A lawsuit filed by industrial agriculture advocates that sought to eliminate environmental protections in Wisconsin state law has been defeated in court. A Calumet County judge ruled on January 30 in favor of state statutes that empower the Department of Natural Resources to require pollution permits for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

The suit was opposed by groups working to protect Wisconsin’s water, including the Wisconsin Farmers Union, Midwest Environmental Advocates, and Clean Wisconsin.

“This ruling not only upholds critical clean water protections, but also reinforces the imperative of responsible practices in agriculture,” said Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darin Von Ruden. “The current rules create transparency and ensure that CAFOs are accountable, not only to regulators, but also to their neighbors, who have a right to know that CAFOs are operating responsibly.”

CAFOs have become a big issue in Wisconsin over the past two decades. The number of such facilities, which have more than 1,000 animal units, has more than doubled since 2005, going from 135 to 330 today. The suit was filed last year by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, representing the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance and Venture Dairy Cooperative.

Requiring permits under the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) is a key part of how Wisconsin regulates CAFOs. The permit requires a Nutrient Management Plan, which explains where and when manure will be spread on farm fields as fertilizer.

“These large operations can produce as much waste as a small city, and the state must be able to monitor and control how, where, and in what quantities manure is stored and spread on the landscape,” said Clean Wisconsin attorney Evan Feinauer. “That’s why for nearly 40 years, the DNR has required large CAFOs to have permits to limit this dangerous pollution. Allowing large dairies to sidestep oversight would have been catastrophic for water protection in our state.”

There are currently few CAFOs in the St. Croix River region. A large dairy operation near the Willow River has had numerous pollution problems over the past several years, including violations of its WPDES permit. A hog CAFO proposed near the Trade River has raised significant opposition since it was first announced in 2019. At this time, the proposal is under review for its WPDES permit.

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