LINCOLN — A group of veterinarians seeking to build the state’s largest feedlot for cattle is now proposing an even larger facility in a new location in Dundy County.

Eric Behlke, the head of Blackshirt Feeders, is now eyeing a location north of Haigler, Nebraska near the Colorado border.

Eventually, the proposed feedlot would feed 150,000 head of cattle at a time, which is 50,000 head larger than the planned feedlot site 23 miles north of Benkelman which was approved by the county for Blackshirt Feeders in June. That location had drawn complaints about being too close to a residence and possibly threatening groundwater quality and quantity.

One member of the Dundy County Board, Richard Bartholomew of Benkelman, said Wednesday, July 13 that the new location is much more palatable to him because it impacts fewer neighbors.

Bartholomew added that all of the property tax benefits will go to Dundy County schools via the new location.

Blackshirt’s application for a conditional use permit for the feedlot notes that the new location is farther away from nearby residences and cemeteries and requires only about 1/4 of a mile of county road, which Blackshirt Feeders will pay to pave.

The feedlot will also invest an additional $125 million, the application stated, to build a methane digester, to turn the manure produced by the cattle into fuel.

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