Despite the recent pollution of area creeks and streams by manure, farmers Wednesday said they are skeptical about a proposal by County Executive Kathleen Falk to outlaw the spreading of liquid manure on frozen fields.

Several Dane County farmers commented on Falk's plan at a hearing on proposed manure storage regulations. Falk has suggested amending those regulations to include a provision regarding winter application of liquid manure.

"We don't need more restrictions and regulations," said Gene Friede, who raises beef cattle on a farm in the town of Dunn. "Most farmers can make good, sound judgments on whether to spread."

Falk's proposal comes a week after manure spread on a frozen field ran into the West Branch of the Sugar River and killed hundreds of fish. The county had spent nearly $1 million in state and federal funds restoring the stream. It's expected that it will take years to restore the fish to the numbers they had attained before the contamination.

Also this week, the Department of Natural Resources said charges are likely against a farmer responsible for as much as a half-million gallons of liquid manure running into Lake Mendota. The farmer applied the manure in February when his storage pit became too full.

In both instances, the manure was spread on frozen fields and not worked into the soil. Milder temperatures caused the manure to run off into the stream and lake.

Falk suggested modeling the regulation on a Maine law that prohibits spreading liquid manure in the winter except in the case of financial hardship.

"Many more trout in the West Branch (of the Sugar River) would be thriving today if the liquid manure had not been spread," Falk said in her letter to the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission. "Stopping the spreading of liquid manure during the winter will eliminate one serious threat to our streams, rivers and lakes."

But farmers at Wednesday's hearing said such a regulation is unworkable for a number of reasons. They said it would be expensive, especially for small dairy farms where the expense of building storage structures could drive some out of business.

"I'm worried about the smaller farmer," said Dane County farmer Alan Rademacher. "If you want dairying in Wisconsin, you can't expect a small 60-cow herder to build structures."

Bob Uphoff, who raises pigs in the town of Dunn, said the manure will not be as effective as a fertilizer if it is spread in the spring after the ground thaws and closer to planting time.

And Friede had an even more practical concern.

"I have a lot of neighbors who aren't farmers," Friede said. "If I start stockpiling manure out there, it's going to start stinking. And they're not going to be happy."

Brett Hulsey, a Dane County supervisor and chairman of the Lakes and Watershed Commission, said the proposal to regulate winter-spread manure will be discussed over the next couple of weeks and added that more input from farmers is necessary.

"We're going to be looking at this very carefully before we do anything," Hulsey said.

Contact Ron Seely at rseely@madison.com or 252-6131.