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Iowa Public Radio 9-24-21
Environmentalists, outdoor recreation enthusiasts and neighbors of a large feedlot in Clayton County have raised concerns in recent years about such a big CAFO in the driftless region.
The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter has filed a lawsuit against the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It’s accusing the Iowa DNR of using bad information to approve a large-scale feeding operation in northeast Iowa’s environmentally-sensitive driftless region. Read more…
KWWL Dubuque 9-24-21
MONONA, Iowa (KWWL) — The Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club is suing the Iowa Department of Natural Resources over its approval of an 11,600-head cattle feedlot near Monona.
In their lawsuit, the group argues the feedlot used a skewed nutrient management plan (NMP) containing incorrect information and miscalculations to gain approval. Read more…
Erin Jordan 9/23/2021
The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter filed a lawsuit Thursday in Clayton County District Court against the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Supreme Beef, owners of an 11,600-head cattle feedlot near Monona.
The DNR approved Supreme Beef’s nutrient management plan in April, greenlighting one of the largest animal feeding operations in the state. Read more…
Donnelle Eller 9/23/2021
The Sierra Club, which filed the lawsuit in Clayton County district court Thursday, claims the Iowa DNR’s decision to approve the nutrient management plan for Supreme Beef’s beef lot near Monona jeopardizes Bloody Run Creek, a nearby cold-water trout stream designated as an Outstanding Iowa Water. Read more…
Clark Kauffman 9/23/2021
The Sierra Club of Iowa is suing the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Supreme Beef over a proposed a feedlot set to house 11,600 head of cattle.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Iowa District Court for Clayton County, alleges that Supreme Beef’s proposed new concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, in Clayton County uses a nutrient management plan based on incorrect data and miscalculations. Read more…
Iowa Sportsmans Magazine 9/17/2021
“Nick’s heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling.”
— Ernest Hemingway, Big Two Hearted River Part I
The Driftless Area of Iowa is located in the northeastern part of the state. It is a space untouched by the last great glacial period. And it is the home of coldwater streams teeming with brook, brown and rainbow trout. Read more…
DSM Register OP ED 9/15/2021
It’s time to withhold our public money from industrial agriculture and start directing it toward a transition to a new farm system. The Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture stands firmly against the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ approval of the Supreme Beef feedlot near the headwaters of Bloody Run Creek. Read more…
Perry Beeman 8/11/2021
Two environmental groups have petitioned a state panel to protect waterways from threats such as a cattle operation in a geologically sensitive area near a trout stream in northeast Iowa.
The Iowa Environmental Council and Environmental Law & Policy Center have filed a petition for rulemaking with Iowa’s Environmental Protection Commission. They asked the governor-appointed commission to protect drinking water, groundwater, and karst terrain from pollution. Read more…
Clay Masters 7/1/2021
Steve Veysey is a retired Iowa State University chemist and is among a group of environmentalists trying to stop Supreme Beef LLC from moving forward with an 11,600 head open feedlot near the headwaters of Bloody Run Creek in northeast Iowa.
Supreme Beef’s nutrient management plans contain inaccuracies that would result in over-application of manure used as fertilizer on crops. Nitrogen and phosphorus are the two components of manure that cause the most water quality concerns. Read more…
Perry Beeman 6/29/2021
The former director of Iowa’s livestock regulation program on Tuesday said a proposed 11,000-animal cattle operation near a northeast Iowa trout stream should have been built somewhere else.
Gene Tinker said the state’s approval of the Supreme Beef cattle feedlot near Monona has illustrated widespread problems with siting and manure management regulations. Read more…
Todd Dorman 5/27/2021
Asking the Department of Natural Resources, under current management, to save even a waterway it’s dubbed “outstanding” is an exercise in futility. It’s like ordering manure not to spill or nitrates to refrain from running off, or expecting the Environmental Protection Commission to protect the environment.
But 47 groups and individuals are still trying. Read more…
Erin Jordan 6/2/2021
Iowa DNR Director Kayla Lyon said she doesn’t have the authority to overturn her agency’s approval of an 11,600-head cattle feedlot near Monona.
The Sierra Club and the Iowa Environmental Council were joined by nine Iowa Democratic elected officials, community groups and residents in a request last week for Lyon to reverse course on the feedlot near a popular trout stream. Read more…
Perry Beeman 6/4/2021
Critics of a northeast Iowa cattle operation near a high-quality trout stream are considering a court appeal after the state’s top environmental official declined to review her agency’s approval of the feedlot.
Supreme Beef wants to raise more than 10,000 cattle in a partially enclosed feedlot near Bloody Run Creek, not far from Monona in Clayton County. Read more…
Perry Beeman 5/25/2021
More than 40 groups and individuals, including 9 state lawmakers, have asked the state’s top environmental official to block a proposed cattle operation near a specially protected northeast Iowa trout stream.
“Iowa DNR has a duty to protect Iowa water and landscapes from contamination that threatens public health and livelihoods… Some agricultural operations subject to DNR’s permitting authority must be restricted from areas where the risk posed to water quality and the environment is just too high.” Read more…
Jenna Brooker 4/26/2021
Years of controversy, environmental violations, and a whole lot of poop. Years of controversy, environmental violations, and a whole lot of poop.
In northern Iowa, nestled among limestone bluffs, is Bloody Run Creek, a six-and-a-half mile, clear-water stream revered for its trout fishing. The creek is a popular tourist spot and one of just 34 bodies of water in the entire state labeled as an “Outstanding Iowa Water” for its near-pristine condition. Read more…
Donnelle Eller 6/3/2021
The state’s top environmental leader rejected a request to review a controversial animal feeding project in northeast Iowa that critics say threatens one of Iowa’s outstanding waterways.
Kayla Lyon, Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources director, said she lacks the authority to review the Supreme Beef project, an 11,600-head cattle operation near Monona in Clayton County. Read more…
Neil Hamilton 6/2/2021
Iowans who care about water quality and land health should be aware of two important legal developments. First is the impending Iowa Supreme Court ruling on the Public Trust Doctrine.
The second issue was a citizen petition asking Iowa’s DNR director to reverse the agency decision approving an 11,000-head cattle feedlot in Clayton County near Bloody Run Creek, one of Iowa’s top trout streams, classified as an “Outstanding Iowa Water” deserving special protections. Read more…
Erin Jordan 5/25/2021
Environmental groups are asking Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon to use her discretion to overrule a project to put 11,600 cattle near a northeast Iowa trout stream.
The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter and the Iowa Environmental Council were joined by nine Iowa Democratic elected officials, community groups and residents in the letter opposing the Supreme Beef animal feeding operation. Read more…
Donnelle Eller 5/25/2021
Water at the center of concerns over 10,000-head cattle feedlot Tammy Thompson, neighbor to Walz Energy’s 10,000-head cattle feedlot currently under construction in rural Clayton County, shares some of her concerns about the project.
Dozens of Iowa residents, lawmakers and environmental groups want the state’s natural resources director to review a decision to allow a cattle feedlot near an environmentally sensitive creek in northeast Iowa. Read more…
Erin Jordan 5/13/2021
State Sen. Dan Zumbach, a Republican who represents Buchanan, Delaware, Jones, and Linn counties, spoke to Iowa DNR Director Kayla Lyon on behalf of his son-in-law, whose family was seeking approval to open an 11,600-head cattle feedlot outside of Zumbach’s legislative district.
Environmental groups see this conversation as evidence Supreme Beef’s plan was approved behind closed doors, rendering moot a public hearing and public comments. Read more..
Erin Jordan 5/11/2021
The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission has denied a petition seeking a reversal of a DNR decision to greenlight an 11,600-head cattle feedlot near Monona.
David Steward, assistant Iowa attorney general representing the commission, wrote a letter to the Sierra Club, Iowa Environmental Council and other petitioners Monday rejecting the petition, saying Iowa law doesn’t allow for such a review. Read more…
Erin Jordan 5/10/2021
Two Iowa environmental groups have asked the state’s Environmental Protection Commission to overturn a decision by the Iowa DNR to approve an 11,600-head cattle feeding operation near Monona.
The 12-page petition says the Supreme Beef feedlot — which will be one of the largest feeding operations in the state — will produce far more manure than is stated in its nutrient management plan. Read more…
Perry Beeman 5/10/2021
Environmentalists have filed a petition demanding a state hearing on the decision to allow a large cattle operation near a northeast Iowa trout stream.
The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, Iowa Environmental Council and conservationists Steve Veysey and Larry Stone requested the hearing regarding Supreme Beef’s plans for 11,600 cattle near Monona, close to Bloody Run Creek. The stream has a special state designation because of its high water quality. Read more…
Perry Beeman 4/16/2021
An Iowa state senator contacted state environmental officials on behalf of his son-in-law’s controversial plan to raise cattle near a Clayton County trout stream.
Sen. Dan Zumbach, R-Ryan, contacted the Iowa DNR on behalf of Supreme Beef, email records show. The company on April 5 won state approval of its plan to spread manure from 11,600 animals on fields near Bloody Run Creek in the Monona area. Read more…
Todd Dorman 4/8/2021
So you hope we can clean up our impaired waterways? We can’t even protect our “outstanding” waters.
You’ve probably heard Iowa has hundreds of impaired waterways, sullied by algae and manure spills and fish kills, among other problems. But the state also has 34 “Outstanding Iowa Waters.” Most are cold-water trout streams in northeast Iowa.
They’re some of the most beautiful spots in our state. But beauty is no match for the beast, especially when the beast is livestock, by the thousands. Read more…
Erin Jordan 4/5/2021
The Iowa DNR has approved the nutrient management plan of an 11,600-head open cattle feedlot near Monona.
‘If IDNR can approve this facility, which is located in sensitive karst topography, in the watershed of an Outstanding Iowa Water and important cold water trout streams, then current Iowa laws and regulations provide no protection of the public interest and exist solely to rubber stamp livestock industry interests,” Read more…
Perry Beeman 4/5/2021
The state has approved plans for a large northeast Iowa cattle feedlot in an environmentally sensitive area that includes some of the state’s trout streams.
After environmentalists and others objected to Supreme Beef’s plans to raise 11,600 cattle near Monona and spread manure on farm fields within 30 miles, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources approved the plans. Read more…
Erin Jordan 3/3/2021
Environmental groups spoke out this week against a third attempt to open an 11,600-head cattle feedlot near Monona.
The Walz’s have been trying to open a feedlot on the site since 2017, but the proposal has met ongoing opposition from some neighbors and environmentalists concerned about the 34.5 million gallons a year of manure coming from the feedlot polluting streams and groundwater. Read more…
Perry Beeman 3/1/2021
Proposed manure applications from a Monona-area cattle operation would threaten Bloody Run Creek and other trout streams in the area, critics said Monday.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources held a public meeting on Supreme Beef’s proposed manure management plan.
A string of speakers accused the company of making errors in its calculations that would result in over-application of manure. Read more…