ELMWOOD - With 140 people in attendance and more than 300 people signed up to join virtually, dozens of testimonies were given, largely in opposition of the expansion of Ridge Breeze Dairy on July 11 at the Elmwood Auditorium. 

Ridge Breeze Dairy is a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) located at W2686 390th Ave. in Salem Township in Pierce County. Breeze Dairy Group operates the site, with the management located in Appleton, Wis., according to their website.  

Jeff Jackson of the Department of Natural Resources said the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (WPDES) is a program that issues multiple types of permits including wastewater, stormwater and, in this case, the CAFO permit for environmental protection. 

Jackson said the farm is currently around 2,431 animal units (1,700 cows), seeking to amend their WPDES permit to allow for the increase to 9,010 animal units (6,200 cows) by 2025. Waste generation would increase from around 24 million gallons of liquid manure per year to about 78 million gallons. 

Included in the plan are significant changes to the site, including increases to waste storage that would give the farm 244 days of waste storage, which is above the 180-day requirement. 

GrassRoots Organizing Western Wisconsin, a group that is meant to bring people together on issues that impact families, homes and communities, helped set up a public hearing to show their strong opposition to the proposal. 

“One group of residents around Salem, People Protecting Pierce, has been working with GrassRoots Organizing Western Wisconsin (GROWW) since April 2023 to stop the proposed expansion until community concerns are addressed,” a news release states. 

A primary concern among people against the expansion is the lack of acreage in comparison to the amount of liquid waste. Ridge Breeze must have a certain number of acres secured on which to spread liquid manure produced by its herd. Danny Akenson of GROWW said the proposed acres are misleading due to multiple factors. 

Akenson said Ridge Breeze submitted a list of property owners to the DNR listed in their Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) which was approved May 24, but some of those property owners never agreed to allow their land to be spread on with Ridge Breeze, totaling about 299 acres. Akenson said when reaching out to the landowners, some of them did not even know what Ridge Breeze was. 

Akenson also cited land that is used in the NMP of another CAFO, removing 136.8 acres, and 89.7 included that will be taken up by the site plan from the expansion. 

Akenson said 1,000+ acres do not meet the regulations of soil testing, leaving Ridge Breeze with far fewer spreadable acres than the 7,363 outlined in the proposal. 

“In the conditional approval, the DNR correctly points out that Ridge Breeze has significantly less land than typically seen, and that their acre to animal unit ratio is less than 1:1,” Akenson said. “That’s going to be 0.61 acres per animal unit. Much less than 1 or even 1.5 acres per animal unit, which is where I believe they should be.” 

Joe Walter, an Ellsworth resident, said his name was put on a previous list as land Ridge Breeze Dairy could spread manure on without his permission. Walter also said they have spread manure into a corner of his property in the past while spreading on an adjacent property. 

“We border along a farmer that gave permission to have this manure spread. We did not give any permission for them to use our name, or our property or anything, and found out that they listed us as one of the people they can spread on,” Walter said. “While they were spreading this last fall on the neighbors, we showed up and they had ran their hoses through the corner of our property.” 

Walter said they spread the manure too thick, and it was running through their land and into a nearby creek. 

“They have no business to expand because they’re cheating and stealing,” Walter said. “I feel that if they’re doing that on a small scale of 1,700, what are they going to do when they move to the 6,200.” 

Samantha Bowen, a sixth-generation farmer located across the road from Ridge Breeze Dairy, told a story of her family being ill for a long period of time, and they could not figure out the issue. Bowen told the family to continue drinking water to attempt to heal, but it was only making things worse. 

The story served as an example for what damage overspreading can cause, as the family suffered from nitrate poisoning. 

Quality of water as both drinking water and recreational water in rivers and lakes were at the top of mind for many who testified. The operation is located close to both the Rush River and Plum Creek watersheds and Nugget Lake. 

One person spoke online in support of Ridge Breeze Dairy. Tim Baumgartner of the Dairy Business Association in Green Bay said the business has a positive track record and has shown it will operate ethically and responsibly. 

“The owners of Ridge Breeze Dairy have a long and successful record of operating CAFOs in Wisconsin,” Baumgartner said. 

Kim Dupre, who used to live in Emerald Township, Wis., said they heard all the same assurances that Elmwood did in regard to water quality, but they fell short. Dupre said Pine Breeze Dairy, a site across the state with the same ownership, had nine spills in the last 11 years, totaling 200,000 gallons. 

Baumgartner said they have shown they can work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to meet requirements for the permit. 

A theme of the day was multi-generation farmers saying they support farming but view this operation as something else besides a farm. 

“You look around here, all these silos that we can see… every one of those used to supply a small dairy,” Tom Manley of Gilman Township said. “The biggest threat to your farm, and the thing that’s going to prevent the milk truck from showing up in your driveway, is the moment Ridge Breeze expands to that level. 

“This is a factory, this is not a farm,” Manley said. 

Some residents questioned why the owners did not attend the meeting, facing the public to address some of their concerns. Larry Brenner, who owns Vino in the Valley, said they faced public criticism when they were getting started, but they faced the public and answered the questions they had. Brenner said he was able to calm their fears, but Ridge Breeze has failed to do that. 

Bruce Thomas, a resident of Maiden Rock, said the town board of supervisors approved the reading of a paragraph to be read to the DNR to show their disapproval. The paragraph urged the DNR to pause the progress of the permit until more evaluation is done on its impact on roads, public health, air quality, well water, property values and more. 

“The Maiden Rock Township Board of Supervisors does not have confidence that the welfare of our community is protected,” the paragraph read. 

Manley said he, along with some other members of the community, feel their efforts will come up short, as a decision on the permit may have already been made by the DNR. 

Manley said there is already construction going on at Ridge Breeze Dairy, so they appear confident that the permit will get approved. 

Akenson said a decision has not already been made and the efforts of the public were “incredibly powerful.” Akenson also mentioned he had a conversation with Jackson, who allegedly said it was the largest public hearing they have ever held. 

“I heard the question of ‘Is this a done deal?’ and the answer is no,” Akenson said. “There are instances of DNR hearing public comment and putting special provisions in place on a permit that have then led to permits being denied.”