A confined animal feeding operation for 4,400 swine in Jackson Township was approved Thursday night by the Wells County Area Plan Commission.
The proposed CAFO will be located at 8769S-900W and will be owned and operated by Nathan Clem of Mitchell Swine Farms LLC. Clem, who now resides in rural Jonesboro, will move to the site when it is in operation. He is purchasing the 17 acres for the swine operation and the house on the land from his grandparents.
APC rules require that a CAFO meet certain specifications, and points are given for each milestone accomplished. The minimum number of points required for approval is 220; Clem’s total was 223.975 points.
The points came from odor abatement, 110; a secondary odor abatement, 40; and liquid injecting the manure into adjoining fields, 70. Clem said he had agreements for spreading the manure over 355 acres.
The remaining 3.975 points came from the excess distance — just a few feet, actually — the CAFO will be from the house where Clem will be living.
Clem already has his permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in hand. He expects to start construction in mid-April.
The site will include a hog barn that will be 81 feet and 4 inches wide and 413 feet and 6 inches long It will also have a 30-foot by 30-foot compost pad.
The CAFO will handle 4,400 swine twice a year, Clem said.
The APC’s approval came with two conditions — first, the 220 points must be maintained, and second, if a wooded area to the north of the proposed CAFO is removed, a “shelter belt,” which will already be around the east, south, and west sides of the operation must be extended to the north side as well.