Dairy Dreams, LLC

Background: Dairy Dreams, LLC plans to expand its livestock factory in the Town of Lincoln. It wants to house 1,300 cows by the summer of 2002 and expand to 2,600 cows by 2004. Partially owned by Pagel’s Ponderosa,* Dairy Dreams has already installed a 20 million gallon earthen manure pit that will hold the estimated 13 million gallons of manure produced by the 1,300 cows. Dairy Dreams also has tentative plans to install a manure digester, though the timeline for construction is unclear and indefinite.

Because it will confine more than 1,000 animal units, Dairy Dreams is required to obtain what is known as a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.** Dairy Dreams has also applied for a high capacity well permit, which means that it will pump more than 70 gallons per minute from Kewaunee County’s groundwater.

The Town of Lincoln is concerned about its groundwater quality and quantity, and the environmental impact of a 20 millon gallon earth manure pit and related manure spreading. The fractured limestone of Kewaunee and Door Counties allows pollutants to more easily contaminate drinking water.

Since the Town of Lincoln has not enacted zoning to control the local impacts of livestock factories, they can only reduce the water pollution impacts of this facility by getting involved in the WPDES permit process.

MEA believes the most effective way to protect groundwater and surface water in the unique geology of Kewaunee County is to:

1. ban manure spreading on frozen, saturated ground, and on fields that have been tiled;
2. require that manure be applied according to phosphorus needs of the crop type rather than nitrogen;
3. and place a protective liner in all earthen manure pits to slow the rate of leakage to the soil and groundwater from these pits.

Status: MEA is representing the Town of Lincoln in its efforts to obtain a WPDES permit for Diary Dreams that will protect water quality. MEA will submit written comments to the DNR and testify at the public hearing on May 9, 2002, at 10:00 am in the Town of Lincoln, Town Hall.

* See "Pagel Ponderosa" case
** See "How Livestock Factories are Regulated" in the Family Farming Campaign section.