How is the water in rural counties affected by manure, and how will the proposed CAFO, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, affect this in Bayfield County? Today guest host Patty Peltekos discussed this and more on Wisconsin CAFOs with Scott Dye, a field associate with the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, Tressie Kamp from Midwest Environmental Advocates, and Kewaunee County Resident Mick Sagrillo.
Dane County is home to fourteen CAFOs: three beef CAFOs, ten dairy CAFOs, and one chicken CAFO. Kewaunee County, which sits just below Door County, has fifteen CAFOs. All but one are devoted to dairy cows. Brown County has twenty CAFOs, nineteen of them devoted to milk production. Northeastern Wisconsin’s dairy farmers are working hard to increase their milk production. But to increase production, they need more cows. More cows means more manure. On average, a dairy cow can produce 6.5 gallons, or 56 pounds, of milk per day. That same cow will produce at least 120 pounds of manure per day. Where is all of the manure going to go? At what point does the cropland that is being fertilized by tons of manure become saturated and unable to hold more manure?
