Mabton dairy may add more cows

YAKIMA, Wash. -- If milk prices improve, a dairy in Mabton is prepared to expand its operation over the opposition of neighbors, who say they are already suffering from flies, odor and other dairy-related environmental irritants.

At a hearing Thursday, Yakima County land-use officials recommended allowing Jacob Veldhuis to build onto his existing 800-cow dairy on State Route 22, about two miles from Mabton. A hearing examiner is expected to make a decision in the next several weeks.

Veldhuis hopes to build a 13,000 square-foot milk barn, a new lagoon to store manure, seven cow shades totaling 50,000 square feet and a 4,800-square-foot commodity shed.

The plans submitted to the county indicate the new facilities could handle more than 2,400 cows, but Veldhuis said he doesn't know yet exactly how many he would add.

"The way prices are, it may be a few years before we get started," he said.

Milk prices have fallen as much as 50 percent from historic highs of last summer due to a worldwide oversupply of milk.

The existing Veldhuis dairy is located near the Mensonides dairy on Fisher Road in Mabton. Both are concentrated animal feeding operations, or "CAFOs," which are regulated by the state departments of Ecology and Agriculture.

Pat Schlegel, who lives downwind of both dairies, said the county is too lax when it comes to holding dairies to their plans to offset the impact of large numbers of animals in a confined area.

"I am anything but an eco nut job, but you get to the point where you just can't take it anymore," Schlegel said, referring to flies, dust and the smell of manure.

She and her husband, Ben, have lived in the area for more than 30 years. Schlegel said the Mensonides dairy recently improved its control of flies.

"We were able to have a barbecue outside this summer," she said. "So I commend them for that."

Veldhuis said in his application for a permit that the dairy would follow environmental standards to protect groundwater and air quality, as well as minimize dust and odor, by flushing out manure and storing it in leak-proof lagoons.

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The headlines on this story have been changed to correct an inaccuracy.