[AT] OT Land prices was RE: B Allis

[Ronald L. Cook]

Dean,
>Ron:
>
>Gee Whiz, Sioux County is moving your way. Good way to upgrade the
>neighborhood. :-) It is beyond my comprehension how DNR would allow a
>confinement/dairy yard close to wet lands.  That makes no sense at all. I
>suspect you have hit the nail on the head. There has to be some under the
>table money involved.

It is not "close" to wetlands.  It is "in" wetlands.  They bought 160 
acres, dug up 80 and piled it on the other 80 to get out of the 
water.  Static water level there, as well as at my house, varies from 0 to 
4 feet below the surface.  I trenched in some new water lines here when I 
bought this place in '98.  I tried trenching to 5 feet and laid much of the 
pipe in water.


>There is a relatively new and huge Dairy East of Struble, IA that I
>understand was established by California/Dutch dairymen. I suspect they got
>run out of California by the regulations. I'm sure the new Iowa DNR
>regulations have them a bit nervous. I know they have been paying premium
>dollar for any land around them.  That whole dairy output is going to Wells
>Ice cream too as far as I know.

Same outfit.  Not good!



>Years ago when we visited Iowa, with the kids, they complained a bit about
>the cattle, hog and dairy yard smells and we called that the "Essence of
>Iowa" and from our historical backgrounds it wasn't all that bad. But each
>year we visit, the overwhelming smell seems to be getting worse and worse.
>Bigger and bigger confinement yards with more and more concentration of
>animals in one place. Not good for the environment.

Well, that is what I told my wife when she was alarmed that a dairy may be 
coming into our vicinity.  Heck, it is Iowa.  It is supposed to smell a 
little.  Besides there are vast improvements such as drying waste, etc, 
that practically eliminates the smell.  At least it will be better than the 
hog factory that was disallowed by the DNR a few years ago in the very same 
local.  Boy, was I wrong.  I do not appreciate Wells Dairy anymore and I 
would just as soon the big talking dutchman would go back to California or 
at least Sioux Center where he apparently originated from.

Wells threatened to move their headquarters out of LeMars and more then 
likely out of the state.  South Dakota probably looked pretty good to 
them.  Our stupid(my feelings) governor went to work lining up deals.  A 
large dairy plan got rejected in South Dakota by the local 
citizens.  LeMars got the big new corporate campus but funding was held up 
for a little while.  This dairy near me stopped progressing 
construction(actually was only surveyed) until the LeMars corporate 
headquarters deal was approved.  Then construction of this dairy commenced 
with production needed by the first of August last year to make all the tax 
breaks and under the table goings on work.  They did get some cows in but I 
am not sure they ever milked on time.  It is now sitting at 4000 head of 
Jerseys and they would like Holsteins.(more manure)  There are plans for 3 
more dairies here that is really being kept quiet for obvious reasons.

>  Pretty soon, if they
>haven't formed already, you will have organized groups we call NIMBY's out
>here on the West Coast.  NIMBY = Not In My Back Yard.  And I don't blame
>them one bit.

Yes.  It did not get organized here quick enough to stop this thing.  What 
happened was a relocation from the original site.  The county supervisors 
allowed the dairy to be built 3 miles closer to civilization so as to not 
have to pave a road.  Of course the supervisors all live in or near Sioux 
City.  Don't know or care a bit about the country.  Just want tax dollars 
and votes.  This discussion will end up political, so I will stop posting 
to the subject and try to think tractors.

Ron Cook
Salix, IA