The Illinois Department of Agriculture has cleared the way for a farm with 4,900 hogs to be built near Macomb.
In a letter to the land owner, Scott Herndon, the department said it has reviewed all the documents submitted about the proposal, adding “As a result of the review, the Department finds that ‘more likely than not, the provisions of the (Livestock Management Facilities) Act have been met.’” (Italics included in the letter).
The letter is signed by Warren Goetsch, Acting Bureau Chief, Environmental Programs, Illinois Department of Agriculture. The letter is dated November 4, 2016, but the Department did not send it to TSPR until this week.
The hog farm will be built four miles east of Macomb, south of U.S. Highway 136. Most of the pigs raised there will be shipped to the processing plant in Beardstown, according to Nick Biggs of TriOak Foods, the Iowa-based company working with Herndon to build the farm.
Biggs said it’s possible some preliminary site work will be done this Autumn, but construction won’t begin until Spring. It will take 60 to 90 days to complete construction of the two wean-to-finish barns.
The company has called this a $1 million project. And during the public meeting, TriOak’s Al Muhlenbruck said each of the barns will generate $9,000 in property taxes per year. The company has also said the local economy will get a boost from the farm’s ongoing expenses.
