TOWN OF SYLVESTER - A request to temporarily halt plans to create a large-scale dairy farm spanning more than 130 acres in Green County was a few days too late, but a public hearing held in Sylvester Township on Monday showed there's still significant opposition to the proposed facility.
The gathering in the small town hall was packed to standing room only, crowding the more than 50 attendees into wooden desks and lawn chairs, with some even sitting along the floor. Todd Tuls, owner of Rock Prairie Dairy in Janesville - and the person looking to construct an identical facility northwest of Brodhead - was present along with three lawyers and his nephew T.J. Tuls.
The proposed dairy, named Pinnacle, was criticized by a number of people who spoke at the hearing. Much of their arguments centered around the size of the dairy, which will boast 5,800 cattle, and the toll it will take on local water sources.
Todd Tuls defended his operation as a safe and effective business. He pointed to economic growth for the region as a positive step and said he was glad to see the laws of the state overrule in favor of economic benefits to the area.
"We make a huge impact on the surrounding areas," Tuls said. "We purchase up to $8 million in local goods. We impact milk haulers, feed haulers; the list goes on and on."
Lawyers for the Tuls' operation urged the township not to move forward in what they referred to as an "illegal timeout."
Jessica Shrestha, who represented the Green County Defending Our Farmland group, used the same wording in saying the moratorium would simply be a 6-month span over winter months to further explore the impact Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations could have on small communities in Green County.
Jen Riemer of Brodhead, who lives near the proposed site, attended the hearing for that organization alongside member Peg Sheaffer. Both spoke in favor of the moratorium, explaining the importance they felt to ensure area water will be kept free from contamination.
CAFOs have nutrient plans set in place to ensure all materials leaving the farm do not negatively affect the environment around them, which Todd Tuls said was a prerogative for his farms. During the meeting, he bit back at statements, citing a family tradition of farming in states like California, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska, where his brother operates an even larger farm than the one proposed along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Roads.
"The comments being made are untruthful, unclear and are also misleading," he said. "We see the beauty around here. We don't want to come in and disrupt that beauty. This business model has withstood because we've been very conservative. We can all look at the mistakes everyone else has made. That size is extremely difficult for them; we have the professional staff. We are very, very concerned with the environment."
However, Sheaffer and Riemer cited distrust in the ability of the dairy to accurately self-report its output, which is the only requirement of the facility after all applications are approved. They said an understaffed Wisconsin Depar-tment of Natural Resources would be responsible beforehand, but they would not place hope in a group which they feel would not be able to fulfill their duties because of a lack of employees.
Pat Skogen of Monroe, who spoke at the hearing as a former dairy farmer and current farm union member, pointed to Kewaunee County in Wisconsin, which recently had a failure in oversight from the DNR. She echoed concerns of speakers at the event when arguing against a large business she could see leaving their investment if the going got too rough in the form of low milk prices.
"The truth is, we can still do things until they have a complete application and it's not completed just yet," Skogen said, citing plans to move forward to stall the project despite the decision. "I know what the land is like around Sugar River; this is not meant for industrial agriculture. The numbers are incomprehensible. We're talking about a whole different animal."
Citing the history of farming in Wisconsin and the small farms which provide milk to the area, she said she would prefer more than 100 farms of 50 cows being milked over a large facility compacted into 130 acres. Plans disbursed to residents of the township also outlined the possibility of the farm's manure lagoons just seven feet above the water table, which Skogen found a potential hazard to the integrity of the groundwater.
Todd Tuls said the company has added a number of safety precautions to go beyond the minimum expected measures, including a number of secondary containment pieces to keep any materials on the land if something were to go wrong.
Despite the back and forth, which erupted into arguments more than once and illicited quite a bit of applause, the requested temporary moratorium was not applied to the current proposed farm. Because the company submitted all necessary applications on Friday, the local government has no legal method in which to apply the proposed moratorium, town chair Anna Anderson said.
However, the township board approved a moratorium to be put in place for future projects of such a scope to be implemented on any dairy farm of 500 or more cows. The approval put in place a six-person committee to work on future proposals in the area.
The gathering in the small town hall was packed to standing room only, crowding the more than 50 attendees into wooden desks and lawn chairs, with some even sitting along the floor. Todd Tuls, owner of Rock Prairie Dairy in Janesville - and the person looking to construct an identical facility northwest of Brodhead - was present along with three lawyers and his nephew T.J. Tuls.
The proposed dairy, named Pinnacle, was criticized by a number of people who spoke at the hearing. Much of their arguments centered around the size of the dairy, which will boast 5,800 cattle, and the toll it will take on local water sources.
Todd Tuls defended his operation as a safe and effective business. He pointed to economic growth for the region as a positive step and said he was glad to see the laws of the state overrule in favor of economic benefits to the area.
"We make a huge impact on the surrounding areas," Tuls said. "We purchase up to $8 million in local goods. We impact milk haulers, feed haulers; the list goes on and on."
Lawyers for the Tuls' operation urged the township not to move forward in what they referred to as an "illegal timeout."
Jessica Shrestha, who represented the Green County Defending Our Farmland group, used the same wording in saying the moratorium would simply be a 6-month span over winter months to further explore the impact Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations could have on small communities in Green County.
Jen Riemer of Brodhead, who lives near the proposed site, attended the hearing for that organization alongside member Peg Sheaffer. Both spoke in favor of the moratorium, explaining the importance they felt to ensure area water will be kept free from contamination.
CAFOs have nutrient plans set in place to ensure all materials leaving the farm do not negatively affect the environment around them, which Todd Tuls said was a prerogative for his farms. During the meeting, he bit back at statements, citing a family tradition of farming in states like California, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska, where his brother operates an even larger farm than the one proposed along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Roads.
"The comments being made are untruthful, unclear and are also misleading," he said. "We see the beauty around here. We don't want to come in and disrupt that beauty. This business model has withstood because we've been very conservative. We can all look at the mistakes everyone else has made. That size is extremely difficult for them; we have the professional staff. We are very, very concerned with the environment."
However, Sheaffer and Riemer cited distrust in the ability of the dairy to accurately self-report its output, which is the only requirement of the facility after all applications are approved. They said an understaffed Wisconsin Depar-tment of Natural Resources would be responsible beforehand, but they would not place hope in a group which they feel would not be able to fulfill their duties because of a lack of employees.
Pat Skogen of Monroe, who spoke at the hearing as a former dairy farmer and current farm union member, pointed to Kewaunee County in Wisconsin, which recently had a failure in oversight from the DNR. She echoed concerns of speakers at the event when arguing against a large business she could see leaving their investment if the going got too rough in the form of low milk prices.
"The truth is, we can still do things until they have a complete application and it's not completed just yet," Skogen said, citing plans to move forward to stall the project despite the decision. "I know what the land is like around Sugar River; this is not meant for industrial agriculture. The numbers are incomprehensible. We're talking about a whole different animal."
Citing the history of farming in Wisconsin and the small farms which provide milk to the area, she said she would prefer more than 100 farms of 50 cows being milked over a large facility compacted into 130 acres. Plans disbursed to residents of the township also outlined the possibility of the farm's manure lagoons just seven feet above the water table, which Skogen found a potential hazard to the integrity of the groundwater.
Todd Tuls said the company has added a number of safety precautions to go beyond the minimum expected measures, including a number of secondary containment pieces to keep any materials on the land if something were to go wrong.
Despite the back and forth, which erupted into arguments more than once and illicited quite a bit of applause, the requested temporary moratorium was not applied to the current proposed farm. Because the company submitted all necessary applications on Friday, the local government has no legal method in which to apply the proposed moratorium, town chair Anna Anderson said.
However, the township board approved a moratorium to be put in place for future projects of such a scope to be implemented on any dairy farm of 500 or more cows. The approval put in place a six-person committee to work on future proposals in the area.