DC PR&D recommends reinstating CAFO moratorium for 45 days
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Board’s Planning, Resources & Development Committee is recommending that the county board reinstate the six-month moratorium on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations for an additional 45 days.
The PR&D Committee approved making the recommendation to the county board at the committee’s April 25 meeting.
The recommendation will first go to the executive committee, and then the recommendation is expected to come before the Dunn County Board at the May meeting.
The six-month moratorium on expanding existing CAFOs or developing new CAFOs of 1,000 or more animal units was approved by the county board last fall to give a study group time 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, which started meeting in November, is made up of members of the PR&D Committee, Dunn County’s planner and zoning administrator, the county conservationist, UW-Extension, other county staff members and area farmers and citizen representatives.
The idea of extending the moratorium came up at the Livestock Operations Study Group’s (LOSG) last meeting, said Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the PR&D Committee.
The moratorium will expire May 4, and the LOSG report originally was expected to be ready for the Dunn County Board’s May 17 meeting.
“There’s still more work to do,” Quinn said.
The LOSG has been meeting every two weeks, or sometimes once a week, since November.
Presentations have been made to the study group on a variety of topics related to, or that could be impacted by CAFOs, such as manure storage, high nitrate levels in the groundwater, traffic impacts from large farm machinery and hauling manure, the state Department of Natural Resource’s permitting procedure for CAFOs, and existing county regulations.
“This has been a weighty process,” said Diane Morehouse, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the LOSG.
Study group members have been reviewing lengthy reports and scientific data, and “I want to make sure we do this right,” she said.
The final report from LOSG will not be ready by May 4, although the study group could provide a progress report to the county board at the May 17 meeting, Morehouse said.
60 days
During the public comments portion of the committee meeting, Randy Koehler, a farmer in the Town of Rock Creek who is a member of the LOSG, recommended extending the moratorium by 60 days.
The LOSG still needs to work on the final report, to make recommendations and to review the report before it is presented to the county board, he said.
Koehler said it would be “short sighted” to allow the moratorium to expire before the report is finalized.
Concerns about a proposed expansion at the Cranberry Creek Dairy in the Town of Rock Creek helped fuel the pursuit of a moratorium and a study group.
The expansion would allow Cranberry Creek Dairy to increase from 2,107 animal units up to 7,250 animal units. A dairy cow is 1.4 animal units, and with the expansion, Cranberry Creek could have up to 5,000 milk cows, 500 heifers and 1,250 calves.
Cranberry Creek currently has 1,250 dairy cows, 450 heifers and 250 calves.
Richard Dahl from the Town of Rock Creek read a letter to the PR&D Committee from Harry Warden, chair of the Rock Creek Town Board, in support of extending the moratorium to allow more time for research and gathering information.
Charles Harschlip, a dairy farmer in the Town of Rock Creek with 70 head of cattle, said the proposed Cranberry Creek expansion has become a “tri-county” issue and also supported extending the moratorium.
The DNR held a public hearing on the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit for Cranberry Creek dairy in March.
At the public hearing, Harschlip said he found out that Cranberry Creek also was seeking to spread manure in Eau Claire County. Large dairies over the county line in Pepin County are responsible for a “saturation” of manure as well, Harschlip said.
“It’s not just Dunn County,” he said.
The Town of Rock Creek is an unzoned township.
The Cranberry Creek application to the DNR for a WPDES permit was submitted prior to the formation of the livestock operations study group.
Modern ag
Gary Seipel, county board supervisor from Eau Galle and a member of the PR&D Committee, said the study of CAFOs would be an ongoing process “for years” and that any changes in county regulations would have an impact on all farming and not just CAFOs.
“I don’t like moratoriums. It crimps business,” Seipel said, noting that he might be willing to support a 30-day extension to allow the report to be finished.
Gary Bjork, county board supervisor from Colfax and also a member of the PR&D Committee, said he was opposed to moratoriums as well.
The state is doing an “excellent job” of regulating CAFOs, Bjork said.
A moratorium gives the impression that Dunn County does not support modern agriculture, Bjork said.
If farmers follow the rules, “there is no problem,” he said.
“Do we want to send the message that Dunn County does not support modern agriculture?” Bjork asked.
Self-reporting
The state regulations are adequate, but CAFOs are not well regulated and monitoring is left up to self-reporting, said Mike Kneer, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the PR&D Committee.
“The state has not done a good job,” he said.
Kneer advocated for approving an extension on the moratorium, which would allow it to be sent to the Dunn County Board for discussion and consideration.
Kneer said depending on the discussion at the county board that he might or might not support an extension of the moratorium but that he strongly believed the entire Dunn County Board should have the opportunity to discuss, debate and make a decision on reinstating the moratorium.
Quinn agreed the Dunn County Board should be given the opportunity to decide on extending the moratorium.
An extension of the moratorium will not restrict current plans for expansion from going forward, he said.
In a neighboring county, what the DNR describes as a “large” manure spill at a dairy, was subject to voluntary reporting and was not reported for several months, Quinn said.
Concern about manure spills does not mean Dunn County is against modern farming, he said.
A two-month extension would not prevent someone from submitting an application for expanding or developing a new CAFO, Quinn said.
Dan Prestebak, county conservationist, said under the county’s livestock siting ordinance, with a moratorium in place, an application would not get a public hearing.
The LOSG is not unsupportive of agriculture, but the strength and health of the dairy industry and the health, safety and welfare of Dunn County residents are both important, Morehouse said.
Reinstate
The moratorium ends May 4, and the Dunn County Board meeting is May 17, so the moratorium could not be extended by the county board, Prestebak said.
Under the circumstances, the county board could only extend the moratorium if a special meeting of the county board was scheduled before May 4.
The county board would not be able to extend the moratorium at the May 17 meeting but would have to reinstate the moratorium, said Bob Colson, county planner and zoning administrator.
The LOSG’s work will continue, regardless of whether the moratorium is extended or reinstated, Quinn said, noting that it seemed important to have the moratorium end and the final report finished at the same time.
Morehouse made a motion to reinstate the moratorium for 60 days, and Seipel offered an amendment to reinstate the moratorium for 30 days.
Morehouse and Seipel agreed to split the difference, and the PR&D Committee approved a motion to reinstate the moratorium for 45 days.
Bjork voted against the motion.
LOSG update
The study group is finishing up on key findings and is starting work on making recommendations, Colson said.
The LOSG planned to meet April 27, he noted.
Two more LOSG meetings are currently scheduled on May 11 and May 25, Colson said.
The LOSG may be able to give an interim report to the county board at the May meeting, he said.
LOSG members are just now getting to the point of talking about the key findings, Quinn said.
“I do not want to short change the report,” he said.
