14.730]that can help educators at the local level
[00:27:18.138]engage with the community and their farmers
[00:27:20.680]to answer the questions that are on their minds.
[00:27:24.060]So with that, Sheila, I'll open up for questions.
[00:27:27.413]I don't think we have a whole lot of folks on,
[00:27:28.960]but a question or two would be great.
[00:27:31.210]Mm-hmm.
[00:27:36.018]I have a--
[00:27:36.851]Amy, go ahead.
[00:27:39.780]Well, go ahead, Rick.
[00:27:43.690]Amy, this is Rick Stowell.
[00:27:45.471]In the process of NDQ,
[00:27:50.110]do you know is Lincoln Premium Poultry actually looking
[00:27:54.401]to get a permit for their operation?
[00:27:57.510]Are they looking to get a letter of exemption?
[00:28:00.800]Well, my understanding is that they're looking
[00:28:04.000]to actually get the state operating permit.
[00:28:08.860]If you know differently, maybe you can share.
[00:28:11.660]But I believe they're requesting an actual permit.
[00:28:17.587]That's my understanding.
[00:28:21.961]That's my understanding as well, Amy.
[00:28:24.480]Okay.
[00:28:26.520]All right, I'd like to have a little bit more discussion
[00:28:29.410]about this factory farms versus family farms image
[00:28:34.320]that integrators bring to the state.
[00:28:38.740]And some of the talking points that I've used
[00:28:42.000]in that discussion, talking about the shared risk.
[00:28:47.250]These farms are owned by families.
[00:28:50.850]And I think we need to emphasize
[00:28:53.100]families are owning these farms.
[00:28:56.360]Their families are living there, and it's on their land.
[00:29:00.960]But that it's a shared risk such is that integrator
[00:29:04.690]is providing resources for basically a joint venture.
[00:29:11.609]And that's maybe hard.
[00:29:14.020]It seems like that's hard for the public to understand.
[00:29:17.870]They don't understand why there's 100,000 birds
[00:29:21.320]at one location maybe.
[00:29:23.890]And what type of talking points can we use
[00:29:26.740]to explain why there's 100,000 birds at one location?
[00:29:31.300]So, at a meeting I spoke at earlier this year,
[00:29:35.140]I kind of used the,
[00:29:38.830]I tried to create some parallel
[00:29:41.730]with what most people would know.
[00:29:43.250]And I talked about you have a local convenience store
[00:29:47.590]and gas station that supplies gasoline
[00:29:51.460]and convenient items at all hours of the day
[00:29:54.097]to the public.
[00:29:55.560]And they don't own the (mumbles) corporation
[00:29:57.950]or they don't own the Philip 66 corporation,
[00:30:01.351]but they distribute gasoline for that company.
[00:30:05.750]And they have a risk associated with owning that operation.
[00:30:10.086]And it's not only their family members that work there,
[00:30:13.288]but they usually live in the community,
[00:30:15.300]and they hire other people in the community.
[00:30:17.160]And that operation, that business provides income
[00:30:22.070]to the community in the form of taxes and things like that.
[00:30:24.347]And so, I tried to talk about it as, like you said,
[00:30:27.927]it's a way, a person isn't going to go out
[00:30:30.792]and fill gasoline on their own anymore,
[00:30:33.190]because those days of the small mom
[00:30:35.111]and pop places are gone.
[00:30:37.890]But when they have that supplier that's helping them
[00:30:42.940]and has a model for how they do it
[00:30:44.805]to be economically successful,
[00:30:48.224]it's kind of a similar situation.
[00:30:50.460]And you wouldn't, everybody likes that convenience there.
[00:30:54.936]People may not like everything about it.
[00:30:57.910]But they understand that particular model
[00:31:01.490]of how things work.
[00:31:03.920]But I would like to come up with other
[00:31:08.122]similar type explanations.
[00:31:10.380]I think that's helpful to put it in that sort
[00:31:12.730]of an explanation or that sort of light.
[00:31:20.078]That's a good example.
[00:31:23.017]And do others have ways that they address
[00:31:25.110]that particular question with folks?
[00:31:31.550]Amy, this is Rick.
[00:31:33.920]I asked my students in my class to come up
[00:31:38.160]with an example like that.
[00:31:40.130]And they threw out several.
[00:31:42.090]And they decided one way they would compare things
[00:31:44.454]is just do it strictly on a body mass
[00:31:49.020]compared to other livestock operations
[00:31:51.760]that we're more familiar with.
[00:31:53.210]So they figured out that I think
[00:31:56.790]it was 333 birds would be equivalent
[00:32:01.640]to about one finisher that we're growing out.
[00:32:08.177]So a 44,000 head I think if I remember right
[00:32:12.270]it came out to like 135 beef finishers,
[00:32:18.280]or a four barn system,
[00:32:21.380]a farm of roughly a little over 500 beef animals.
[00:32:27.040]So that comparison made them think,
[00:32:30.560]well, this isn't quite as large as I thought it was.
[00:32:33.940]Right.
[00:32:34.948]I mean, I guess the research or the science-based answer
[00:32:39.710]that may not necessarily satisfy those asking the question
[00:32:43.410]is we produce things on a scale that is compatible
[00:32:48.760]with the system.
[00:32:49.593]So you talk about a pot load of pigs
[00:32:51.970]or a truck load of cattle going out,
[00:32:53.870]and it's designed in a way that the efficiencies
[00:32:58.983]of scale and economics and operation are maximized.
[00:33:04.320]And that's what we talk about with swine production
[00:33:08.350]is why 2,400 head and has to do with the flow
[00:33:11.440]of the animals and the model that produces
[00:33:14.420]a full truckload of pigs going to the processor
[00:33:18.438]and things like that.
[00:33:20.100]From the perspective of why can't they just grow
[00:33:24.020]these birds on their own?
[00:33:28.000]When I was a kid and my grandpa took a truckload
[00:33:30.040]of cattle or pig to the local sale barn,
[00:33:34.290]and then they got those from all around.
[00:33:35.970]And then that was enough to put on a truck
[00:33:39.070]and take to a processor.
[00:33:40.210]But that model is not really available anymore.
[00:33:44.880]And having that, like Sheila mentioned,
[00:33:49.288]the shared risk where you know that when these birds
[00:33:53.650]are grown or these pigs are grown,
[00:33:55.463]you know what you're going to get for them.
[00:33:57.630]You don't have to go out and market them yourself
[00:33:59.760]and find the supplier or the processor
[00:34:02.900]that's going to pay you the most money for them.
[00:34:05.270]And so it is a,
[00:34:08.683]it's about risk for many of them,
[00:34:12.013]and sharing that risk with the integrator.
[00:34:16.050]There's also a less of a risk associated
[00:34:19.480]with food safety.
[00:34:22.230]When you've got 100 people growing 100 chickens,
[00:34:27.302]you have more, a greater potential for food safety issues
[00:34:32.490]in the marketplace than if you've gone one person
[00:34:34.770]growing 10,000 chickens.
[00:34:38.337]The other thing is efficiency of scale.
[00:34:44.650]And we used to have a lot of small town hardware dealers.
[00:34:49.540]But the box stores, the Lowe's, the Menards,
[00:34:55.670]Best Buy, and those have taken their place.
[00:34:58.860]Is it right?
[00:35:01.864]That's something we can argue
[00:35:04.030]from sun up to sunset.
[00:35:06.920]But that's part of our capitalistic society.
[00:35:14.720]And the other thing is the people that are marketing,
[00:35:19.690]whether it be poultry or pork, they want consistency.
[00:35:23.363]And the consumer wants consistency.
[00:35:26.020]The consumer knows when they go to McDonald's,
[00:35:28.940]when they go to Burger King, when they go to wherever,
[00:35:32.370]they know what they're gonna get
[00:35:34.504]because they've had it there before
[00:35:36.170]and it's always the same.
[00:35:38.030]But when you have Harry's Diner,
[00:35:41.240]you're not sure what you're gonna get.
[00:35:42.980]So it's part of our culture and part of our marketing
[00:35:47.791]that we've become accustomed to is knowing
[00:35:51.912]what we're gonna get when we go
[00:35:53.500]to a food service place.
[00:35:57.960]And in order for the processor to provide that product,
[00:36:01.520]they need to have consistency in their production.
[00:36:09.860]Does that hold water?
[00:36:13.090]It does, yeah, I mean, I think those are,
[00:36:16.080]the problem I think is that those are the logical answers
[00:36:19.310]that we think of.
[00:36:20.400]But this is a very emotional issues.
[00:36:23.360]And it's more difficult to communicate
[00:36:25.321]about the personal and emotional side
[00:36:29.290]of a big operation moving in next door to you.
[00:36:35.927]I have a question, Amy.
[00:36:37.770]On the livestock-friendly designated counties,
[00:36:43.000]do you still go through the same process
[00:36:44.869]as what you described and time period?
[00:36:49.280]Yeah, so I've heard folks say that a livestock-friendly
[00:36:52.640]county just fast tracks everything,
[00:36:54.370]and they don't even have to follow all the same rules.
[00:36:59.260]Having that livestock-friendly designation
[00:37:01.410]doesn't mean they have planning and zoning rules
[00:37:04.470]that apply to, that they don't need a conditional use permit
[00:37:07.970]for a livestock production system.
[00:37:10.828]But it does mean that they've met some requirements
[00:37:15.100]of the Department of Ag,
[00:37:16.250]and one of those is that those planning
[00:37:18.170]and zoning regulations are clear,
[00:37:20.950]and if you meet them, you can get the permit.
[00:37:26.163]They're not, some of them it's very much based
[00:37:29.683]on who's voting on that board
[00:37:31.953]and making a decision they can kind of
[00:37:34.710]interpret them the way they want.
[00:37:36.780]So it's more about just getting that consistency
[00:37:40.690]and kind of straightforward here's what we require
[00:37:43.890]in this county.
[00:37:45.530]And, Rick or Rick, you may have other comments
[00:37:48.410]to share on that.
[00:37:49.243]But that's my understanding is that
[00:37:51.180]they're just a bit more transparent
[00:37:53.347]in what they require.
[00:37:57.920]Yeah, it doesn't change, this is Rick Stowell,
[00:38:00.462]it doesn't change the local approval process
[00:38:04.910]other than that it probably means that the county,
[00:38:09.750]commissioners, and planning zoning officials
[00:38:14.310]have things in place so that things will go faster.
[00:38:17.240]But the actual process does not change.
[00:38:24.500]This is Jace Stobb in Ainsworth.
[00:38:27.870]What is the range within the state of Nebraska
[00:38:30.180]that Lincoln Premium Poultry is actually interested
[00:38:32.762]in having one of these poultry operations?
[00:38:34.850]I mean, for instance, would they be interested
[00:38:37.096]in having one in Ainsworth?
[00:38:38.690]Would they go that far or is that too far for them?
[00:38:42.600]Yeah, Sheila, you mane a little better than I do,
[00:38:44.780]but they've drawn a circle of a certain mile radius
[00:38:48.250]around Fremont that they're targeting
[00:38:50.380]having all of those within.
[00:38:51.620]Because again for them it's about
[00:38:54.150]the pullet operation being near the broiler operations
[00:39:00.460]and that being able to supply the chicks that are growing
[00:39:03.300]and being able to transport them
[00:39:05.220]to the processing plant efficiently.
[00:39:09.196]I don't remember, 100 miles, right?
[00:39:11.770]I would say 100 miles.
[00:39:15.540]How close are you guys to Grant Island?
[00:39:20.080]How many miles is Ainsworth from Grant Island?
[00:39:21.750]Two hours north?
[00:39:23.130]It's between 2 1/2 and three hours north
[00:39:25.171]of Grant Island.
[00:39:26.191]Yeah.
[00:39:27.024]Way up there near the South Dakota--
[00:39:29.370]I would say the hatchery that's in Grant Island.
[00:39:32.410]The Hendrix hatchery is still looking for some houses.
[00:39:37.170]And they might travel out as far as 125
[00:39:40.245]to 150 miles.
[00:39:42.610]So you're a little bit outside the range, Jace,
[00:39:46.310]but not without, you're not outside
[00:39:49.560]the realm of possibilities.
[00:39:56.450]Transporting fertile eggs is less expensive
[00:40:00.570]than transporting the actual birds
[00:40:02.930]to a processing plant.
[00:40:05.880]So it may be possible that you could encourage
[00:40:09.660]some producers that are a little bit outside the range
[00:40:13.570]to look at having a breeder house
[00:40:15.740]that's producing fertile eggs.
[00:40:20.460]At the open house that Lincoln Premium Poultry
[00:40:24.490]put on here a couple weeks ago,
[00:40:26.946]they suggested that they would like to have
[00:40:30.250]their broiler operations within 60 miles.
[00:40:33.181]Although they recognize that several of their producers
[00:40:36.302]were outside that range.
[00:40:40.670]That seemed to be their magic number of preference.
[00:40:43.516]That's their economy.
[00:40:45.140]But I know when Smart Chicken Tecumseh Poultry started,
[00:40:49.770]they went all the way over to Iowa
[00:40:51.380]to get sufficient houses.
[00:40:53.810]So, like again, it's not,
[00:40:57.100]it's not the ideal, but it's not beyond
[00:40:59.990]the realm of possibilities.
[00:41:03.290]Okay, thank you.
[00:41:05.940]Getting back to this argument of factory operations,
[00:41:12.328]what is an animal unit (mumbles) for a broiler?
[00:41:20.520]You know, what's the equivalent?
[00:41:23.331]Rick, you just mentioned what your students came up with,
[00:41:26.190]one animal unit is usually a beef finisher
[00:41:28.494]that's 1,000 pounds.
[00:41:30.070]And your students equated broilers,
[00:41:32.120]what was their, 133?
[00:41:35.800]They used three pounds average weight for broilers.
[00:41:40.180]So they came up with 333 broilers would make
[00:41:43.860]an equivalent to a beef animal.
[00:41:47.570]Okay.
[00:41:48.820]And I don't know off the top of my head
[00:41:50.580]the regulatory quantity.
[00:42:00.030]Well, the reason I ask is you see a lot
[00:42:03.150]of horse operations.
[00:42:05.000]And people don't seem to have a problem with that.
[00:42:11.270]I don't know how many horses it would take
[00:42:14.260]to equal a broiler house.
[00:42:15.650]But, anyway.
[00:42:22.153]This is Rick Stowell, I'm gonna chime back in
[00:42:24.197]on the Ainsworth possibility, or remote possibility,
[00:42:30.660]as I would look at this, getting a broiler house complex
[00:42:36.090]that far away would probably be not very promising.
[00:42:41.130]But if someone was looking at a breeder facility
[00:42:46.160]or a layer for the genetic lines,
[00:42:51.503]in those situations they actually want,
[00:42:53.720]they usually want those facilities
[00:42:55.580]remote from where the rest of the birds are
[00:42:57.938]for disease control.
[00:43:00.310]That's true.
[00:43:01.380]For biosecurity purposes,
[00:43:03.574]they like to isolate these houses
[00:43:05.554]to prevent any disease transmission.
[00:43:10.199]Good point, Rick.
[00:43:12.510]Yeah, I know some of our main in the pig industry,
[00:43:16.689]the pork industry, some of our main foul,
[00:43:24.770]what is the word I'm trying to think of?
[00:43:27.269]Producing the piglets, yeah, thank you.
[00:43:31.040]Nursery.
[00:43:32.590]Are pretty remotely located.
[00:43:34.222]And I think there's some actually up in your area.
[00:43:40.930]Are those breeder and layer operations,
[00:43:41.977]are they less profitable?
[00:43:45.809]No, no, actually sometimes I'd rather produce eggs
[00:43:50.990]because it's more labor intensive because it's 24/7.
[00:43:56.290]Usually birds are in there for the entire year.
[00:43:59.280]So you don't have the shutdown time periods.
[00:44:02.810]So you don't have, if you're raising broilers,
[00:44:05.580]you're gonna have birds for seven weeks,
[00:44:07.390]and then two weeks off, birds for seven weeks,
[00:44:09.558]and then two weeks off.
[00:44:11.390]Whereas layers, you're gonna be producing eggs
[00:44:15.058]more like 50 weeks a year.
[00:44:18.600]So it's a little bit more labor intense,
[00:44:20.600]but I think the contracts would be highly desirable
[00:44:24.725]to some of the families that have that labor available
[00:44:28.380]and don't mind that type of commitment.
[00:44:32.790]So, Sheila, I put up there sharing my screen--
[00:44:35.553]Yeah, great.
[00:44:36.673]--the designation of the different sizes.
[00:44:38.540]So it looks like 125 broiler chickens
[00:44:42.490]are equal to one beef animal by regulatory standards.
[00:44:46.760]Mm-hmm.
[00:44:48.790]Yeah, evidently they went with the final body weight
[00:44:51.072]not the average body weight,
[00:44:53.070]like Dr. Kelsh's students.
[00:44:58.820]Amy, you had brought up that LPP
[00:45:02.300]has provided potential growers with conversation starters
[00:45:09.940]for the neighbors.
[00:45:11.240]Are they willing to share that list
[00:45:13.367]or something to that effect?
[00:45:17.310]I could ask.
[00:45:18.380]I haven't asked them that.
[00:45:19.670]I know that AFAN put together sort of
[00:45:22.420]that community outreach kind of a toolkit
[00:45:26.250]for talking to the public.
[00:45:28.610]But I don't know that they ever went public with that.
[00:45:32.700]But I kind of wonder if some of those talking points
[00:45:35.460]were adapted by Lincoln Premium Poultry.
[00:45:37.950]So I can ask Willow if those are available to share
[00:45:41.444]and get those out to folks if they do exist,
[00:45:46.780]or if they are willing to share those with us.
[00:45:51.930]And Kristen Hasobruek from AFAN
[00:45:55.080]will be doing a presentation webinar
[00:45:57.700]with us on November 13th.
[00:46:01.900]And hers is on communicating with--
[00:46:03.583]With the public, yeah.
[00:46:08.140]Good.
[00:46:09.750]All right, so I think we better wrap this up.
[00:46:11.870]It's almost noon, and I have to red out to a seminar.
[00:46:17.580]Great job, Amy, thank you.
[00:46:19.540]Yep, thank you.
[00:46:21.050]Meet again next week.
[00:46:22.960]And glad to see the attendants
[00:46:25.690]from a diverse group of educators
[00:46:28.160]from across the state.
[00:46:30.150]Again, thank you very much.
[00:46:32.010]And we'll go ahead and stop recording.
[00:46:34.250]Okay, bye.

Process for Launching a New Operation

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Process for Launching a New Operation

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