Why does a farm need an industrial wastewater facility permit? WWALS got an email alert from FDEP about such a permit request for Suwannee Farms LLC on June 11th. A bit of digging shows it’s apparently now owned by Bill Gates, along with many more nearby acres in center pivot agriculture.
Permit: Water – Industrial Wastewater Facility Permit
Project Name: SUWANNE FARMS LLC
Location Id: FLA470031
Location Name: Suwanne Farms LLC
County: Suwannee
Application Number: FLA470031-005For further information, please contact the Northeast District permitting office in Jacksonville at (904) 256-1700
Suwannee Farms has its own facebook page which says it was founded in 1979, with address 19620 North County Road 349, 32071.
Which is the same address shown by the property appraiser for the buildings, 30.091899, -83.052726, as owned by Suwannee River Ag LLC and the land north, north, and south owned by Suwannee River Terra LLC.
However, the Florida Secretary of State shows both of those with Principal and Mailing address of
2086 J FRANK CULPEPPER RD
LAKE PARK, GA 31636
Which is the same as the address the Property Appraiser shows for Lakeland Sands LLC which owns all the center pivot property immediately to the east.
And FL Sec. State shows Lakeland Sands LLC with Principal and Mailing address of
5501 LAKEVIEW DRIVE
KIRKLAND, WA 98033
Which in case anybody’s forgotten is the address of Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment, his personal investment arm (not the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).
Plus more Suwannee River Terra tacked onto the east of that.
And more Lakeland Sands islands to the north and southeast; see image.
This bunch of Gates property is in addition to what we previously found in Suwannee County. Previously we found 7 Lakeland Sands properties in Suwannee County. Now there are 25, plus Suwannee River Ag (2) and Suwannee River Terra (7).
Hm, one of those Suwannee River Terra parcels, 18-03S-13E-0865900.2000, 30.228629, -83.060127, is up towards Live Oak next to Shenandoah Dairy Inc. What could Mr. Gates be planning to buy next?
-jsq
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Suwannee Farms, Suwannee River Terra, and Lakeland Sands
Suwannee River Terra and Shenandoah Dairy
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What IS “intensive farming”?? “Intensive animal husbandry involves either large numbers of animals raised on limited land, usually confined animal feeding operations (CAFO) often referred to as factory farms,[1][3][4] or managed intensive rotational grazing (MIRG). Both increase the yields of food and fiber per acre as compared to traditional animal husbandry. In a CAFO feed is brought to the animals, which are seldom moved, while in MIRG the animals are repeatedly moved to fresh forage.” Pretty simple, anytime animals are raised “on limited land”!!! Some COUNTY planners do not consider CAFO operations as “intense farming”?
Gates seems to be doing plant agriculture, but he’s using chicken manure for fertilizer, and in those quantities it has tob e coming from CAFO chicken operations, of which there are many around here. -jsq