PEPIN TOWNSHIP – Over 100 people showed up to the Pepin Town Board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 16 in support of the town studying the operations ordinances that have been passed in multiple Wisconsin towns.

The meeting came after the town board disbanded a study committee under pressure from factory farm lobbyists in July, but residents urged the town to reconsider their decision. The study committee had been tasked with studying the operations ordinance passed in the Town of Maiden Rock last year that set up safeguards for factory farms operating in the town.

At the town board meeting attended by more than 100 people, local residents made it clear that factory farms pose risks to water, property values, roads, and public health. Multiple town residents advocated for the town to take a serious look at studying an ordinance.

Marcie Forsberg, who chaired the study committee that was disbanded in the summer, co-led the presentation on the ordinance and asked that the town board reinstate the study committee. She said, “The majority of [Pepin residents] stated in a 2013 town comprehensive plan survey that they want limits on CAFOs and to preserve local property values, preserve natural resources, and protect groundwater quality. We are here because we live here, raise families here, pay property taxes, and care deeply about our communities. We hope to leave our properties for the next generation.”

Local concerns about factory farms have grown significantly across western Wisconsin since the Ridge Breeze dairy in the Town of Salem announced plans for a massive expansion, from 1,700 to 6,500 cows. Ridge Breeze currently spreads manure in Pepin County.

“It seems to me the idea of the ordinance is to give us a tool to help preserve the quality of life we already have,” said one town resident. “It seems to be consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan to promote small family farms and the quality of our environment, especially our groundwater.”

At the Tuesday meeting, Polk County farmer Lisa Doerr joined Pepin residents to give a presentation on the dangers of unchecked factory farms across other Wisconsin communities. She shared that the insufficient regulations statewide have failed to protect public health, the environment and local farming economies. 

Since 2019, Doerr has been a leader in growing local efforts to put town and county ordinances in place. These ordinances seek to hold factory farms accountable for the costs they may place on local residents and government. In the Town of Pepin, 74% of land is highly susceptible to groundwater contamination according to DNR data.

Multiple other towns across western Wisconsin are looking at enacting local ordinances for factory farms. On Monday, Sept. 15, the Town of Isabelle adopted an operations ordinance, joining the Town of Maiden Rock in giving local residents the tools they need to safeguard their communities.

The Pepin meeting ended without a clear answer on whether the study committee will be reformed by the town board to continue exploring an operations ordinance. The board will meet next at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21.

Submitted by GROWW