Goodhue County approves conditional use permit for Perkins Family Farm feedlot expansion

Goodhue County commissioners on Feb. 18 approved a conditional use permit to expand the Perkins Family Farm dairy feedlot to a total of 2,560 animal units.

The permit, submitted by Tom Perkins on behalf of Perkins Family Farm LLC, would amend the farm’s existing conditional use permit and allow a 172-foot by 124-foot addition to an existing barn on a 146-acre property in the Northeast Quarter of Section 16, Township 1 12, Range 15 in Featherstone Township. The application was forwarded to the county from the Planning Advisory Commission after a Jan. 27 public hearing.

County planning staff told commissioners that the operation would now exceed the state threshold that gives the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) permitting jurisdiction for feedlots larger than 1,000 animal units; the staff report also notes that registration for feedlots below that threshold normally runs through the Goodhue County Soil and Water Conservation District. "The Perkins Family Farm Dairy has been in operation since before February and does not appear to be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other people in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted nor substantially diminish and impair property values within the immediate vicinity," the planner read from the recommended findings of fact, which the Planning Advisory Commission recommended the board adopt.

Commissioners were told this is the third amendment of the property’s conditional use permit; a 2016 amendment allowed up to 2,167 animal units. County staff said some language in the historically used findings-of-fact template could be tightened and that staff will work with the county attorney on revising that wording going forward. The Planning Advisory Commission’s recommendation included nine findings of fact and three conditions of approval, which were adopted by the board.

The motion to approve the conditional use permit was moved and seconded and the commissioners voted to approve the permit as presented; no roll-call vote counts were read into the record.

Because the operation crosses multiple permitting jurisdictions, county staff said the applicant submitted the state MPCA application first and used that material in the county application; county staff emphasized that neither the county ordinance nor state rules require one approval before the other but that all applicable permits must be obtained."