2011 July 18
(Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece which does not necessarily represent all CWTU River Keepers.)
“It is better to be a human being
dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.
Better to be Socrates dissatisfied
than a fool satisfied. And if the
fool or the pig are of a different opinion
it is because they only know their side of the question.” --- John Stuart Mill
Another CAFO hearing was held this day in regard to another Milksource, LLC CAFO for their fifth location. This one planned for the Town of Richfield in Adams County. This one is going to have 6300 animal units in the near future, 4300 milk cows and 250 steers or so, they say. (Actually, no government agency knows the exact number of animals on any feedlot at any one time.) This factory will discharge liquid manure on 16,000 acres within a few miles of their location at the corner of 1st Drive and Cypress Avenue. (The number of exact acreage is fudged a little as was found during Milksource’s last NMP, landowners whose name appeared in the NMP had not given permission to use their land but who really looks at these documents anyways)….and MILKSOURCE LLC is convinced it’s a great addition for the community, however unwanted it may seem to some of those who live there now. (Note: in 1998 Wisconsin had 51 CAFOs…now we’re approaching 220-plus CAFOs…the WDNR says they’re getting about 20 requests each year…today in Wisconsin there are 12,000 farms with an average of 100 cows.) Milksource LLC is approaching 27,600 cows in five factory locations…and they’re not done growing their business they say because it’s good for the economy of Wisconsin.
These hearings are the WDNR’s attempt to let all parties “have a 3 minute comment” and feel either satisfied or dissatisfied with having had the opportunity to state their views in front of a crowed room.
They’ll make their decision on whether all paperwork for the permit is satisfactory (which the WDNR has stated it is satisfied) and issue the permit on July 25th. They’re just doing their job in a timely fashion. They will take written statements from concerned citizens until then here: Terence.Kafka@wisconsin.gov
(As a matter of course, the permit will be issued no doubt, but perhaps you want to write a few comments which address your feelings or share your opinion on this matter. It is your right as a citizen of Wisconsin and perhaps your obligation in a free society to do so.)
It’s not easy to condense one’s thoughts into a three minute speech with heart-felt emotion and impassioned pleas. No, it’s not easy. The most emotional speakers quiver and quake, lose their place in their notes and fumble or choke away their allotted time. Some think they can read quickly through their talking points but find the “30 second warning” totally alarming. It’s a Hegelian experience where “everyone’s talking and no one is listening.”
Many of the speakers are employees or vendors to the moneyed-interests of the Dairy Industry, the Dairy lobbyists or like one of today’s participants---a former Miss Dairyland. “Dairy is good for us.” Their speeches always tend to pander to the bosses’ favor, because after all, they got a day out of the office. They make a “good living” from the dairy industry. Or are otherwise influenced by their upbringing to feel this way. Nobody brings up heart disease, clogged arteries, or other health issues that occur from too much lactose after the age of five.
Those who live in the area now realize their lives, homes, retirement properties, and communities are about to change. Some are aware of the decreased real estate values, intolerable dust, harmful emissions, smell of toxins, intolerable truck traffic and manure spreading that will impact their weekend parties, lake homes and outdoor activities into the foreseeable future; others call it the smell of money and perceive jobs to help with tax revenues and how lucky it is for their community to be chosen for this economic opportunity.
For me, these hearings are a sad thing to witness. It’s sad to see two divided camps try to convince the other side that only they understand the issues. Both sides feel strongly about their opinions. Though most of the moneyed-interest won’t live in the area or interact with the community---no one lives at the animal factory and everyone knows it---they spend all day in this environment and that’s enough!
The learned speak to the issues of environmental impact and its long term effects. “Factories and farms,” as one testified “are not the same--the toxins and antibiotics in the manure from CAFOs is not comparable to the average small farm where cattle are grazed, one cow for every two acres so the nutrients can be absorbed into the pasture, or where animals are confined in much smaller numbers, and where antibiotics or other pharmaceuticals aren’t necessary to protect the cows from themselves.
Another well-educated farm owner said she didn’t need Milksource LLC to introduce so many new cows and additional milk product to a market that suppress family farm opportunities and pointed out the false assumption that big farms provide more economic return. She noted fault with Foremost/Dean Corporation for pandering to CAFOs interest for this reason.
The less informed talk about needing jobs, feeding the hungry and short-term outcomes like how nice it is to work in a comfortable place with so much good technology doing most of the work, but no one is dissuaded. You hear the same testimony at every hearing and mostly from the same people. And this is what we’ve become.
The WDNR attorney threatening to “shut down” the hearing over cheers for those who are outnumbered by the comments of dairy employees when they speak, and the attorney in the business suit holding up the time cards “30 seconds” and “STOP,” a job a seventh grader could perform as efficiently; and the head speaker for the WDNR giving the “vanilla ice cream” speech trying to maintain his government approach to a “fair hearing for comments”…but he’ll be out in the hall to answer any questions…not listening to the speakers because he too, is tired of the same speeches, too, I suppose.
So understanding that, here’s a solution: call your legislative representatives to discuss why the environment is more important to you than money interest. Call your insurance representatives and learn what your insurance company invests in to insure return-on-investment in your portfolio. Are they invested in factory farms? Do they receive subsidy payments from the US government for farming activities with which you don’t agree? Does your bank give humongous loans to farming operations that pollute or don’t farm the way you think is responsible? This is where you need to do your homework. The time is now. The future of the earth cannot wait.
