resources & Education
CAFO Operations Ordinance Toolkit
Midwest Environmental Advocates has developed a toolkit to provide Wisconsin towns with a starting point for creating ordinances that regulate CAFO operations at the local level. The toolkit includes flexible templates that can be customized to ensure that the health, safety, and welfare of the public are protected from potential impacts of large-scale livestock operations.
What is a CAFO operations ordinance?
An operations ordinance regulates the way that concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) operate within a particular town by requiring all CAFOs to obtain a CAFO operator’s license from the town. It does not regulate where CAFOs are sited. Instead, it imposes certain conditions on CAFOs to ensure that they operate in a manner that is compatible with the health, safety, and welfare of local residents.
What is a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO)?
A concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, is a large-scale agricultural operation in which animals are raised in confinement. Typically, the animals—and the manure they produce—are concentrated on a relatively small area of land.
Learn more about CAFOs here.
Do towns have the legal authority to regulate CAFO operations?
Yes, but a town’s regulatory authority is bolstered by the adoption of village powers, which more clearly confer authority to adopt ordinances to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. If your town has not adopted village powers, you should consider doing so prior to adopting a CAFO operations ordinance.
Does the toolkit include a model ordinance?
No. The toolkit includes a template rather than a model. The template serves as a starting point, but it must be tailored to meet the specific needs of your town. Start by thinking broadly about why your town is interested in adopting an operations ordinance, and which potential detrimental impacts of CAFOs are of greatest concern or importance to your community. That thought process will help shape the options you choose to include in your town’s ordinance. Because your town will need to consider various options and do some drafting of your own, we strongly recommend that you work with your town attorney or retain special counsel to provide legal advice and assist you.
How many Wisconsin towns have adopted operations ordinances?
To date, ten Wisconsin towns have adopted operations ordinances:
- Bone Lake, Eureka, Laketown and Luck in Polk County
- Round Lake and Spider Lake in Sawyer County
- Maiden Rock, Isabelle and Gilman in Pierce County
- Trade Lake in Burnett County
Visit www.protectyourtown.org to view the ordinances and to learn more about the history of how they were developed,
How does the ordinance template in the toolkit compare to ordinances already adopted by some Wisconsin towns?
Remember that the template in this toolkit is not a model ordinance, nor can it be adopted as is. It is a starting point rather than an end point. In that sense, it differs from existing ordinances that have already been adopted, each of which was developed to address the unique needs, concerns and circumstances of a particular community. We encourage you to visit www.protectyourtown.org to study what other towns have done as you consider how you might customize your town’s CAFO operations ordinance.
Learn more about our Agriculture Work
LEGAL ACTION
Rob-n-Cin Farms Permit Challenge (Washington County)
After the Wisconsin DNR issued a permit allowing Rob-n-Cin Farms—a large dairy farm located in the Town of Trenton in Washington County—to become a permitted concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), MEA initiated legal action on behalf of Milwaukee Riverkeeper and a group of neighbors living near Rob-n-Cin’s three production facilities.
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LEGAL ACTION
Ridge Breeze Permit Challenge (Pierce County)
MEA initiated legal action after state regulators issued a permit that would allow Ridge Breeze Dairy to nearly quadruple in size. Our clients are challenging the permit because it doesn’t do enough to prevent contamination of local water resources.
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LEGAL ACTION
Gordondale Farms Permit Challenge (Portage County)
Portage County residents represented by MEA challenged a wastewater discharge permit issued to Gordondale Farms because the permit did not do enough to protect local drinking water. Our legal challenge led to a permit modification that required Gordondale to install groundwater monitoring wells near fields where the farm spreads large amounts of manure.
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POLICY & ADVOCACY
Strengthening Local Regulation of Large Livestock Operations
A growing number of local governments in Wisconsin are choosing to regulate the way concentrated feeding operations (CAFOs) operate within their jurisdiction. MEA helps local governments understand the issues, exercise their authority and defend against industry pushback.
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LEGAL VICTORY!
Preserving Environmental Oversight of Large Livestock Facilities
In January 2024, a Calumet County Circuit Court rejected a reckless attempt by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and factory farm groups to eliminate environmental oversight of the state’s largest livestock facilities. The court’s decision affirms the DNR’s ability to protect water resources from agricultural pollution.
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Agriculture Updates
LEGAL VICTORY! State regulators must strengthen environmental oversight of Pierce County livestock operation
MEA clients in Pierce County have won a major victory in a three-year fight to protect their community from the impacts of a major expansion at Ridge Breeze Dairy. On August 24, an administrative law judge ruled that a DNR permit allowing the farm to expand its herd to more than 6,000 cows failed to ensure compliance with Wisconsin’s groundwater quality standards.
Protecting Paradise: How residents of the Rush River Valley are taking action to defend the place they love
MEA client Kay Kashian and her husband Phil own Milkhouse Cottage and Gardens, a small rural retreat in Pierce County. Visitors come for the clean water, quiet beauty, and sense of place that defines the Rush River Valley—qualities Kay and Phil have worked hard to preserve and share. Plans for a massive expansion at nearby Ridge Breeze Dairy now put all of that at risk. With representation from MEA, Kay
MEA Joins Call for Stronger Action on Nitrate Pollution
This week, MEA joined more than 80 organizations nationwide in calling on federal agencies to take stronger action to address nitrate pollution and protect public health. We are urging federal regulators to investigate regulatory failures and respond to growing evidence linking nitrate contamination to serious health risks.
Pierce County Residents Speak Up for Clean Water at Ridge Breeze Hearing
At a multi-day legal hearing in March, community members and MEA attorneys highlighted concerns about the proposed expansion of Ridge Breeze Dairy and made the case for requiring stronger water quality protections, including the installation of groundwater monitoring wells.
New MEA Toolkit Helps Local Governments Understand Options for Regulating Large Livestock Operations
A new MEA toolkit gives Wisconsin towns a starting point for drafting and enacting ordinances that strengthen local oversight of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
MEA and Milwaukee Riverkeeper Announce Legal Action After DNR Approves Controversial Expansion of West Bend Dairy Farm
MEA initiated legal action after the DNR issued a permit for the expansion of a large dairy farm located in the Town of Trenton in Washington County. DNR approval ignores the farm’s past environmental violations and endangers local groundwater, trout streams and wetlands.