SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A permit hearing will be held on Tuesday, July 9, at 1:15 pm in the Turner County Courthouse in Parker, South Dakota. The hearing is for a CAFO permit application from Sonstegard Foods.

South Dakota-based and family-owned Sonstegard Foods has applied for a permit to build a chick rearing barn in an agriculture-zoned district in Turner County. The barn is designed to raise 250,000 chicks from one day old until 17 weeks. When chicks enter the barn, they will weigh about 2 oz each, and will weigh about 2.7 pounds when they are moved to an egg-laying farm. The climate-controlled barn will be designed to provide proper air quality, ventilation and temperature to ensure a healthy start for the chicks.

In addition to the chick rearing barn, there will be a nutrient shed to store the manure from the chicks. The manure is hauled out in the spring and fall to be used as crop fertilizer. The barn will need 300 crop acres to handle the manure from the chicks.

The total investment for Sonstegard Foods for the chick barn and nutrient shed is $8 million and creates four rural jobs.

When the pullets reach the laying hen barn, the flock will consume more than 700 tons of soybean meal each year. With low soybean prices and the uncertainty of world trade market, any opportunity to enhance soybean meal use in South Dakota can only mean good things for our farm families and for rural Main Streets.

This project meets all of the zoning requirements set forth by the county and will comply with all DENR regulations. Ag United has consistently stated that if a project meets county regulations, the applicant should be able to move forward with their project. We encourage everyone who is supportive of animal agriculture in South Dakota to attend the hearing on July 9 to show their support.

— Ag United for South Dakota

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