DNR rejects Cranberry Creek’s revised nutrient management plan for expansion

By LeAnn R. Ralph

TOWN OF ROCK CREEK — The state Department of Natural Resources has rejected the revised nutrient management plan submitted by Cranberry Creek Dairy because the plan does not support the proposed expansion to 6,794 animal units.

The DNR issued a letter to Cranberry Creek Dairy May 3.

The letter, after stating that the DNR “believes the current nutrient management plan does not support the proposed 6,794 animal units,” outlined problems with many of the fields included in the revised nutrient management plan.

 The DNR held a public hearing at the Rock Creek Town Hall March 28 on the proposed modification to the Cranberry Creek nutrient management plan to add 57 fields and 1,414 acres.

The additional fields would bring the total number of acres available for Cranberry Creek to dispose of manure to 5,619 acres.

About 150 people attended the public hearing in March.

The DNR held a public hearing on the re-issuance of the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit last September for the Cranberry Creek expansion.

The March 28 hearing was on the expansion of the nutrient management plan needed for the new WPDES permit.

A dairy cow is 1.4 animal units, and with an expansion to 6,794 animal units, Cranberry Creek could have up to about 4,850 dairy cows.

Cranberry Creek currently has 1,250 dairy cows.

Agreements

The letter from the DNR states that in some of the landowner agreements submitted by Cranberry Creek, the agreements were signed by the land operator and not the landowner.

And in regard to several fields owned by one landowner, “In addition, the department received a letter from the landowner stating no manure from the dairy could be land applied to their fields,” according to the DNR letter.

Some of the fields included in the revised nutrient management plan do not have a signed landowner agreement and “shall be removed from the farm’s nutrient management plan if the farm does not obtain a signed agreement,” the DNR letter states.

The section of the letter referring to the absence of a signed landowner agreement includes about 20 different landowners.

In addition, a number of fields do not have a signature from all of the landowners, according to the DNR’s letter.

For example, for one group of parcels, the landowners are listed as Huntsinger Farms Inc. and Ron A. Kopp and Xcel Energy.

“Many separate parcels with three separate landowners,” the letter states.

Of those parcels, one agreement was only signed by Huntsinger Farms Inc., and the Xcel Energy agreement was only for one field.

Nine of the fields included in the nutrient management plan only have permission to receive solid manure from Cranberry Creek Dairy.

Several of the people who testified at the DNR’s public hearing at the Rock Creek Town Hall in March referred to the problems with the revised Nutrient Management Plan that the DNR outlined in the May 3 letter.

Current herd size

Based on the review of the revised nutrient management plan, “the department is in the position to conditionally approve the current herd size of 2,107 animal units,” according to the letter.

Approval of the current herd size of 2,107 animal units (or 1,505 dairy cows), presumably means the DNR will re-issue the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit for the existing Cranberry Creek Dairy operation.

The letter goes on to say, “If Cranberry Creek seeks an NMP approval that exceeds this number, within 14 days of the letter’s date, Cranberry Creek Dairy must revise the nutrient management plan to reflect the issues identified by items 1-4 and 1) modify the proposed animal units to reflect the landbase in the revised nutrient management plan OR 2) submit additional acreage to support the proposed 6,794 animal units.

If Cranberry Creek Dairy chooses to adjust the proposed animal units, “the farm should submit a revised nutrient management plan that contains the following documents,” the letter states.

The list includes a DNR form; a 590 checklist; the nutrient management plan narrative; a compliance check report; field data and 590 assessment report; DNR CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) nutrient mass balance report; DNR CAFO annual spreading report; spreading and nutrient management sorted by crop; crop trends production report; soil test summary report; revised maps (if applicable) and new landowner agreements (if applicable).

LOSG

Although the Town of Rock Creek is unzoned, concern about the expansion of Cranberry Creek Dairy was one of the factors that contributed to Dunn County placing a six-month moratorium on forming or expanding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that would have 1,000 animal units or more and forming the Livestock Operations Study Group.

The focus of LOSG is to evaluate the impacts of CAFOs on the health, safety and welfare of Dunn County’s residents in relation to groundwater, surface water, air quality, the economy, transportation and other resources, to make recommendations and to report on the group’s findings.

A report was expected to be presented to the Dunn County Board at the May meeting, but the LOSG has not yet finished the report.

The Dunn County Board’s agenda for the May 17 meeting includes a resolution from the county board’s Planning, Resources & Development Committee to extend the moratorium on the expansion of CAFOs.

At the PR&D’s April 25 meeting, committee members approved recommending that the county board consider reinstating the moratorium on CAFOs for an additional 45 days.