Rosendale Dairy gets DNR
go-ahead

TOWN OF ROSENDALE - For the past four months the Rosendale Dairy has only had about 700 cows, but within the next few weeks that number will expand almost six times thanks to a permit just approved by the DNR Friday.

"It is the 33rd permit we've gotten on the project and it's the final one and we're permitted now to go to 4,000 cows," said Jim Ostrom, a partner in the Rosendale Dairy.

The permit now allows the population of the herd to blossom because it allows the farm to discharge the manure those cows will produce, an estimated 45 million gallons of waste a year, over the farm's 2,500 acres of land. But opponents who showed up to a meeting just more than a month ago to protest the farm believe all that waste will ultimately end up in their drinking water. Jamie Saul represents some of those concerned residents and is disappointed the permit went through.

"We think it's bad," said Saul, an attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates. "Many of the soils in the region are wet and shallow with low depth ground water. And that just increases the risk of groundwater contamination."

"It will not be a problem," said Ostrom. "It's in our nutrient management program to protect the resources of the state."

And the DNR says it will be watching the farm as it begins its larger operations.

"The department will be making visits from time to time," said Liz Spaeth-Werner, Agricultural Environmental Specialist with the DNR. "We believe that the conditions laid out in the permit, those conditions should be protective of the environment and the groundwater."

The DNR says the permit is for five years, and a similar process for re-approval will have to be done at that time. In the meantime Ostrom says he's closely monitoring the economy to see if he even wants to go ahead with adding another 4,000 cows to the farm in the near future which would make it the states largest.