CONTRIBUTED GRAPHIC A graphic shared during Wednesday morning’s Marshall County Board of Supervisors meeting shows the proposed expansion plans for Marshall Ridge LLC, a dairy operation near State Center.

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors swiftly moved through a light regular agenda in less than 15 minutes on Wednesday morning before heading into a closed session at the end of the meeting to discuss pending litigation.

After the board moved quickly through the consent agenda, two relatively routine items with County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt — the final purchase of temporary and permanent easements from Larry Southard, Rebecca Shiek and Lori Howe for the Minerva Creek Bridge replacement project on 140th Street and the purchase of a 2025 Chevy Silverado crew cab pickup from Karl Automotive Group at a cost of $55,124.80 — were unanimously approved. Board Chairwoman Carol Hibbs explained that the discussion on the proposed expansion of Marshall Ridge Farms LLC near State Center, one of the largest dairy operations in Iowa, was a “point of information,” and legal notices have already been published as required.

Marshall Ridge plans to expand with an additional 7,000 head of mature dairy cows and a new proposed confinement, free stall, barn and milking parlor. Supervisor Jarret Heil asked if the project correlated with the Daisy Brand’s plan to build a $626 million dairy facility in Boone.

“I believe they were planning to expand anyway, prior. However, now with their supplying product to Daisy, this is the demand,” she said.

Supervisor Kevin Goodman, communicating remotely, described Marshall Ridge Owner Kevin Blood as a “responsible” and “high integrity” individual, and he had no issues with the expansion. Planning and Zoning Director, Sanitarian and Weed Commissioner Tyler Kelley briefly joined the meeting over video conferencing and told the board the county has less involvement in the project than they regularly would because a Master Matrix was not submitted to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in 2024.

“I did reach out and ask if, since we did submit one for 2025, if that would come into play since the documents were submitted on Jan. 8, 2025. He was gonna reach out and get back to me on that, but as far as information goes, that’s where we’re sitting as far as the county goes,” Kelley said.

No action was required, and none was taken.

——

Contact Robert Maharry

641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.