SYLVESTER - State officials are pushing new rules that are the first of their kind to limit animal waste on vulnerable ground in eastern Wisconsin, but Green County Conservationist Todd Jenson said the possibility of such oversight will likely not occur locally.
"It's pretty restrictive," Jenson said. "Green County is so different because we're split with the driftless and the glaciated. We have more soil types than any other county in the state. I'm sure there's a few things we could tweak. Most of our rules are pretty good."
The rules are being advanced by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
In the proposed rules, manure cannot be spread 1,000 feet from a community water system, 250 feet from any private well, 200 feet upslope and 100 feet downslope from any direct water source and 100 feet from a defined channel. Jenson noted that in Green County, restrictions apply within 1,000 feet of a community well, 50 feet from a private well and in general, spreading cannot occur in defined channels.
The key difference between Green County and places like Kewaunee County, an area that had manure-polluted water in correlation with more than a dozen large-scale farms, is the ground type, Jenson said.
Namely, Green County is largely comprised of limestone, while the substance 50 feet below the soil in the 15 counties of Wisconsin looking to be more highly regulated under the new rules, is Silurian bedrock. The area is commonly referred to the Silurian aquifer.
"That stuff is so fractured that the water just pours through it," Jenson said.
He added that no one would likely see a benefit from similar restrictions in Green County, including smaller farms not considered a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), which are designated by the DNR as a dairy farm with roughly 714 cows or more in an enclosed space.
Despite the difference in ground types, Jen Riemer, a Green County resident and advocate for clean water and air, lamented the fact that similar measures had not been put in place earlier for Kewaunee County and expressed concerns that it could happen in Green County.
"I think it's a step in the right direction," Riemer said. "It shows there's a major problem in Wisconsin with manure pollution. There needs to be more specific regulation."
A CAFO was proposed and ultimately approved for land across the road from Riemer in Sylvester Township on 127 acres along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Road. The farm, dubbed Pinnacle Dairy, will house 5,800 dairy cattle and has 31 contracts to sell manure to neighboring farmers.
When Pinnacle owner Todd Tuls, a Nebraska native with CAFOs throughout the country, applied to build his newest operation near Riemer in August 2015, she began Green County Defending our Farmland and advocated for more stringent rules to keep large-scale facilities from polluting natural resources and putting smaller dairy farms with roots to the area out of business.
Previously, rules regarding manure pollution were applicable to all areas of the state equally. Riemer acknowledge DNR officials have "good standards" but the organization lacks workers and time to regulate expansive farms.
Overall, Jenson said the proposed rules are too restrictive, and in the event the state attempted to institute similar regulations in Green County, they would likely "get a lot of push back."
Still, he noted that while he believes area conditions could never mirror eastern Wisconsin, if pollution on a large scale occurred, DNR officials would likely hold public hearings to gain feedback and implement new rules.
"I guess if conditions got bad enough, the state could look at making us do this," Jenson said.
Riemer credited pressure from the public to prevent pollution for the steps that have been taken so far, but the trend of larger dairy farms continue to pose a threat to quality of life throughout the state.
"I truly believe if we had as many cows that Kewaunee did, we would be in the same situation," Riemer said.
Jenson also pointed to the number of cows present in Kewaunee County as a variable in the groundwater contamination. He noted the difference from Green County's cow population.
"The difference between Kewaunee County and us is that for every cow they have, they have 1.8 acres of cropland," Jenson said. "For us, every cow that we have, we have 8.8 acres of cropland. So there's a big disparity on cow density."
Riemer said according to DNR maps, Green County is more susceptible to groundwater contamination and said she did not understand why parts of southern Wisconsin were not included in the proposed rules.
"It's a good recognition of the problem, but I truly think it's driven by outrage by people having manure in their drinking water," Riemer said. "The DNR had to do something."
"It's pretty restrictive," Jenson said. "Green County is so different because we're split with the driftless and the glaciated. We have more soil types than any other county in the state. I'm sure there's a few things we could tweak. Most of our rules are pretty good."
The rules are being advanced by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
In the proposed rules, manure cannot be spread 1,000 feet from a community water system, 250 feet from any private well, 200 feet upslope and 100 feet downslope from any direct water source and 100 feet from a defined channel. Jenson noted that in Green County, restrictions apply within 1,000 feet of a community well, 50 feet from a private well and in general, spreading cannot occur in defined channels.
The key difference between Green County and places like Kewaunee County, an area that had manure-polluted water in correlation with more than a dozen large-scale farms, is the ground type, Jenson said.
Namely, Green County is largely comprised of limestone, while the substance 50 feet below the soil in the 15 counties of Wisconsin looking to be more highly regulated under the new rules, is Silurian bedrock. The area is commonly referred to the Silurian aquifer.
"That stuff is so fractured that the water just pours through it," Jenson said.
He added that no one would likely see a benefit from similar restrictions in Green County, including smaller farms not considered a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), which are designated by the DNR as a dairy farm with roughly 714 cows or more in an enclosed space.
Despite the difference in ground types, Jen Riemer, a Green County resident and advocate for clean water and air, lamented the fact that similar measures had not been put in place earlier for Kewaunee County and expressed concerns that it could happen in Green County.
"I think it's a step in the right direction," Riemer said. "It shows there's a major problem in Wisconsin with manure pollution. There needs to be more specific regulation."
A CAFO was proposed and ultimately approved for land across the road from Riemer in Sylvester Township on 127 acres along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Road. The farm, dubbed Pinnacle Dairy, will house 5,800 dairy cattle and has 31 contracts to sell manure to neighboring farmers.
When Pinnacle owner Todd Tuls, a Nebraska native with CAFOs throughout the country, applied to build his newest operation near Riemer in August 2015, she began Green County Defending our Farmland and advocated for more stringent rules to keep large-scale facilities from polluting natural resources and putting smaller dairy farms with roots to the area out of business.
Previously, rules regarding manure pollution were applicable to all areas of the state equally. Riemer acknowledge DNR officials have "good standards" but the organization lacks workers and time to regulate expansive farms.
Overall, Jenson said the proposed rules are too restrictive, and in the event the state attempted to institute similar regulations in Green County, they would likely "get a lot of push back."
Still, he noted that while he believes area conditions could never mirror eastern Wisconsin, if pollution on a large scale occurred, DNR officials would likely hold public hearings to gain feedback and implement new rules.
"I guess if conditions got bad enough, the state could look at making us do this," Jenson said.
Riemer credited pressure from the public to prevent pollution for the steps that have been taken so far, but the trend of larger dairy farms continue to pose a threat to quality of life throughout the state.
"I truly believe if we had as many cows that Kewaunee did, we would be in the same situation," Riemer said.
Jenson also pointed to the number of cows present in Kewaunee County as a variable in the groundwater contamination. He noted the difference from Green County's cow population.
"The difference between Kewaunee County and us is that for every cow they have, they have 1.8 acres of cropland," Jenson said. "For us, every cow that we have, we have 8.8 acres of cropland. So there's a big disparity on cow density."
Riemer said according to DNR maps, Green County is more susceptible to groundwater contamination and said she did not understand why parts of southern Wisconsin were not included in the proposed rules.
"It's a good recognition of the problem, but I truly think it's driven by outrage by people having manure in their drinking water," Riemer said. "The DNR had to do something."