Posted: Nov. 19, 2008

The owners of a proposed $70 million, 8,000-cow farm, which would become the largest dairy farm in the state, will have to delay plans and conduct more study on how the operation will affect the environment.

The owners of Rosendale Dairy in Fond du Lac County say the requirement by the state Department of Natural Resources for an analysis known as an environmental impact statement is unnecessary. It would be the first time the agency has ever made such a requirement of a dairy farm.

The DNR concluded Friday that the dairy would need an environmental impact statement for the first phase of the project involving 4,000 cows. The DNR would use the analysis in deciding whether to issue a wastewater permit to the dairy farm.

As some farmers move to large-scale dairying of 1,000 cows or more, the practice has come under fire by environmentalists and some local residents because of worries about odor and potential pollution from manure.

An environmental impact statement generally requires more rigorous environmental analysis than an environmental assessment, which Rosendale Dairy had completed, and gives more opportunity for the public to comment on a project.

The Dairy Business Association of Wisconsin said the decision amounted to a change in DNR policy toward large dairy farms since large dairies weren't required to submit environmental impact statements.

It called on the Doyle administration to review the matter.

"Wisconsin's dairy industry is a bright spot in an otherwise troubled economy, and we are concerned that the arbitrary policy decision will have unintended consequences for environmentally responsible producers who are already putting businesses on the line," said Laurie Fischer, executive director of the association.

The dairy industry generates $26 billion annually to the state's economy, according to the association.

Todd Ambs, administrator of the DNR's water division, said the agency was not shifting its regulatory stance on large dairy farms.

"People are spending way too much time on a title, whether it is 'environmental impact statement' or something else," Ambs said.

"The appropriate question is whether the report adequately captures and assesses the environmental impact of a facility."

In this case, he said DNR staff concluded the dairy's plans for expanding to 8,000 cows meant the agency and the public needed a better understanding of how vast quantities of cow manure will affect groundwater and local streams.

Although the cows would be confined to about 100 acres, plans call for spreading the manure on the fields of other local farms, said Jim Ostrom, a partner in Rosendale Dairy.

According to the DNR, a single cow generates the same amount of waste as 18 people.

"We see expansion of the dairy industry as great, but we have to make sure it is being done right," Ambs said.

Many in the dairy industry have championed large-scale dairy farming, patterned after farms in California, as critical to maintaining milk supplies as smaller farms continue shutting down.

Ostrom is expanding for that reason:

"If there is no re-investment, the dairy industry will disintegrate," he said.

His ownership group owns two others farms - the 6,500-cow Tidy View Dairy near Kaukauna and the 3,500-cow Omro Dairy near Omro.

The Rosendale Farm will spend $40 million a year on personnel, feed and other expenses, Ostrom said. The farm will employ 70 people.

Ostrom said expansion will be pushed back to February.

The farm in the Town of Rosendale has already been built. Some cows began moving in on Monday, but he said the herd will stay below levels that would trigger approval from the DNR.

Fischer said the DNR decision hurts Rosendale Dairy because the owners had hired personnel, including college-trained herdsmen and nutritional experts.

Jamie Saul, an attorney for Midwestern Environmental Advocates, said he was pleased by the DNR's decision.

His group is concerned because cracked bedrock is often a feature in the region, making it easier for manure to seep into local groundwater.

Regardless of the outcome, Saul said his group will oppose a dairy farm of this size.