Submitted by Danny Akenson, GROWW
PIERCE COUNTY, WI – Nearly 100 people from Pierce and surrounding counties gathered in Bay City on Thursday, May 29, to share why they are fighting back against factory farm expansions in Western Wisconsin.
Among those present were the five local petitioners who joined Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin (GROWW) in a legal challenge of Ridge Breeze’s permit to grow to 6,500 cows, provoking the ire of industry groups.
At the event on Thursday, the petitioners and other attendees alike shared their reasoning behind standing up for their homes and opposing the factory farm expansion. Kay Kashian is a case petitioner and resident in the Town of El Paso and considers living on the Rush River a dream come true. “I feel like I didn’t have to die to go to Heaven,” said Kashian. “But I live just two and a half miles from Ridge Breeze – downwind, downhill, and downstream. A lot of us are scared about what Ridge Breeze’s expansion would do to our homes.”
The legal challenge is based on concerns around Ridge Breeze’s ability to safely apply roughly 80 million gallons of liquid manure that would be generated by their expansion. Thousands of acres in the expansion plan call for overapplication of nutrients and appear to have incorrect tillage listed, which could lead to substantial harm to groundwater. On top of this, area residents have been concerned about inaccuracies in Ridge Breeze’s plan for manure spreading. Multiple landowners whose land has been listed for spreading have come forward to state that they never gave Breeze permission to use their land.
“With 80 million gallons of waste, this is a countywide problem,” said Larry Brenner, one of the petitioners in the legal challenge and owner of Vino in the Valley in the Town of El Paso. Brenner’s home and business are near fields listed by Ridge Breeze for manure spreading. “My biggest concern for myself is that the Rush River is going to be in danger. Everything runs downhill, and we know where that manure is going to end up. I’m concerned about my wells, too. I’ve got a home well and a business well. Who’s going to pay for it if my wells go bad in just a few years’ time? What about all the traffic on the roads when they pick up hauling? Who pays for the roads? We all do. It’s coming, and we’ve got to try and stop it.”
GROWW Executive Director, Jenelle Ludwig-Krause, lives between Baldwin and Spring Valley and spoke on behalf of the organization. “I want to live in a world where I can trust a glass of water and jump into the Rush River without a care in the world. I want that for me, I want that for my family, and I want that for each and every one of you here tonight. When a factory farm is producing this much manure, we know that things can go wrong.” GROWW launched membership in January and has over 200 members across Western Wisconsin so far.
The other petitioners in the legal challenge include Gerald Steien, a Town of El Paso resident who raises longhorn cattle; Ty Fisher, a Town of Union crop farmer who has had family members fall ill of nitrate poisoning; and Richard Dart, a Maiden Rock medical doctor who is concerned about potential health impacts that spreading 80 million gallons of liquid manure could have on Pierce County residents. Even as residents organize to oppose the expansion, industry groups are ramping up their opposition to environmental safeguards and local control in Wisconsin.
Venture Dairy Cooperative—an industry group supporting the controversial Ridge Breeze factory farm expansion in Pierce County—is currently suing the Wisconsin DNR to eliminate oversight of factory farms for hundreds of Wisconsin factory farms. The lawsuit, filed against the DNR alongside Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce in 2023, was thrown out by a Calumet County judge last year, but has since been appealed. Their goal: clear the way for unchecked growth and bigger profits.
Among Venture Dairy’s founding board members is Todd Tuls, former owner of Emerald Sky Dairy, which has an extensive history of violations and fish kills in St. Croix County. A 2016 leak on-site at Emerald Sky Dairy led to nearly 300,000 gallons of manure being spilled into a nearby wetland. Another 2019 spill caused a fish kill in a creek near the facility. Last year, Emerald Sky was sold to Breeze Dairy Group and renamed Croix Breeze Dairy.
The legal challenge for Ridge Breeze’s expansion is moving forward and a hearing is expected to take place later this year. GROWW and the five individual petitioners are being represented by Midwest Environmental Advocates, a Wisconsin nonprofit law firm. Alongside the legal challenge, area residents are organizing through GROWW to pass local Operations Ordinances that will hold large factory farms accountable for the potential harms they can cause.
Speaking to the importance of continued community organizing on Thursday, Kay Kashian shared, “The longer I’ve been involved with GROWW the more I’ve been certain that people standing together can really affect change on a big level. I am willing to stand up and stand beside other people to fight for what we believe in.”
GROWW is a grassroots organization based in Western Wisconsin. 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. 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.
