URNRD hears Blackshirt Feeders water plans

Blackshirt Feeders, LLC took another step forward in its plans for a 150,000-head feedlot in Dundy County.
Settje Agri-Services and Engineering presented the feedlot’s water plan to the Upper Republican Natural Resources District board Tuesday.
Settje showed annual water use calculations of 1,260 acre/feet for livestock consumption and 509 acre/feet for the proposed methane digester. Settje also showed a net gain of 507 acre/feet from storm water, leaving a net total use of 1,262 acre/feet or nine pivots.
Blackshirt Feeders would like to retire 13 quarters of Yaw ground, which Brandon Larson of Spuds and Suds contracts and said would be sold to Blackshirt Feeders.
Those quarters have 1,668 allocated acres with 1,807 acre/feet of water. The land is 12 miles away from the proposed well site, five miles north of the feedlot site. The quarters would be retired as needed.
The land where the proposed site would be sits north of Haigler. Larson was at the URNRD meeting and said he retired the pivots on it five years ago.
Settje said Blackshirt Feeders would drill three or four wells. The feedlot would need 725 gallons per minute, 365 days of the year.
The plan for the feedlot also allows for processed water for irrigation of 578 acre/feet of water or 4.1 pivots, giving the feedlot a net use of 684 acre/feet.
Larson said a pipeline would be put in to a minimum of 10 pivots north of the feedlot site. Larson’s backup plan if there is extra effluent is to pump on CRP ground.
URNRD General Manager Jasper Fanning said the water table in the area would be expected to drop two feet over 40 years. The impact would most likely be seen in Nebraska by Larson and Seward family land, as well as minimal impact to Harford land.
Fanning said modeling, including the wells’ effect on Haigler, would be complete by the board’s Sept. 6 meeting.
No action was taken by the URNRD board.
If and when all the plans are approved, the methane digester project would begin partway through phase one of feedlot construction and continue into phases two and three.
Settje also showed a slide comparing the gross revenue comparison between the existing crop gross sales, based on 200 bushels of corn per acre at $5.50 per bushel, versus the proposed feedlot sales and wages. The estimate for the corn crop was $700,700 while the estimate for the feedlot’s sales and wages was $390,255,000.
Blackshirt Feeders’ conditional use permit was approved last week by the Dundy County Planning and Zoning Board.
The Dundy County Commissioners will hold a public hearing for the CUP Aug. 11.