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Largest local farms Six large farms in Manitowoc County may be required to comply with new waste discharge rules approved by the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board in May. The revisions follow changes in federal rules for large-scale farm operations. The state Legislature will discuss the revisions at a legislative review hearing on Thursday, Aug. 3: * Grotegut Dairy Farm Inc., Newton * Maple Leaf Dairy Inc., Cleveland * Robinway Dairy Farms, Kiel * Siemers Holsteins Farm Inc., Newton * Soaring Eagle Dairy, Newton * Wolfgang Dairy LLC, Reedsville Source: Wisconsin DNR

MADISON — Midwest Environmental Advocates, a non-profit environmental law firm, held a teleconference Tuesday calling for legislative approval of state manure rule revisions that would ban winter manure spreading by large-scale dairy and livestock farms.

The proposed revisions will go before the state Assembly and Senate Agricultural Committee on Thursday.

The proposed revisions could take effect by late fall or early winter, said MEA attorney Andrew Hanson, who criticized the timetable for implementation and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for a failure to identify and penalize manure rule offenders.

The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board unanimously approved revisions to NR 243, manure management rules that apply to the state's largest farms, including six in Manitowoc County. The Manitowoc County dairy farms are subject to the revisions because they have DNR-issued waste discharge permits, required of operations with more than 1,000 animal units, which is about 700 mature dairy cows.

Hanson said the new rules are needed to reduce the contamination of surface water and wells caused by manure spills and inappropriate application of manure on farm fields.

The new rules would require large-scale farms to have the capacity to store up to a six-month supply of manure. Hanson said that while critics say the revisions are too stringent, other states are proposing rules that require nine months storage capacity on large farms.

Large farms would have until 2010 to implement the new rules, but Hanson believes that large farms should be required to comply with the rules immediately.

Tom Ward, Manitowoc County soil and water conservation department director, was positive about the proposed changes to state manure rules.

Ward, who did not attend Tuesday's teleconference, said the proposed revisions complement the county's efforts to reduce manure runoff by requiring large farms to have six-months of manure storage to prevent the need for farmers to spread liquid manure in the winter.

In general, there is tendency for farms to add livestock and not enough manure storage to handle the increase in herd size, Ward said.

"The real issue in Manitowoc County is the application of liquid manure on frozen and saturated soils and the cause is mostly due to inadequate storage through the winter," Ward said. "Our technical standard allows for liquid manure application in winter conditions, but these situations are where most of our problems with liquid manure runoff are occurring."

At the teleconference, Bob Bonness and Markus Dantinne, both from the Lark area in Brown County, said their wells were contaminated by irresponsible application of liquid manure on frozen or nearly-frozen farm fields during the winters of 2005 and 2006.

"Manure was running so heavily in the ditch on one side (of the road) that it crossed under the culvert and it crossed to my side of the road," Bonness said.

Bonness said his well went bad on Easter Sunday in 2005. He had a new well drilled at a cost of $10,000, only to have it go bad in February of 2006. Bonness said a DNR investigator couldn't confirm a source of the contamination that ruined his well.

Hanson said that is typical of the DNR.

"The DNR doesn't pinpoint the offender," he said. "They do nothing."

Hanson said that's what happened when a manure spill in Kewaunee County ruined the well at the home of Scott and Judy Treml in rural Luxemburg. The DNR took no enforcement action, but the Wisconsin Department of Justice sued on behalf of the Treml family and won, Hanson said.

"I don't think the rules go nearly far enough," Judy Treml said, "but they're better than what we have now, which is nothing."

Other manure spill cases have been prosecuted by the state Justice Department.

In July, the state attorney general's office sued Nehls Brothers Farms in Dodge County for a manure spill that contaminated three nearby wells. Nehls Brothers Farms will pay $42,000 to reimburse the three well owners for well-replacement costs, and will pay $150,000 in forfeitures and assessments through an out-of-court settlement, according to the state Department of Justice.

HTR staff writer Kristopher Wenn contributed to this report.