Supreme Beef applies again for manure plan for cattle feedlot

A state lawmaker said a Northeast Iowa cattle feedlot that has tried unsuccessfully to get a manure plan approved by regulators is like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football.

Sen. Annette Sweeney, R-Buckeye, who chairs the Senate’s Natural Resources and Environment Committee, said Monday she thinks it’s time for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to approve the nutrient management plan for Supreme Beef, an 11,600-head cattle feedlot near Monona.

“This whole thing seems a little bit like Charlie Brown and football and with Lucy in the fall,” Sweeney said, referring to a popular Peanuts cartoon strip in which Lucy says she’ll hold the ball for Charlie Brown to kick, but then yanks it away at the last second.

“Supreme Beef has filed its nutrient management plan two or three times,” Sweeney said. “Within that time, they went to work on it, they've reapplied, et cetera. They are ready to go.”

Sweeney was one of 10 people to speak Monday at a virtual public hearing, with about half supportive of Supreme Beef and the other half critical of the latest plan. More than 40 people overall attended the hearing, which lasted 45 minutes.

Steve Veysey, a retired Iowa State University employee and water quality advocate, said there are omissions and inaccurate information in parts of Supreme Beef’s latest plan. In one example, he said, the feedlot doesn’t provide information for spreading manure this year, when Veysey’s calculations show the basin will be full before this January.

Phil Hayes, a Sioux County veterinarian, said the plan doesn’t have provisions for how Supreme Beef would store chemicals intended to control insects and parasites.

“They have stated they are gong to purchase the exact amount of the chemicals they need to treat the animals during a given period and won't be storing that or extra available,” he said. “That seems absolutely unreasonable.”

Iowa rules say comments are supposed to be only about the plan, although speakers at Monday’s hearing, as in the past, went farther afield. Several Clayton County residents said they value the feedlot and think it should be allowed to move forward.

“I will be the first to tell you there are a few days out of the year that I can smell the manure storage basins, such as when pumping and application are taking place,” said July Burrack, 81. “However, that comes with living in a farming community.”

Gary and Judy Burrack’s corn and soybean farm would receive manure from the feedlot.

“It has been over 35 years since Gary and I raised cattle and hogs, so we appreciate the opportunity to use this manure. It helps to cut down on the amount of commercial fertilizer we need to purchase,” she said.

The Sierra Club sued Supreme Beef and the Iowa DNR in September 2021 after the department in April 2021 approved the feedlot’s nutrient management plan for up to 11,600 cattle. Trout Unlimited later joined Sierra Club in the lawsuit.

Polk County Judge Scott Rosenberg sided with the nature groups in April and sent the decision back to the Iowa DNR. The agency told Supreme Beef Owner Jared Walz in May that until a new plan was approved by the agency, no manure could be removed from the site.

The ruling noted one of Supreme Beef’s owners, Jared Walz, is the son-in-law of state Sen. Dan Zumbach, R-Ryan, who intervened on the feedlot’s behalf with DNR Director Kayla Lyon. Zumbach and Sweeney are colleagues in the Iowa Senate.

Supreme Beef applied again last summer, but after a public hearing in August withdrew its plan.

People who would like to submit written comments about the plan may email Kelli Book at kelli.book@dnr.iowa.gov.

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