The Journal has been covering the efforts of People Protecting Pierce, a group of concerned residents and family farmers who want Pierce County to pass a temporary livestock expansion moratorium to give the county time to analyze the impacts industrial farms have on health, water quality and quantity, property values, infrastructure and way of life.

The Journal has also been covering the Pierce County Land Conservation Department’s efforts to update its waste storage ordinance, which deals with manure storage and its application to land.

To cover both sides fairly, The Journal asked Pierce County’s four CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) farmers to answer questions about their farms.

Fetzer Farms, Inc. is located at N4365 County Road CC, Elmwood. Brandvale Dairy can be found at W5895 US Highway 63, Ellsworth. Jil-Ro-Sie Holsteins is located at W7867 County Road K, Ellsworth. Lastly, Ridge Breeze Dairy (formerly Son Bow Farms) is at W2686 390^th Ave., Maiden Rock.

Tell us a little about your farm and family.

Paul Fetzer: Our farm is Fetzer Farms Inc. in Elmwood. It’s been in our family for 109 years. I run the farm with my brothers Steve and Joe, and Brent and Alicia, the fifth generation coming into the farm. We milk 1,400 cows here and have 28 great employees. I’m proud to run a business that supports so many local businesses and local families. Everything in our barns is focused on the best possible cow comfort, so our cows live inside power ventilated freestall barns to keep them comfortable year-round.

Steve Brand: My farm is Brandvale Dairy in Ellsworth Township. I grew up on a dairy farm in Rosemount, Minn. I bought this farm in 1988. But a week before my cows were set to move here, there was an electrical fire that burned the barn down. It was challenging moving and immediately finding builders and contractors. But thankfully, we met so many great people. The farm has grown over time, and we now milk 1,400 cows and have 23 full-time employees. I’m proud that many of them have worked here for over 15 years. My son, Austin, is an agronomy student at Iowa State, and it’s been fun working with him this summer in a professional capacity as the agronomy summer intern at Ag Partners.

Bob Siewert: My farm is Jil-Ro-Sie Holsteins in Trimbelle Township. I’ve been in the dairy business since 1975. We moved here in 1996 with 85 cows. Today, we milk 1,600 cows and house them in a climate controlled cross ventilated freestall barn. The cows are bedded with sand for the best cow comfort. I’m the sole proprietor and the farm has 22 full-time employees and three part-time employees. I’m so proud of our employees who are like family – without them, this farm wouldn’t exist.

Gregg Wolf: Our farm is Ridge Breeze Dairy in Maiden Rock. The Breeze Dairy Group purchased the dairy farm in the summer of 2022. I am the CEO of the Breeze Dairy Group and work closely with Kevin Fesenmaier, the Ridge Breeze Operations Manager who is a local, lifelong resident of Spring Valley and Gilberto Nunez, our Herd Manager who has been a Pierce County resident for over 25 years. They handle the day-to-day management of Ridge Breeze Dairy. We have 15 employees on the farm. Ridge Breeze Dairy just milks cows. Cattle are loose housed in sand bedded freestalls and are cared for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We work with local farmers who grow corn and alfalfa to sell to the dairy for feed. We hire many local services for the dairy including veterinarians, plumbers, and electricians. All the harvesting and manure hauling is provided by custom contractors. Also, Ridge Breeze Dairy sells back organic fertilizer to local farmers in the form of manure to be applied to their fields as a sustainable, renewable, and economical source of fertilizer to feed their crops. If farmers didn’t have access to these nutrients, they would rely on petroleum-based synthetic fertilizers that are produced and trucked in from hundreds of miles away.

What conservation practices do you employ on your farm today and how has this changed over time?

Fetzer: We work a lot with the Pierce County Land Conservation Department. We put in grassy waterways where they are needed. We plant cover crops, which is something that has changed over time. We have continued to learn how to better use them to improve our soil health. We practice minimum tillage, and we incorporate all our manure into the soil, which is the best thing for the soil and for preventing the runoff of any manure. We also plant alfalfa which is a great crop to have in a crop rotation to help soil health and minimize erosion. Having dairy cows in Pierce County is key to keeping alfalfa acres growing here. We also follow a strict 590 Nutrient Management Plan. CAFOs are the only farms really required to have one and have it audited yearly. It involves yearly soil sampling and a lot of record keeping and reporting. But to us, it’s a good management practice and just part of doing business.

Brand: Everything we do in terms of conservation is about continually improving soil health and protecting water. Water is the most important nutrient to us as dairy farmers. Our cows drink a lot of water as milk is about 87% water. But we drink the water too – we have a vested interest in water quality. We plant cover crops, particularly rye on corn silage ground. We have more required strict conservation practices as a CAFO through a Nutrient Management Plan. We have a lot of acres on our farm that we tiled to help improve drainage. We have some no-till acres, and we practice minimum tillage. We also incorporate all our manure into the soil, working it into the ground, which falls under best management practices. We take soil samples every year in 4-acre sections across the farm and have alfalfa in our cropping rotation. In the past, we used to do a lot more tillage. Now we focus on keeping the plant residue on top of the soil and using a lot less tillage. I remember as a kid going over fields at least three times to work up the soil...now it’s only once.

Siewert: We have a lot of acres where we do minimum tillage and some no-till. We install waterway stands where they are needed, which seems like something we end up doing every year. We plant cover crops on the land that we grow corn silage on, and we also plant a lot of alfalfa in our crop rotation. We recently purchased a minimum-till tool bar to inject manure so that we can get a better cover crop established in the fall. I think the thing that’s changed the most over time is how we use a Nutrient Management Plan to help us apply the right amount of nutrients, from the right source, at the right time and the right place. Precision agriculture has really changed how we handle manure and fertilizer compared to how we did things years ago.

Wolf: We follow a Nutrient Management Plan that dictates where and how much nutrients can be applied based on the needs of the crop that is going to be grown. This is to ensure that the over application of nutrients does not occur and only a specific amount that is needed is applied.  Only 10% of Pierce County farmland follows a nutrient management plan currently. We are happy to help grow the amount of acres participating to ensure proper nutrient applications now and into the future in Pierce County, which helps protect ground water and the environment.  Ridge Breeze Dairy is also offering area crop farmers a market for alfalfa, which reduces the need for nitrogen applications and helps hold topsoil on fields.

What made you decide to expand and become a CAFO?

Fetzer: We grew our farm over time to be able to continue to provide for our families. It was a business decision that worked best for us.

Brand: My first expansion was in 2001. I toured a dairy with a parlor and saw how efficient it was and how comfortable the cows looked. Ask anyone who remembers growing up with a tie stall or stanchion barn: stall barn milking was challenging. I could feel it in my knees. These new barns are also so much healthier for the cows, and our veterinarian bills per cow even went down once we expanded. The size of our farm also allows us the ability to try new technologies; for example, our latest addition has been a new software program to help manage the feeding program for our cows.

Siewert: It really was the economics of capturing efficiencies for me, and I could afford to try new technologies if I grew the farm. For example, we now use the CowManager ear sensors which help monitor cow health and reproductive activities of cows on an individual basis. The advancements in technology and innovation in agriculture are amazing, but they also cost a lot of money.

Wolf: The dairy was already a CAFO when we purchased it. The reason the Breeze Dairy Group was formed was that five likeminded individuals joined resources in 2002 to dairy together by building the first of now four dairy farms that the group owns and operates. By joining financial and intellectual resources, it created the opportunity for a farming operation that is sustainable for future generations, as now the second generation of family members own and manage the dairy farms today.

What are your goals for your farm in the next 5-10 years?

Fetzer: We are going to continue to seek and utilize the latest technology in how we care for the land, protect the water and care for our cattle.

Brand: As a farmer and business owner (just like most businesses,) there are always challenges with markets, labor, and Mother Nature. I plan to continue to run a viable and successful business, while continuing to incorporate new technologies.

Siewert: I plan to keep focusing on efficiencies in everyday processes on the farm. I also plan to update things on the farm to continually improve cow comfort based on the latest research. I’d like to update the milking parlor, expand the dry cow and special needs area. It would also be nice to bring all of our heifers home in the future, since it costs so much to have them custom raised. There is always a delicate balance of improving your farm and being profitable. Profitability is important to being a sustainable business. None of us can farm if we don’t do a good job of taking care of our cows and our land while also paying our bills.

Wolf: Our main goals are to continue to be a preferred place of employment by offering competitive wages and employee benefits. We also plan to continue to adopt new technologies to take even better care of our dairy herd. We will continue to support the local community that the dairy farm operates in. And we plan to offer area farmers another competitive market for their crops while also supplying them with a sustainable, economical, renewable source of organic fertilizer.

How do you support the community?

Fetzer: All members in our family are involved in the community in some way. We sing in church, serve as officers for the local American Legion Post, run the American Legion Plum City Summerfest, volunteer in the Lions, serve on the County Board and County Zoning Committee, on the local co-op board and on the Dairy Business Association Board of Directors. We donate to the food pantry, the library, the Garden Club and the Education Foundation. Whatever is asked of us, we are always ready to support and help where we are needed.

Brand: My farm supports a lot of local businesses. And as an employer, my farm supports 23 families that live in town. Our family volunteers and donates through our involvement in 4-H, FFA, and Pierce County Dairy Promotions Committee – all of which support local charities. We have participated in studies with UW-River Falls and participate in Dairy Challenge to provide college students a capstone experience. And most people don’t think of it like this, but when we rent land from non-farm landowners or buy hay from local crop farmers, we provide them with a reliable source of income. And in some cases, this is someone’s retirement plan as fewer and fewer people want to farm.

Siewert: We buy locally, which is so important for our local communities. If a day on the farm isn’t exactly going my way, I feel like I am single-handedly keeping the hardware store open. We donate money and time to organizations such as FFA, the fire department, and churches and to events like the local tractor pull. We donate ice cream and milk for June Dairy Month to the local restaurants. We also have over 30 local landlords who are great to work with and rely on our rental income for retirement.

Wolf: We are very happy to sponsor and support local events. This year, Ridge Breeze has sponsored a local baseball little league team, Plum City Summerfest, Ellsworth Cheese Curd Fest, etc. We look forward to offering tours of Ridge Breeze Dairy along with educational opportunities to local schools in the future.

What do you think of the proposed CAFO moratorium in Pierce County?

Fetzer: Knowing the history of moratoriums in the state, I think it’s a waste of time and energy for our county employees. CAFO rules and regulations are clearly written at the state level.

Brand: I just don’t understand what they are going to study or look at? I think there’s a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about CAFOs and what we do and why we do it.

Siewert: I really don’t believe what they are trying to do is legal. I think the State Livestock Siting Law overrides whatever this is trying to accomplish.

Wolf: Even with Pierce County and the State of Wisconsin having a long history of dairy farming, it is concerning to see the current political pressures from small vocal groups that dairy farms are seeing around the state. We are hearing that we are not allowed to modernize, implement new technologies, nor being allowed to be more sustainable and viable for the future. We really don’t see this in any other segments in agriculture other than livestock, or other industries in general. A Pierce County moratorium affects the investment, future, and viability of every livestock producer in Pierce County, not just CAFO’s. With these types of actions in Wisconsin, we are unfortunately only going to see an accelerated reduction of dairy farms if dairy farms are not allowed to reinvest and modernize. Also, these types of actions will significantly reduce the interest of younger people across the state from even considering entering the field of dairy farming. This could jeopardize Wisconsin’s long tradition of dairy farming and the many businesses that are tied to it.

Do you have any suggestions for protecting water and soil quality in Pierce County?

Fetzer: I think we need a more comprehensive approach – we need everyone to continue to do their best with land conservation, including all dairies and crop farmers. For example, we need more people planting cover crops.

Brand: I think it would be helpful if everyone had an audited Nutrient Management Plan. We have 90% of cropland in our county that isn’t covered under a Nutrient Management Plan. This is a powerful tool for all farmers to use, not just the four of us that are required to have one that gets audited every year.

Siewert: I think it would be helpful if the county and farmers implemented more buffer zones and waterways, as well as if more farms, including crop farms, followed CAFO rules. That’s a hard conversation to have, but things like everyone (not just CAFOs), should really have to follow a Nutrient Management Plan, and the spreading of manure in the winter probably isn’t the best thing to do.

Wolf: Protection of the environment and water quality is very important to Ridge Breeze Dairy and the Breeze Dairy Group. As Pierce County has seen dairy operations leave the county during the past couple of decades, Pierce County has also seen an elevation of nitrates in wells. We feel we can offer potential help to this situation by significantly increasing the acres participating in nutrient management planning, while working with area crop farmers. Ridge Breeze Dairy also believes by providing local farmers with a market for alfalfa, this will reduce the number of tons of petroleum-based nitrogen fertilizer that will be applied to Pierce County farmland every year, while helping hold the soil in place at the same time. Also, by harvesting corn earlier as silage, area crop farmers have more opportunity to use cover crops in their operations. Large dairy farms have the stigma of being nonenvironmental, but nothing could be further from the truth. Cows are one of the best recyclers known to man. Cattle consume and utilize many different by-products that otherwise would end up in landfills. Cattle also produce fertilizer that is organic, locally produced, and sustainable for area cropland.

Why do you farm?

Fetzer: I made my way back to the farm after serving in the Air Force and having a few other jobs. But whenever I was working, I was always farming on the side, so it seemed like the obvious thing to do. I like the variety of the everyday work, and I take a lot of pride in being a dairy farmer and knowing that I’m producing one of the healthiest foods there is.

Brand: I guess I just grew up in farming, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. I like doing it. I like the challenge of dairy farming and I like working for myself.

Siewert: I grew up with it. I enjoy the challenge, even though it’s sometimes overwhelming. I get satisfaction that I produce a wholesome product that the American people get to enjoy.

Wolf: Many of the owners of Breeze Dairy Group, along with myself, are multigenerational Wisconsin dairy farmers. We all have the desire and drive to continue the Wisconsin dairy farming tradition. We all share a love of dairy farming and a commitment to our employees, dairy cattle, and community. This is both for today and for future generations if they so choose. Many years ago, the individuals that make up the Breeze Dairy Group saw the consolidation in dairy farming that had been occurring in Wisconsin and other states and made the decision to be viable for the future. It was decided it would be best to work together than apart. Now that the tradition and values have been passed to the next generation, we want to make sure it doesn’t stop with them. So, it is because of our love and commitment of dairy farming that we farm today.

What do you wish more people knew about your farm?

Fetzer: There’s so much misinformation about us. I wish people knew all the regulations that we are governed by and all the reports that we are required to complete and submit. We really aren’t different from farmers over 40 years ago; we want to be able to pass the farm and farmland onto the next generation in better shape than when we started. I am always open to talking about our farm or giving a tour.

Brand: I wish people understood how regulated we are and how much extra money and time it takes to follow all the rules required to be a CAFO. Beyond the detailed Nutrient Management Plan, there’s the daily DNR calendar, water reporting, the manure spreading log that includes reporting on weather, soil conditions, method of applications, etc. I wish people would just ask us when they have questions.

Siewert: I wish people took the time to understand how much common ground we have. We care about the water and the land and animals too. I also don’t think most people understand how regulated we really are. We strive to follow all rules and regulations, even going above the required CAFO standards. And there may only be four CAFOs in the county, but we put millions of dollars into the local economy.

Wolf: Bigger doesn’t have to be bad. It’s a simple mechanism to be able to share management and resources efficiently. Breeze Dairy Group is a group of Wisconsin born and raised dairy professionals that years ago merged to share resources and ideas. Breeze Dairy Group is proud to share hundreds of years of dairy farming experience among the group to be more sustainable today and for the future. These individuals and their children are still actively managing our dairy farms today. I hope people are willing to take the time to get to know us.