Residents urge DNR to deny CAFO expansion in Pierce County

Dozens of people urged state environmental regulators Thursday to deny a large livestock farm’s proposal to expand in Pierce County.

The plan would more than triple the number of cows and manure generated by the farm.

Ridge Breeze Dairy in the town of Salem is a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, that runs a roughly 1,700-cow dairy within the Rush River watershed that drains into the Mississippi River. The farm wants to change its existing CAFO permit so it can grow the operation to about 6,500 cows by the end of 2025. The expansion is expected to generate nearly 78 million gallons of manure each year.

In a Thursday hearing, residents of the area voiced concerns to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources about the proposal’s potential to pollute nearby waterways and groundwater, pointing to the owner’s history of violations.

Samantha Bowen said she’s a sixth generation farmer in the town of Union and lives nearby Ridge Breeze Dairy. She said some local streams and private wells in the area already struggle with nitrate contamination, saying that adding millions more gallons of manure to fields won’t improve water quality.

“The potential for groundwater problems seems more possible than ever. No one is coming to save us if our water gets contaminated. We are on our own,” Bowen said.

She and others urged the DNR to require groundwater monitoring wells and cap the number of animals at the farm’s current amount. Bowen said testing of private wells in Pierce County has shown nitrate levels above the federal health standard of 10 parts per million, including in her own well. A 2022 report on well testing shows 12 percent of wells sampled exceeded that threshold in the towns of Salem, Union, Maiden Rock and others.

Nitrate contamination has been linked to blue-baby syndrome, thyroid disease and colon cancer. Around 90 percent of nitrate in groundwater can be traced back to agriculture.

Other opponents to the expansion said the farm’s owner, Breeze Dairy Group, doesn’t have a good track record of handling manure.

Breeze Dairy Group owns and operates five farms in Wisconsin, including Ridge Breeze Dairy. Since 2013, its operations have had at least 11 manure spills, according to DNR records. They released a total of more than 192,000 gallons of manure, including 100,000 gallons that spilled at Pine Breeze Dairy in Waushara County in 2017.

Gregg Wolf, CEO of Breeze Dairy Group, told WPR they’ve taken on operations with past issues, saying they run good operations overall.

“Not to say that our history has been perfect. But whatever issues we’ve had in the past, we worked with the DNR, worked with regulatory bodies, and made sure we corrected our mistake,” Wolf said, saying the Pine Breeze spill stemmed from a mechanical malfunction.

Since then, Wolf said they’ve made investments to ensure they can avoid future incidents.

Despite that, environmental advocates said they feel there’s insufficient information to determine whether the farm is in compliance.

Adam Voskuil, a staff attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates, said during Thursday’s hearing that the farm has had several instances of non-compliance in the last year. Those included issues related to field runoff and wastewater violations. Voskuil said the farm is located in an area that’s susceptible to nitrate contamination, urging the DNR to require groundwater monitoring.

“DNR must include those monitoring provisions that ensure manure management practices are not going to lead to extreme contamination,” Voskuil said.

In 2021, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the DNR had authority to impose those requirements on large farms to protect water quality. However, some farms have sued the agency over such requirements. Wolf said he doesn’t think groundwater monitoring is necessary for the proposed expansion.

“If there’s any groundwater issues today, it happened over decades, and I think we have the potential to be a positive for the area as far as groundwater cleanup,” Wolf said.

Wolf said they plan to contract with farmers that will grow alfalfa as a cover crop that can prevent soil erosion and nutrient runoff. He said they also have more than the adequate amount of land available to spread manure to ensure they’re not overapplying on fields. A grassroots group disputed that contention.

Danny Akenson is an organizer for Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin, or GROW. He said the DNR will not allow the farm to spread manure on almost 1,200 acres that hasn’t undergone required soil testing. He alleged that around 300 more acres should be removed because landowners said they don’t have agreements with the farm.

“To put it simply, Ridge Breeze Dairy does not have enough land to expand,” Akenson said.

Wolf countered that it would conduct soil sampling before any manure is spread on the lands in question. As for the lack of agreements, he said some landowners rent their land to farmers growing crops. He said Ridge Breeze Dairy would then work with the farmer to supply manure necessary for growing corn or soybeans on those lands.

Akenson said the DNR should require Ridge Breeze Dairy to provide signed and notarized agreements with landowners.

Wolf said the farm is looking to grow as the cheese producer Eau Galle Cheese in Durand seeks to expand. He said they hope to partner with the company to provide milk for the operation over the next two decades.

The DNR is accepting public comments on the proposed expansion until July 18.