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Angie and Craig Raatz plan to modify and expand this feedlot in the northwest quarter of Section 22 of Sweet Township. The site will hold 850 animal units after the project. Source: Pipestone County
Craig and Angie Raatz are planning to modify and expand an existing feedlot located in the northwest quarter of Section 22 of Sweet Township, southwest of Pipestone. The Pipestone County Commissioners held a feedlot public meeting to take comments on the Raatz’s plans during their June 10 meeting.
The existing feedlot consists of a total confinement barn with a concrete manure storage pit under the barn and open lots without runoff control. The feedlot holds 500 beef steers and 250 feeder cattle for a total of 675 animal units, according to information provided at the meeting. The project will include expanding the open lots, construction of permanent concrete manure stockpile areas, and an earthen manure storage basin. The site will hold an additional 249 head of feeder cattle after the project and have 850 animal units.
Angie said they recently tore down a couple silos at the site and decided to do some updating.
“We’re going to put in a pit and basically design everything to run into the pit, so it will basically be total containment, so there shouldn’t be any runoff concerns,” she said. “We’re putting in the stacking slabs, so that will help facilitate getting the manure hauled, and overall it should be a lot nicer site.”
Angie said they’d scrape manure from the concrete and put it on the stacking slab and there would be a lagoon that would catch anything that would potentially run off. She said they plan to apply the manure to land around the facility.
Ian Cunningham, who lives near the site, said his family and the Raatz family have been farming near each other since before he was born and that he supported the Raatz’s plans.
“They’re a good outfit,” he said.
The commissioners do not take action during public feedlot meetings, which are held to provide an opportunity for public comment. No one else spoke during the meeting and Pipestone County Environmental Administrator Kyle Krier said he had not heard from anyone else prior to the meeting.