PIERCE COUNTY — Two dozen bankers and lawyers could receive more than a quarter-million dollars in fees from a proposed $18 million publicly-financed loan for Ridge Breeze's mega-dairy expansion. If Ridge Breeze gets their way, these fees will go to outsiders from Alabama, Missouri, Minnesota and Milwaukee. 

Appleton-based Ridge Breeze has pursued a bond sale to finance part of the $35 million dairy expansion in the Town of Salem since September 2024. Mega-dairy developers like Ridge Breeze use public financing to sell tax-exempt bonds to wealthy investors who then give them low-interest loans. These low interest rates give mega-dairies further financial advantages over small and medium-sized farms.

"Public financing is supposed to be used for projects that have a positive local economic impact," said Danny Akenson, Field Organizer for Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin (GROWW). "With this deal, our communities get all the negatives. Our roads, our water, and our air would all be at risk, while Ridge Breeze and their wealthy investors extract the profits, fees and tax-free income." 

Local residents and town officials are resisting the loan and the dairy's plan to quadruple in size and spread 80 million gallons of waste from up to 6,500 cows in Pierce, St. Croix and Pepin counties. More than 10,000 loads of waste will be trucked over country roads. A March 2025 request for public information from PFA revealed that more than quarter-million dollars of the public financing would go towards bankers and legal fees.

Alabama financier Jason Grubbs, from Frazer Lanier Company, expects to underwrite the $18 million bond deal. Missouri-based Michael Chandler from BOK Financial hopes to serve as trustee. 

Missouri and Milwaukee lawyers from the well-heeled Husch Blackwell firm are also in on the deal. That includes Lynda R. Templen, who executed a similar 2023 loan for the Coleman Ponderosa mega-dairy in Marinette County, Wis. Madison-based attorney Hamang Patel, from Michael Best & Friedrich, is serving as Ridge Breeze's private lawyer. 

Minnesota-based Abi McGibbon from Agri-Bank and Steve Schwoerer from Compeer Financial in Fond du Lac, Wis. expect to act as Letter of Credit provider and counsel.
Ridge Breeze’s application lays out the project’s $35 million budget which is funded by the $18 million bond deal and an additional $17 million in bank loans. Without a public hearing, documents obtained from Pierce County show Pierce County Chair Jon Aubart recommended that the Public Finance Authority (PFA) do a $12 million bond sale for Ridge Breeze in September and then increased his recommendation in January to $18 million. However, the status of Ridge Breeze’s deal is up in the air after the Town of Salem canceled a March 12 public hearing, postponing any decision.
GROWW is a grassroots organization based in Western Wisconsin. We build power in our communities and create the change we need for all of us, no matter the color of our skin, how much money we have, or who we love. Together, we work toward a future where we all make ends meet, live with dignity, and have a voice in shaping the decisions that impact us. We began our work in 2019 as Pierce County GrassRoots Organizing, and grew out of the name as we began to organize with communities in seven Western Wisconsin counties: Barron, Buffalo, Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix. To get connected or learn more about GROWW, visit us at GRO-WW.org, on Instagram at @GrowWisconsin, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/GROWWisconsin

Submitted by GROWW