Jill Schramm/MDN Erin Parker with Souris Basin Planning Council speaks to the Ward County Commission regarding the Regional Livestock Development and Planning project Tuesday.

Locations across Ward County have been identified or ruled out as locations suitable for large-scale livestock operations, according to information provided to the Ward County Commission Tuesday.

Todd Kays, executive director of the First District Association of Local Governments in Watertown, South Dakota, presented highlights of a draft report the association developed with Souris River Planning Council for Bottineau, Burke, McHenry, Mountrail, Renville and Ward counties. A program of the North Dakota Agriculture Department is helping fund research around the state in livestock development and planning.

“What we’re trying to do is, looking at using local zoning controls and state siting requirements, find locations where you might be able to accommodate a 5,000-head dairy or 5,000-head sow operation or 1,000-head feeder cattle operation or 2,500-head finishing swine,” Kays said.

The association is creating a report that will be made available to the public and a private report that will go to policy making and planning organizations. The private report contains more detailed information that will not be published publicly for reasons of landowner privacy.

A public meeting will be set in Minot for late July, at which time the association will release results of the draft report and talk about findings throughout the region.

Kays said the private report will give policymakers an in-depth analysis to look at their policies and see how they might or might not want to encourage development in certain areas. Development could be encouraged through investments in infrastructure in these areas or working with electric and water utilities on services.

He said the intent is to “create a document that can help you plan for the future, help you in your zoning ordinance reviews.”

“It’s a way to share information with the state, with the locals, with economic developers, with utility companies, with actual farmers that are out there to steer development in the places that make the most sense for agricultural development in Ward County,” Kays said.

Criteria considered in identifying the best locations for livestock operations included:

– located at least a mile from a city boundary.

– not above a shallow aquifer or in a floodplain or source water protection zone.

– meets setbacks from structure address points or points of culture.

To further develop rankings, criteria included the presence of a hard surface road, proximity of three-base power and adequate water supplies of 10,000 gallons per day for a low water use site, 30,000 gallons per day for a mid-size water use site or 250,000 gallons per day for a high water use site.

Numerous sites in Ward County were identified as suitable in the various categories and were ranked as good, better and best.

“There are a lot of really good sites. There are some best sites and some better sites,” Kays said.

Erin Parker, economic development project specialist with SBPC, told commissioners the information can be used to prepare for economic development or to adjust policies to be more restrictive in some areas.

“The intention of this report is not to either suggest one way or the other how the data should be used,” Parker said. “It’s just to give you, the county, the information to do with as you so choose.”

Kays noted the state has set rules that do not allow counties and townships to establish more restrictive regulations than the state with regard to certain aspects of livestock operations.