A proposed broiler farm in Gage County, Nebraska, will not be built after the county’s board of supervisors voted against a special use permit that would have made the farm possible. The board voted 5-2 on the matter.
The farm would have housed about 150,000 chickens about two miles away from the town of Cortland. Had the broiler farm become a reality, the birds would have been raised for MBA Poultry, which has a plant in the nearby town of Tecumseh.
Numerous residents of the area voiced their opposition to the poultry farm at previous public meetings, citing concerns about odors, the disposal of dead chickens and increased truck traffic, reported the Beatrice Daily Sun. There are about 20 homes within a mile of where the farm was proposed.
Board member Matt Bauman, who voted against denying the permit, said the decision could harm Gage County’s reputation as supportive of animal agriculture, but another board member, Dennis Byars, who described himself as a lifetime agriculture supporter, said the site’s proximity to so many homes presents problems and that there are more appropriate places in the county for such a farm to be built.
MBA Poultry, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, produced an estimated 2.62 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis in 2015. It markets chicken under the Smart Chicken and Organic Smart Chicken labels.
