A cattle feedlot under construction in far southwest Nebraska has been cited by the state for nitrate contamination in a drinking well.
Blackshirt Feeders sits on a square mile of concrete in Dundy County, near Haigler. It is permitted for 200,000 head, which would make it the largest single-site feedlot in the country. About 95,000 cattle are there now.
The contamination
The state cited Blackshirt in January for nitrate violations in a drinking well. Measurements taken in April found nitrate at two and three times the legal limit of 10 milligrams per liter in two monitoring wells. The highest reading recorded in nearby Haigler over the past 30 years was 4.1 milligrams per liter, in 1996.
A state department spokesperson said Blackshirt "has not violated its nutrient management plan."
The scale
At capacity the operation would consume roughly 20 million bushels of corn a year, about 95 million dollars worth, and use around 1.5 billion gallons of water. It sits above the Ogallala Aquifer, already drawn down by decades of irrigation, and is Dundy County's largest single water user.
Partner Kee Jim said the company looked across the country and concluded "somewhere in Dundy County was the best site in America to build a large-scale feedlot." Founder Eric Behlke said irrigated farmland will be retired so there is no net increase in the draw on the aquifer, and that the company is "trying really hard to be good neighbors."
The neighbors
Mike Callicrate, a rancher in St. Francis, Kansas, said it would be "way worse than your worst nightmare."
Dan Leinin, who raises cattle eight miles south, was blunter about the day to day of it. "I raise cattle. Cattle stink. They say it doesn't smell. Trust me, it smells."
Reported by Georgina Gustin for Inside Climate News, republished by the Flatwater Free Press.