In the News

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4.22.25 - Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio

Pierce County residents and a grassroots group are challenging a permit for Ridge Breeze Dairy's plan to expand from 1,700 to 6,500 cows.  Permit would allow for an estimated 12,000 trucks a year to spread 80 million gallons on 7,500 acres in three counties and 17 towns.

4.19.25 - Evan Halper & Samuel Oakford, Washington Post

Small farmers, environmental advocates and scholars in Missouri and elsewhere say California’s Tax credits perpetuate noxious, environmentally hazardous and agriculturally unsound practices in other states. Wisconsin Mega-Dairies are using the tax credits to finance giant expansions.

4.14.25 - Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio

Mega-dairy operators are suing to stop regulation by the DNR. That legal challenge could severely limit the DNR’s ability to protect state waters from manure runoff or spills even from dairy factories that produce more than 100 million gallons of liquid waste. 

4.12.25 - Dairy Star 

Wisconsin Senator Testin wants to make legal local ordinances illegal. At the same time, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce say they are already illegal. 

4.2.25 - Midwest Farm Report

WI Farm Bureau wants the whole state to be a sacrifice zone for mega-livestock factories. Towns passing ordinances in Western Wisconsin are facing a mega-dairy proposal for up to 7,800 cows spreading more than 80 million gallons of waste in three counites and 17 towns.  State regulations don't cover air pollution, biosecurity, mass mortalities or road damage.

2.24.25 - Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio 

" Akenson said the grassroots group is exploring options for a contested case hearing on the DNR’s permit to ensure that community members living nearby are protected.." 

1.17.25 - Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio 

"A judge has dismissed a Polk County case that challenged a local ordinance regulating large farms. The order comes as more communities have sought local control over concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs." 

1.10.25 - Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner 

 "A Polk County judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business lobby, challenging an ordinance enacted by the town of Eureka regulating how factory farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), operate."  

12.19.24 - Eric Gunn, Wisconsin Examiner 

 "A farm worker in Barron County has tested positive for avian influenza after being exposed to a poultry flock infected with the virus.... The woman is the first person identified with the infection in Wisconsin."

12.18.24 -  Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times

"In a stark acknowledgment of the increasing seriousness of bird flu’s spread, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared on Wednesday that the outbreak of infections among the state’s dairy cattle constituted an emergency." 

12.12.24 - Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner 

"The town of Maiden Rock overlooks the Mississippi River’s Lake Pepin. On Monday, the town’s board unanimously passed the ordinance..."

11.20.24 - Andrew Harrington, Pierce County Journal 

"Of roughly 90 attendees during Saturday’s meeting, the ones who spoke were either in favor of the ordinance itself, or in favor of even stricter regulations of CAFOs." 

8.26.24 Wisconsin Examiner - Local Resistance Leads to DNR Rejection

 "The DNR required the company to “submit written verification that the dairy operation has permission to land-apply manure and process wastewater to all fields that are not under common ownership of Ridge Breeze Dairy.”  

7.15.24 Wisconsin Examiner - Local Resistance Shreds Draft Permit

"More than 100 people packed into an auditorium in Elmwood to watch and comment from a location with more reliable internet than their homes, while hundreds more joined in on Zoom. Dozens of people spoke, yet only one, from the Dairy Business Association, spoke in favor of the expansion."  

4.5.24 St. Croix 360 - Evers vetoes bill attempting to squash local control. 

 "Legislation would have prevented communities from passing any protections from large-scale livestock operations. "

3.8.24 WPR covers legal challenge from lobby group founded by some of Wisconsin's biggest factories, including Emerald Sky Dairy in St. Croix County which has multiple pollution violations and fines.

"Farm groups are appealing a ruling that found state environmental regulators can require large livestock farms to obtain wastewater discharge permits..." 

6.11.24 - Wisconsin Examiner's Henry Redman laws out the charges

"Mlsna’s permit expired in 2015, yet the farm continued to operate...The farm operated without a permit for 2,501 days." 

7.25.24 Cap Times - Only 15 Wisconsin DNR staff oversee 336 CAFOs 

DNR inspectors try to check farms every five years...Between five-year inspections, Dix said, the state relies on citizens for help monitoring. 

5.1.24 Just months after receiving a permit to double in size, Emerald sells dairy factory to large corporation.

 In March, despite significant public opposition, the DNR granted the permit renewal and allowed the expansion.

4.25.24 Portage County residents contest settlement made without public input

" The plaintiffs in the lawsuit live or have lived near the Nelsonville farm’s properties and have seen elevated levels of nitrates in the water they get from their private drinking wells. "

12.11.23 Wisconsin Watch's Bennet Goldstein does more than 100 interviews and reviews 5,000 documents.

"Beneath a clash of values and personalities is a broader question: Who gets to determine farming’s future?"  

5.2.22 Cap Times' Bill Berry covers town efforts to protect public health and property values. 

 "Towns in northwestern Wisconsin are implementing ordinances that regulate the operation of CAFOs.... DBA says the state’s livestock siting laws prevent locals from passing ordinances to regulate the factories. The interesting twist is the towns say the siting law doesn’t apply, because they’re regulating operations, not siting."  

Star Tribune's Matt McKinney takes a river-wide view.

"Proposals for a large hog farm, a dairy farm expansion and a biogas digester have prompted outcry from people worried about the impact on water quality and public health."   

Arlin and Mary Lou Karnopp live on property once owned by Arlin’s great-grandfather. They can't drink the water. 

"Study findings raise questions about the effectiveness of existing regulations aimed at protecting residents from tainted drinking water."