Growing and raising food for a living is no easy feat – farms of all types and sizes face similar challenges. Being at the mercy of so many factors out of our control such as weather, world markets, equipment breakdowns, aging bodies, and increasing regulations make this a profession that’s not suitable for everyone. Farmers today are outnumbered 99:1 in our population. We battle every day to become more environmentally and economically sustainable, year after year.

Agriculture, especially livestock agriculture, is a highly regulated industry. Yet so few people have any knowledge of this, and they lack exposure to the realities of modern-day farming practices while romanticizing about what they believe all agriculture should look like from the road. Groups like GROWW in western Wisconsin feed on peoples’ fear and misunderstanding about agriculture to grow membership and fundraise. They mislead communities into believing that farmers don’t care enough about a host of environmental issues, so we “must regulate farms more to protect ourselves.” Though regulations can be helpful in keeping food on our tables in a safe and sustainable manner, many often have an opposite effect of what organizations like GROWW try to promote... economic impacts from regulations force farmers to make decisions to remain profitable, often leading to bigger farms. These “livestock operational ordinances” being pushed by GROWW do not help our local communities or farmers.

As a fifth-generation dairy farmer, I serve on the Pepin County Board and volunteer my experience and abilities where needed in our community. I was the lone farmer on the CAFO subcommittee that was organized this past spring in Pepin Township. I am here to tell you that what Danny Akenson of GROWW wrote in the Aug. 6 Pierce County Journal is simply not accurate. He wasn’t even at our Pepin Township meeting that night, but there were about a dozen local farmers in attendance to ask for more farmer representation on the committee. As a member of the CAFO subcommittee in our May, June, and July meetings, my ideas were dismissed by the other members of that committee. The other members had a clear bias of what the outcome should be before we even started and used it to avoid hearing the viewpoint of someone like me. In fact, the only reason why Pepin Township agreed to start a subcommittee is because a farmer (like myself) would serve on the committee to advise and offer input and common-sense workable solutions as needed. 

When the farmers in attendance at the July town board meeting asked for equal representation on the subcommittee, the CAFO committee representative resisted, saying there was “lots of reading and research to do,” implying farmers couldn’t do it? I can assure you that agriculture is filled with reading and research and our farmers are more than qualified to be able add to the discussion and help determine sustainable farming practices in our township and county.  

Kim Bremmer of Venture Dairy Cooperative, a third-party milk testing verification cooperative for dairy farmers, did not “bully” anyone at that meeting as the false narrative from Mr. Akenson and GROWW stated. She simply shared the facts and answered questions from the Pepin Township Board. Apparently providing any information GROWW doesn’t agree with immediately gets you inaccurately labeled or dismissed.

When the township board members told the CAFO subcommittee representative that her job was to bring them facts to determine if an ordinance was useful in Pepin Township, she insisted that they “needed to write an ordinance to get to the facts” and handed the board a copy of an example ordinance. The board reminded the representative that the committee was to do research and not write an ordinance. This led to a motion to disband the CAFO subcommittee.

After a second and counsel from the township lawyer, the five board members voted unanimously to disband the committee. 

As a member of the committee, I can assure you that GROWW and my fellow committee members were eagerly pushing GROWW’s agenda with a swift urgency to write an ordinance.

At the final committee meeting in July members were eagerly awaiting a draft ordinance to push through the Board. For anyone actually at that meeting, we all saw the real “bullying” was coming from the leadership of the CAFO subcommittee, as coerced by GROWW. It was clear to us in attendance that there is an anti-animal ag agenda in play, disguised as just a big farm issue and environmental concerns. Townships and their residents are being used to advance this narrative of GROWW. 

The Pepin Township Board is a fine example of our elected leaders listening to facts and making informed decisions to protect our local resources by working WITH our residents, including our farmers, which is vital to our future and all of us in Pepin County. 

Angie Bocksell is a Pepin County Board Member, Pepin Township resident and fifth generation dairy farmer, raising the next generation.