Letter to the editor: CAFO – Family farm or factory farm?

Posted 5/4/23

The following information was submitted to the letter to the editor information form on www.piercecountyjournal.news:

first name: Doug and Nancy

last name: Weiss

address:

city: River …

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Letter to the editor: CAFO – Family farm or factory farm?

Posted

To the editor,

A concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, is a large-scale (more than 1,000 animal units —the equivalent of 700 dairy cows) milk-production operation in which animals are raised in confinement. Wisconsin has seen significant growth in the number of CAFO's at the expense of our family farms which continue to decrease significantly. And they continue to grow in size. There are currently plans being evaluated which would increase the size of a CAFO in eastern Pierce County to approximately 5,000 dairy cows - making it one of the largest (if not the largest) ever in the county.

While CAFO's produce huge quantities of milk, they can have significant negative impacts in their communities. There could be negative impacts on Pierce County roads, land, water, and air quality. An expansion could also impact land valuations, our multi-generational family farms, our families, and the rural Americana life enjoyed by Pierce County residents.

We own a small family farm near this planned CAFO expansion which has been in our family for over 75 years. We are deeply concerned about the potential expansion being considered, not simply for us, but for all of the residents across Pierce County. We certainly do not want to become another Kewaunee County with its water contamination issues. County ordinances need to be significantly enhanced to protect the human rights of our citizens while permitting factory

farms like CAFO's to succeed in their businesses.

Call your County Supervisor to express your opinion on this situation; do it now. They have the power to make a positive difference for our citizens. We encourage you also to sign our petition which calls for a moratorium on CAFO expansions while our county government studies the

situation in order to then implement effective ordinances.

Doug & Nancy Weiss

River Falls

CAFOs, factory farms, letters, opinion