Opponents, supporters air feelings about proposed feedlot

News

April 4, 2018 By Tom Steever Filed Under: Livestock, Missouri, News

Hundreds of people packed a Warrensburg, Missouri hearing Tuesday night concerning a contentious Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation whose owners want to expand to allow almost 7,000 cattle. The community near Kansas City is divided between those who want the expansion and those who don’t. The David Ward family wants a permit to grow its current 900-head cattle feeding operation — known as Valley Oaks Steak — to as many as 6,999-head. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources took more than two hours of testimony for and against granting the permit while hundreds looked on from the packed hearing room and the packed adjacent hallway. Neighbor Karen Lux testified and tells Brownfield that’s too many cattle.

“There’s so many health concerns, especially for all of our community members,” Lux told Brownfield Ag News Tuesday, “our children, number one.”

Many of those testifying against the proposed CAFO also cite concerns about property values and threats to the aesthetics of Powell Gardens, located within three miles of the operation.

But John Harris, a farmer and cattleman in that area who testified in support of the CAFO, tells Brownfield the expanded operation will help producers because of demand for yearling cattle and for the corn to feed them. He says health concerns are overblown.

“They’ve gone the extra mile to meet the recommendations and requirements that are necessary to get their permits,” he said.

There is one incident concerning the farm that has united people in the area of Lone Jack, Missouri, where the proposed feeding operation is located. Supporters and opponents are offering a reward for information about three of the Ward family cattle that were shot to death. It’s not known if there’s a connection to the proposed expansion, and Lone Jack police continue to investigate.

AUDIO: Missouri DNR CAFO Hearing (2 hrs. MP3)