Manure-control rules win agency's backing

By LEE BERGQUIST
lbergquist@journalsentinel.com

Posted: May 24, 2006

Elkhart Lake - In action that state officials hope will guard against future fish kills and polluted wells, the Natural Resources Board approved regulations Wednesday that would clamp down on manure spreading at up to 165 of Wisconsin's largest farms.

Changes in Manure Rules

Graphic/Journal Sentinel Click to enlarge

The changes would affect less than 1% of all 30,000 livestock operations in the state. However, officials from the Department of Natural Resources said that the biggest farms produce 10% of all manure.

Large-scale farming is a growing segment of state agriculture. But big farms have increasingly come into conflict with surrounding property owners because of odor and potential pollution problems.

The board voted, 6-0, in favor of the regulations, which now head to the Legislature, where lawmakers with agricultural constituencies are sure to seek changes.

Farm groups pressed the board to put off the rules for a month, but that effort failed.

A key measure would prohibit manure spreading, in most cases, in February or March - a period when the ground is typically frozen and manure can more easily spill into waterways.

Manure has long served as a natural fertilizer on farmland. But when improperly applied, or dumped over frozen ground, the bacteria-laden waste is known to cause fish kills, spur algae growth, and more seriously, poison wells and make people sick.

The problem: With more large-scale operations, farmers increasingly use water to clean their barns. The waste product becomes liquid manure and is more prone to runoff pollution.

DNR officials showed footage of streams of brown liquid and foam - the result of manure and the phosphorus contained in the waste.

In one of the worst years on record, the DNR recorded 52 cases of polluted runoff during the winter of 2004-'05. Nine came from large-scale farms.

Family recounts illness

The most dramatic testimony came from Scott Treml of Luxemburg in Kewaunee County, who was flanked by his three daughters who he said were stricken with E. coli bacteria after a large-scale farmer spread manure near the Treml home.

It happened in February 2004 when manure seeped into the groundwater, tainting the family well.

"Our family lived a nightmare," he said, in part because existing regulations have less bite and officials weren't sure what to do.

Existing laws give farmers a freer hand with manure spreading, but it's against the law to pollute waterways or groundwater.

The new regulations add more requirements. They would affect operators of so-called concentrated animal feeding operations. These are the biggest farms, required to apply for water permits from the DNR.

Concentrated animal feeding operations are those with 1,000 animal units or more. These units, represented by 700 mature dairy cows, 2,500 pigs or 55,000 turkeys, are capable of producing 6.5 million gallons of manure a year.

One cow produces the same amount of waste as 18 people, according to the DNR.

Farmers want changes

The rules also would require setbacks or buffers from streams and would require farmers to have six months of storage capacity for liquid manure to avoid winter spreading.

The rules would go into effect in 2010. Environmentalists failed to push up the date to 2008, even though they said that 80% of the large farms have six months of storage capability now.

Farmers said they liked many facets of the proposed rules, but agreed changes are needed.

But some said that Wisconsin was going further than neighboring states.

Several farmers objected to language that penalized them if they spread manure when the National Weather Service forecasts a 70% chance of a half-inch of rain or more.

That requirement is too broad and ignores topography and varying soil conditions - not to mention the vagaries of climate forecasting, farmers said. "I don't have faith in the National Weather Service," said Dean Doornink of Baldwin, who milks 1,700 cattle.

Rep. John Steinbrink (D-Pleasant Prairie), a former dairy farmer who raises grain on 800 acres, said lawmakers were sure to tinker with the regulations.

His chief concern is that the rules unduly harm an industry that is shrinking.

"We don't want to put too much pressure on farmers," he said.