There was a time and a place in this state when pragmatism and making the best of a bad situation were ways of life. That’s how you have to live when you’re out in the prairie.

Apparently, not anymore.

Fayette County, like most counties, has had its share of budget problems over the years. This is especially true during the winter, when roads crews use tons and tons of expensive salt.

Fayette County is also where Postville is located. The now-infamous Agriprocessors plant there used salt at a fantastic rate — tons per day — to make their products kosher.

Enter problem-solving. Why not buy up Agriprocessors’ used salt and use it to supplement the county’s salt supply? It’s cheap, it’s nearby, and everybody wins.

Fayette County now has 75 tons of Agriprocessors’ used salt sitting in storage sheds around the county.

That’s all it’s doing, too. Just sitting.

Since the salt is used to draw blood out of chicken parts, Iowa Department of Natural Resources has determined that it’s a solid waste.

“We have concerns about pathogens. We have concerns about salmonella. You can’t have chicken parts spread all over the highway. We need to look at some samples of this stuff to make sure we’re not causing a lot of problems,” said Mike Wade of the Iowa DNR.

Regardless of the test results, the Fayette County engineer’s office had or has a good idea. It’s not like we don’t have random animal parts all over our roads to begin with, and it’s not like rotting deer carcasses are any less dead, infested or delightful.