4,800-head hog farm planned near Rockford

ROCKFORD - The Ohio Department of Agriculture is accepting public comments on draft permits for a planned 4,800-head hog finishing farm southwest of the village.

The Luginbill Swine Farm would be located at 3311 state Route 707 and includes plans to build a barn and a facility to compost dead livestock, the ODA stated. Requesting the permit to operate and the permit to install is Kyle Luginbill of the same address. The farm is located in Dublin Township in the St. Marys River Watershed.

Large livestock farms must obtain permits from the state to install and operate. They also must undergo inspections and record checks by ODA. Permits must be renewed every five years.

The draft permit to install includes construction of a new, 490-feet-by-82-feet finisher barn to house the swine weighing more than 55 pounds, according to ODA. An 8-foot concrete pit to store liquid manure from the hogs would be built under the barn.

The manure pit would be capable of storing approximately 2.1 million gallons of swine waste, providing well over a year's worth of storage. The composting barn would be capable of storing about 162 tons of compost. The farm expects to generate 15 tons of compost annually, ODA noted.

The draft permit to operate includes a manure management plan, which outlines different inspections and monitoring activities to be completed by the farm, ODA said. About 1.2 million gallons of liquid manure and 15 tons of mortality compost material would be applied annually on roughly 697 acres controlled by Luginbill Swine Farm. The manure will replace commercial fertilizer on a typical corn, soybean and wheat rotation.

The farm's draft permit to operate includes an insect and rodent control plan. A mortality management plan also is required to manage the disposal of dead livestock. Approved methods of disposal are burying, landfilling, burning, rendering and composting. The farm plans to use composting as the primary method for disposal, ODA stated.

An emergency response plan also is required to ensure accidents such as manure releases and electrical outages are handled quickly and efficiently to maintain the safety of the environment, wildlife and water supplies and resources.

The draft permit to operate also requires farms to maintain an operating record that includes the inspection of manure storage structures, the management, application and distribution of manure, groundwater testing, insect and rodent control, management of dead livestock and a mortality management plan.

The facility and its records would regularly be inspected by ODA to ensure compliance if the permits are approved.

A copy of the draft permits can be viewed at the Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District office in the Mercer County Central Services Building in Celina. The public can contact the SWCD office at 419-586-3289 for an appointment to view the documents.

The draft permits also can be reviewed and/or copies made at ODA's Division of Livestock Environmental Permitting office at the A.B. Graham Building, 8995 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg.

Anyone may submit written comments and/or request a public meeting on the permits. A request for a public meeting must be in writing and state the issues to be raised, ODA stated. People can contact ODA's Division of Livestock Environmental Permitting office at 614-387-0470 for more information.

Comments and/or public meeting requests must be received by the DLEP office by 5 p.m. Sept. 8. A public meeting will be held if there is enough interest. People have the right to provide a written or oral statement if a meeting is scheduled.