As every child knows, Old MacDonald’s farm had a cow, some pigs and some chickens.
Today,
the government doesn’t count individual cows, pigs and chickens. It
counts animal units, based on how much manure each animal can produce.
For example, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources counts each dairy cow as 1.4 units, while each chicken is 0.01 units.
State
Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, wants to tinker with how the DNR adds up
those numbers to decide which farms should be regulated. Kapanke’s
Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing this morning in
Madison on the bill.
Kapanke was unavailable for comment late Tuesday.
Environmentalists are concerned that if passed, the bill will lead to more manure spills and fish kills.
“The
impact of the bill is devastating, in that it actually removes DNR
authority over existing livestock factories — up to 16 operations,”
said attorney Andrew Hanson of Midwest Environmen-tal Advocates, which
monitors factory farm issues.
Kapanke’s bill would use U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency standards for concentrated animal
feeding operations, which Hanson said are less stringent than Wisconsin
standards.
Kapanke’s changes would prevent different kinds of
animals from being added together. It also makes some changes in the
number of animal units assigned to different types of animals.
When
a farm reaches 500 animal units, local governments can have a say about
where they’re located. DNR regulates farms with more than 1,000 animal
units.
Hanson said one of the farms that could be deregulated by the bill is Chapman Brothers Dairy near Tomah, Wis.
According
to a DNR analysis, the Chapman farm has 1,237.7 animal units under
current rules, which count all the animals. Under the EPA rules, which
count only the largest number of one kind of animal, it would have 665
units.
The Chapmans could not be reached for comment.
“Remember
Jersey Valley Lake? That spill was caused by an unregulated CAFO,”
Hanson said, referring to a manure spill that closed a lake near
Westby, Wis., in March 2005. “Senator Kapanke’s bill is tempting fate
by hindering the DNR’s ability to prevent these problems before they
arise.”
Reid Magney can be reached at rmagney@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8211.
