Posted on 09/28/2011 11:14:23 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MAGNOLIA, WI — John Adams can’t see the nearly 3,000 cows on the dairy farm two miles from his Wisconsin home, but when the wind blows he can smell them.
The stench gives him and his wife headaches. They blame the big farm for contaminating their air and polluting the groundwater well they use for drinking, bathing and watering their garden. They no longer feel safe eating the vegetables they grow.
Adams also blames the state, which requires local governments to grant permits to large farms that meet certain limited criteria, even if there are additional environmental concerns. The rural farming town where he lives tried to impose stricter rules, only to be overruled by the state agriculture department.
Adams and seven neighbors, along with the town of Magnolia, sued the state and the farm in the first case of its kind to reach a state supreme court and the result could set a precedent throughout the Midwest. Similar cases have been filed in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Oklahoma, and two juries in Missouri have already handed out multimillion-dollar awards to homeowners who complained of intolerable odors from so-called factory farms.
At the same time, several states have passed or are considering laws that would make it easier for big farms to get permits. Lawmakers say the move creates uniformity, allowing farms to expand under predictable circumstances, and strengthens one of the few industries that didn’t tank in the recession.
Critics argue the laws deprive residents of a voice.
“A township should have the right to establish guidelines to keep its people safe, but it doesn’t,” said Adams, 61. “Those of us who are being affected, it’s like there’s nothing we can do.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
But considering the source (Washington ComPost) I think I'd like to see a more reliable source.
Even the National Enquirer would be better.
And the farmer wouldn't have even been able to expand unless that land was zoned for agricultural use. So it was "farmland" already, before Mr. Adams moved in.
i grew up on a dairy farm.
we were in the middle of nowhere. then the city expanded and gradually over the decades city folk moved out by us and other dairy farms.
they cried foul! it interfered with their bicycle riding they said. blah, blah, blah.
the smell doesn’t bother us.
and then they passed laws outlawing cattle farms from 2/3 of the state.
Yes, there is something wrong with it. When the “locals” decide that their interest in your property should be protected by the government to the detriment of your interest, they have taken your property without compensation.
Lilly had their own horse farm to collect the urine, if I recall correctly, for the premarin (PREgnant MARe urINe).
Exactly what I was thinking.
Went back and read the entire article.
We are both partially right.
Trouble is there is no documented “pollution of THEIR streams as you claim. The only reference is to: “Byron Shaw, a retired University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point professor who specializes in soil and water, said the problem with such enormous farms is that they generate more manure in a small area than can be spread on the fields around them. The excess can end up washing into creeks and other water sources, he said.”
No where is there anything saying THIS farm polluted THEIR streams. You reread the article. The UW Prof says it theoritical, not actual.
The farmer objects to the city exceeding their municiple authority wanting to inspect his facility. If they say its polluting the streams, they can surely test the streams and prove it, The city did not.
The statement about the manure is hardly theoretical ~ I am sure it can be demonstrated to the nth degree!
If they found a single sample of water downstream of that particular operation that had the slightest elevation (which they did) it's time to shut 'er down.
I find it interesting that the Larson guy imagines he can get away with this with no repercussions. There's some other guy named Anderson just 150 Miles SE of there who's looking for a place for a Hog Factory ~ he'll be knocking.
BTW, it took the state of Illinois several decades to shut down an improperly run Hog Factory along I 57. You could actually FEEL the air and there was no way to filter it out of your car!
I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley perhaps 2 or 3 miles from a dairy farm. Best I know the cows were there before our neighborhoods were.
“Is there someone else we can talk to?”
i had rather smell cow poo than perfume.
Doesn't matter. You're disregarding the fact this is Wisconsin. Mr. Larson has Sven & Ole on his side. Case closed.
“Who was there first—Mr. Adams or the 3,000 cows?”
Not that you don’t make an excellent point (ie. He knew the cows were there, etc.), but I don;t think even that matters. I realize that we are now all living in a feudal system where we have to have permission to do anything on our own land, but at one time property rights meant something.
Yes, there is something wrong with it. When the “locals” decide that their interest in your property should be protected by the government to the detriment of your interest, they have taken your property without compensation.
The locals are not talking about protecting the interest in “your” property. they are only trying to protect the interest in their own property, and with an industrial operation like a 3,000 cow dairy, their health interest too. I think you may be arguing against the very concept of zoning here. And I would rather have the zoning decisions made by the local community, not at the state or federal level.
What we are talking about here is a TOWNSHIP with a government. It's a rare arrangement in the Midwest where most Counties have taken over the management of everything but the Township Trustee's operation of the public graveyards. (Typically in urban counties you'll find township governments consisting mostly of school districts).
So, there it is ~ a township with a form of elected government, and the state of Wisconsin has given it some authority.
The farmers live there, the hired hands live there, the retired farmers live there, the retired hired hands live there, this soil DOES NOT PERK WELL! Effluent must be contained properly, and that doesn't mean leaving it standing in a pond.
No one has an urban environment and I'd bet just about everyone involved directly in the dispute has a septic tank or two ~ none of which work all that well.
What that means is everyone is vitally concerned with water quality ~ except maybe the rich guys.
The man had a farm that didn't differ much from the others, then he expanded his herd.
“The farmer objects...”
Not farmer. Owner of industrial animal facility.
OK, let’s assume that this community has adopted a zoning code; where, other than an area zoned for agriculture, should a dairy farm be located?
“The locals are not talking about protecting the interest in “your” property. they are only trying to protect the interest in their own property, and with an industrial operation like a 3,000 cow dairy, their health interest too.”
This is the same liberalism behind determining what lightbulbs you can use, and how much carbon to offset. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks in any event, because the issue of property rights is only ever resolved one way, and it’s not in the courts. The courts are merely an instrument utilized during the slide from personal freedom to no freedom. After that comes the freedom again. See the Declaration of Independence for further details.
But none of that really matters ~ the guy was stretching his welcome with 1700 cows, and now he's got 3,000 and is shooting for 4,000!
The Poles and Germans up there will eventually get POd at these blockheads and they'll find out why Minnesota was created ~ just for them!
Oh, yeah? Let us then take samples of the air and water from these too complainers and see just exactly is contaminated about them. Until then this is just so much hot air from liberal whiners.
In an area zoned industrial, because a 3,000 cow facility is not a dairy farm, it is an industrial plant.
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