WORTHINGTON — Chris Prins recently started his new role as an environmental specialist with Nobles County , working primarily as the county’s feedlot officer and ag inspector for noxious weeds.
The 2008 Worthington High School graduate grew up on a grain farm and now resides on a rural Wilmont acreage with his wife, Ashley, and 11-month-old daughter, Miranda.
Prins spent the past 10.5 years working at Bedford Industries in Worthington, beginning as a production assistant and working his way up to machinist. The 4 p.m. to midnight shift, however, wasn’t conducive to family time, so Prins looked for a job that would have him home in the evenings.
“I don’t have a whole lot of livestock experience or upbringing in it, but I have a good understanding of what goes on,” said Prins, who still works in the family farming operation.
Since he started his new position, Prins has been busy inspecting feedlots in the county in order to meet state requirements that 7% of the county’s feedlots be inspected this year. The last feedlot officer left in May, so there were several months in which no inspections were done.
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Nobles County Planning and Zoning Administrator Kathy Henderschiedt kept on up feedlot registrations in the interim, and also helped Prins get situated with his new job.
“It’s been a learning curve,” Prins said. “Being born and raised in the county, I know the county fairly well.”
Nobles County currently has 463 feedlots, which includes everything from beef cattle operations to dairy farms and hog confinement buildings. Prins said the ones he’s inspected in the last month and a half have been in good compliance. He makes sure there’s no runoff of manure, that hog barn manure pits aren’t cracked, and that manure stockpiles meet state requirements for setbacks from roads.
Prins said he enjoys the work thus far.
“I like dealing with people and feedlots — livestock and farmers,” he said.
