Iowa State officials are in the middle of a quagmire between the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the United States Department of Agriculture over the proposed swine-research center near Madrid.

“This has been a little misleading in the papers,” said project administrator John Crouse of the USDA. He said this center would be owned and managed by the federal government.

“We will cooperate with Iowa State, and other state experimentations as well as the private sector,” Crouse said.

ISU officials have been involved in suggesting sites to the USDA and may eventually play a role in the farm’s operation, but it’s up to the federal government to choose the site.

DNR officials have said that if plans for the hog farm go through, water quality at nearby Big Creek Lake could be affected.

One of the main concerns is what happens with all the manure.

“I feel they have legitimate concerns and we share those concerns,” Crouse said.

“What we want to do is to develop technology for swine and cropping production systems that will be in harmony with the environment.”

Crouse said USDA officials do not want to impact the air and water quality of Big Creek. The production of swine that are healthy and the protection of human worker health is one of the main concerns of the USDA, he said.

The Des Moines Register and the Ames Tribune said in editorials that another site should be chosen for the proposed hog farm. Recreational use of Big Creek by students and families was cited by the newspapers as a reason to look elsewhere.

“They’re concerned that we’re not able to produce swine in that environment,” Crouse said. “It’s an agricultural environment on a watershed, and in Iowa that’s where most swine will be produced,” Crouse said.

Both sides are continuing the planning for the facility. More information about what will be done with the manure is on the table.

“There has been documented cases in the press where commercial swine production systems have had lagoon leaks, storage leaks and problems with odor associated with swine production and these types of things,” Crouse said.

If the proposal is successful, a 600-sow feral definish operation will result. These animals will be there from conception to market weight.

That means about 10,000 sows will go to the market per year.