The question of where hog confinements can be built came up again as the Webster County Board of Supervisors placed on file plans for two new sites Tuesday morning.

The board itself filed the manure management plans for the two sites with little fanfare, not noting anything wrong with them.

The two new sites will each have one building of 2,490 hogs.

Any site with fewer than 2,500 hogs does not have to use the state’s master matrix. But manure management plans for such sites must still be filed with the board.

One of the sites is listed as 380th Street, Dayton, and the other is at Samson Avenue, Lehigh.

Jon Anderson, chairman of the Webster County Planning and Zoning Commission, said he wants the supervisors to look at the big picture.

“When is enough enough? You have to draw the line somewhere,” Anderson said, after introducing himself simply as a resident of the county.

He said he isn’t against hog confinements, but there is a proper place for them.

“I am hoping we can get a unified thought line where we could say this isn’t really the right way to go,” he said.

But after listening to the supervisors’ answers, he wasn’t sure what could be done.

“I guess our hands are tied,” he said.

Margo Knippel, another Planning and Zoning Commission member, said her view is that cities, counties and citizens all need to be having conversations about how to live with hog confinements.

“We’re not saying no to confinements. We’re saying everything we do in planning and zoning is for a purpose,” Knippel said. “It’s not just us in the county. It’s the city of Fort Dodge, the city of Duncombe, the city of Clare — all the towns have their planning. And if you don’t have your planning in place — where would we want to put confinements? How can we live with confinements? How do we make this all work together for everybody? — it’s going to be the same question over and over again.”

Anderson and others in the audience wondered who would run the farms.

“My thought is this: Where are these people from?” Anderson asked. “What is their interest in Webster County outside of raising hogs? Are these farmers or are these investors …?”

He pointed out that the supervisors don’t know whether or not it is local farmers putting these up, and asked whether this person or people will buy the ground.

Both applications were submitted by JGB Farms LLC, which has a Fort Dodge post office box address.

JGB’s registered agent is Ryan Nixon, of Des Moines, according to information from the Iowa Secretary of State. Its filing date was Nov. 15, 2017.

A local farmer owns the LLC, said Becky Sexton, owner of Twin Lakes Environmental Services, which was listed as a contact on the manure management plans.

“I don’t know that he wants his name divulged at this point,” Sexton said. “I’m sure it will be divulged soon.”

TLES assists producers in preparing manure management plans, matrix calculations and other services.

Sexton said her farmers are “the hardest-working men and women in Iowa.”

“My farmers work seven days a week,” she said. “You don’t understand, when we have a windchill of 36 below, they’re still out there working.”

“I think it’s terribly sad when people don’t realize where their food comes from. … A lot of my producers are those people who actually brought that to your table.”

Anderson said usually no one can buy land in A-1 crop ground unless they buy 40 acres at once.

But hog buildings fall under the agricultural exemption, which is set by the state, the supervisors said.

Supervisor Keith Dencklau said the applicant has an option to buy the land.

“It sounds like three acres for $10,000,” Dencklau said.

“This is A-1 ground,” said Anderson, referring to the land’s agricultural zoning.

“In A-1 ground if you want to buy it to do something other than farming, and you are not a farmer, you have to buy 40 acres? That’s the way we have it set up.”

But hog confinements are ag exempt, said Supervisor Mark Campbell.

“That’s a state thing. Ag exemption is state-regulated,” he said.

The building itself is what is exempt, said assistant Webster County Attorney Brad McIntyre. The law doesn’t look at who is the owner or operator; it looks at the agricultural intent of the structure. An Iowa Supreme Court opinion confirms that these buildings are exempt from local zoning restrictions, he said.

“The Supreme Court opinion Brad found was exactly this situation,” First Assistant County Attorney Ryan Baldridge added. “It was somebody who carved off a small amount of property. The municipality involved had an ordinance that required 40 acres, and the Supreme Court said that was not a valid ordinance.”

It’s possible the state will change how that ag exemption works in the coming year, Dencklau said.

“I think the Legislature is going to look at decoupling the hog confinement buildings from the ag exemption this year,” said Dencklau. “It’s in their legislative proposals for this session.”