By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

PORTLAND, Ind. — A group of six farm families wants to build a facility to house egg-laying hens on the Ohio-Indiana line in Jay County, Ind.

The families have requested permits for two million chickens, but the operation will probably not begin with that many, said Keith Boeckman, one of the co-owners of Hoosier Pride Farms.

The six families farm in Jay County and Mercer County, Ohio, and currently have separate conventional high-rise hen houses on their farms. Changes to Ohio rules regulating such facilities mean they will be a thing of the past in the next 10 years, Boeckman explained.

“We knew that was coming, and that’s why we’re doing this project. We’re six family farms doing this together,” he said.

The 104-acre site in Jay County – at the northwestern corner of State Road 67 and the state line – was chosen because it’s already owned by one of the families and the lay of the land works better for the chicken facility, he said. The families hope to begin operations on the site next summer, but Boeckman said it could take up to two years to complete construction.

The company plans to hire 35 workers, but 15 additional workers, such as truck drivers to haul feed and eggs, will probably be needed. The project could also create 120 construction jobs for two years, he noted.

Applications were submitted to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in July, Boeckman said. In working through the approval process, IDEM will look at several factors, including building design, soil characteristics and the overall layout of the facility, said Andy Tauer, agricultural liaison for the agency.

If a proposed facility will have an earthen floor, it will need to have proper soil compaction to prevent seepage into the groundwater, he explained.

Once an application is submitted, IDEM does a first review to be sure all necessary information has been provided. The agency generally spends 30-90 days of actual review time on an application, Tauer said. Comments from local residents are accepted by IDEM about any proposed facility, he said.

“Residents are more than welcome to provide feedback, and those questions and concerns will be addressed during the process,” he explained. “The comments we hear frequently include concerns over property values, odors and road damage, which are all outside of our purview. We also hear, ‘I don’t want it next to me’.”

The Hoosier Pride Farms facility will be considered a concentrated
animal feeding operation (CAFO). In Indiana, farms of a certain size may be classified as CAFOs or confined feeding operations (CFOs) depending on their size. As of mid-July, Indiana had 635 CAFOs, including 90 chicken operations, IDEM stated.

In Jay County, there are 86 regulated (CAFO or CFO) farms, including 19 regulated chicken farms, according to IDEM. There are 2,044 regulated farms in the state.

The facility owner must inform IDEM when construction begins. Once a building is populated, IDEM officials go back within the first year. After that, the site is checked once every five years as part of a routine scheduled inspection cycle, Tauer said.

In addition to approval from IDEM, permits are needed locally and from the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).

The Jay-Portland Building and Planning Department is concerned with potential setback issues, said Bill Milligan, director of the department. It has already looked at the site specifications for setbacks from roads and property lines, and has approved those permits for the facility, Milligan said.

The Jay County SWCD will examine the facility’s proposed sediment and erosion control plan, said Bettie Jacobs, county SWCD coordinator. “All the plans must be submitted to, and approved by, us before they can start construction,” she said. “Our biggest concern is the water supply.”

Once the plans have been submitted, the office has 30 days to respond, but Jacobs said her office normally tries to do that within two weeks.

“If they follow all the guidelines, it will be approved,” she said. “You cannot stop it.”

The operation would be in an area without a lot of residences, said Jim Zimmerman, Jay County commissioner.

“We’ve had a couple of (negative) comments so far,” he said. “But as long as they meet all the building and setback requirements, there’s not a lot to be done.”

Boeckman said so far, he and the other families haven’t received any negative feedback from neighbors or animal rights groups.