DC CAFO study group holds kick-off meeting

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE —  Dunn County’s Livestock Operations Study Group is off to a running start.

The study group, which met for the first time November 30, is operating as part of a six-month moratorium in Dunn County on expanding or developing new Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) that would have 1,000 or more animal units.

The focus of LOSG is to evaluate the impact of CAFOs on the health, safety and welfare of Dunn County’s residents and resources, to report on the group’s findings and to make recommendations.

The study group is made up of members of the Dunn County Board’s Planning, Resources and Development Committee, Dunn County’s planner and zoning administrator, the county conservationist, UW-Extension, other county staff members and area farmers and citizen representatives.

The group “is not here to stop or limit CAFOs. The group is here to understand (environmental) impacts,” said Bob Colson, county planner and zoning administrator.

LOSG is expecting to hold seven or eight working meetings between now and April.

The moratorium on CAFOs will expire May 2, and the study group is expected to present a report to the Dunn County Board May 17, 2017.

“There is a group of people who are emotional about CAFOs, but this group will act on factual data and analysis,” Colson said.

Dunn County is home to several large dairies, including Windmill Dairy (Colfax); Denmark Dairy (Colfax); the Albricht farm (Colfax); Five Star Dairy (Elk Mound); and Alfalawn Farm (Menomonie).

Ten to 20 small farms can also have the same impact on the environment as one CAFO, noted study group member Randy Koehler of Rock Falls, who milks 35 dairy cows.

Best Management Practices (BMP) for a CAFO will apply to any farm of any size, noted Lee Jensen of Five Star Dairy.

After being in the business for 16 years, Jensen said he has learned a tremendous amount.

What is acceptable today is different than what was acceptable 20 years ago, and what is acceptable 20 years from now also will be different than what is acceptable today, he said.

The study group may ultimately end up making recommendations about ordinance amendments needed to protect groundwater, surface water, or other parts of the environment, but the study group does not have do the work of writing the ordinances, Colson said.

By the next meeting in December, Colson said he expected to have a facilitator to work with the group.

Rules and regs

At the December meeting, the agenda also is expected to include presentations about rules and regulations for CAFOs by the state Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

The West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission is expected to provide information about case law related to CAFOs.

One of the concerns for the study group is that the DNR does not have enough personnel to adequately monitor and inspect CAFOs.

One question the group might consider is what could farmers do to mitigate problems before the DNR needs to take enforcement action, said Dave Styer of Alfalawn Farm.

Someone from the DNR should be part of the study group, said Ron Verdon, president of the Tainter Menomin Lake improvement Association.

Having a DNR person as a stakeholder in the group would help the study group formulate a better understanding of CAFO regulations from the DNR’s perspective, he said.

A two-way dialogue with the DNR would be helpful, Verdon said, adding that he believed the DNR would honor the request to have a staff person at the meetings.

Kathy Stahl, a resident of the Town of Colfax, said she agreed that it would be helpful to have someone from the DNR at the study group meetings.

Steve Rasmussen, county board supervisor from Boyceville and chair of the Dunn County Board, has started a list of resource people who can be called upon to advise the study group as necessary, Colson said.

A CAFO is treated as a point source for pollution by the DNR, and the county’s authority for regulating a CAFO comes through the manure management ordinance and the farm’s nutrient management plan, said Dan Prestebak, county conservationist.

Meetings

The Livestock Operations Study Group is expected to begin working on a draft of the report in March that will be presented to the county board in May.

LOSG will meet next on December 15 from 10 a.m. to noon in Room 58 at the Dunn County Government Center on Wilson Avenue.

The group also is planning to meet January 5 and January 19.

Because the study group includes all of the members of the county board’s Planning, Resources and Development Committee, the meetings are posted as public meetings.