Articles Tagged: Manure

The owner of a small northeast Iowa dairy recently agreed to pay $1,260 for contaminating a nearby creek with an unknown amount of manure a year ago, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

The former U.S. ag secretary and Iowa governor spoke to farmers at an event hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party in Indianola.

A bill advanced from the Iowa House last week that would regulate anaerobic digesters, or systems that break down organic material in an oxygen-deprived system to produce usable biogas and fertilizer, at animal feeding operations.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a fish kill in Winneshiek County’s Dry Run Creek, southwest of Decorah, than spanned six miles.

Farmers and a company that want to build a manure digester in Winneshiek County will reapply for a permit because the county lacked state-mandated rules when it was first approved.

Iowa OSHA is investigating a central Iowa biogas digester after a whistleblower alleged a 2023 fire injured two employees and that the site has ongoing natural gas leaks that endanger workers.

The Northwest Iowa dairies failed to get permits for a digester and pipeline before construction began by Novilla RNG, which is building a similar facility in Winneshiek County.

Iowa has permitted 15 new digester facilities since 2021, when the Legislature passed a law allowing animal feeding operations with digesters to exceed the state’s limit of 8,500 animal units. Seven of the 15 dairy farms added to their herds since they got digester permits, a review of DNR data shows.