Megafarms: Water debate roils Kewaunee Co.

Todd Augustian knows each of his 450 dairy cows individually, whether they’re comfortable or sick, healthy or hurting. The herd has been in his family for at least five generations. It’s his passion and legacy.

Augustian, 38, is also one of the few young people left in the industry. He took over the family farm, located south of Kewaunee and about 1 mile from the shore of Lake Michigan, at the age of 24 along with his brother, Aaron Augustian.

They milked just 60 cows at the time and didn’t earn what they’d consider family-sustaining incomes.

They saw one path to better wages: Expansion.

Today, Augustian Farms LLC is poised to grow to about 900 milking cows, which would make it the 16th large-scale farming operation in Kewaunee County.

The move would also thrust Augustian into an intensifying fight over the environmental impact of large farms, known as concentrated animal feeding operations. Groups concerned about the growing size of animal farms plan to speak against the expansion during a permit hearing in Green Bay on Tuesday.

Two federal agencies have recently stepped in, establishing Kewaunee County as a sort of ground zero for nationwide debate over large farms.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service are working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources “to address groundwater issues in the county and to protect public health,” EPA spokesperson Phillippa Cannon said.

At least six state and national environmental advocacy groups have also targeted the county, saying the tens of millions of gallons of liquid manure spread over fields with sensitive soils has caused widespread groundwater pollution.

Owners of the large farms vehemently disagree with the groups’ assertions. They question the extent of pollution and argue any contamination is more likely to come from old, unsafe wells and septic systems than farms.

The state and federal agencies have established a work group to study the issue, DNR spokesman Bill Cosh said.

Their work could help settle the fighting, which has not only put the reputations of long-time farming families on the line, but also has strained relationships between neighbors and raised fears among residents that their water supply could be made undrinkable by the dominant industry supporting their communities.

“All the efforts we’d like to go forward with in terms of economic development and improved property values are at risk if people believe we have unsafe water,” said County Board Supervisor Lee Luft.

“This has become our number one issue.”

Private wells contaminated

Debate in Kewaunee County centers on a singular issue: Manure.

There are almost 76,000 cows in the county producing about 1.5 million tons of manure per year. Most of that manure is mixed with water and spread on fields as a natural fertilizer. A smaller amount is spread in its solid form.

Environmentalists say the amount of manure produced by these cows is more than the land can absorb. Making matters worse, the area’s shallow soils and fractured bedrock create easy pathways for the liquified manure to flow into groundwater and, eventually, people’s drinking supplies.

In rural Wisconsin, most people get their drinking water from private wells.

No scientific study of well contamination has been conducted in Kewaunee County. The most comprehensive data comes from voluntary testing coordinated by the county’s land and soil conservation office. Between 2004 and 2010, 556 individual wells were tested. Of those, almost 30 percent were contaminated with unsafe levels of nitrates, bacteria or both.

High levels of nitrates or the presence of bacteria indicate pollution from animal waste, septic systems, fertilizers or other sources that can make people sick.

The well data has been hotly contested, with some environmental groups saying large farms have caused “Third World conditions,” while CAFO owners claim the contamination can’t be traced back to their operations.

One case of well contamination in the town of Lincoln serves as a microcosm for all sides of the argument.

Dave Mindak, a neighbor of one of the county’s largest dairies, Kinnard Farms, had his well tested in spring 2013 after experiencing severe diarrhea for days. The results came back positive for bacteria from both human and bovine sources.

The results provide evidence that manure from the neighboring farm had infiltrated his water supply, but it also indicates he probably had a leaking septic system and a bad well. He qualified for financial assistance to put in a new $14,000 well and hasn’t had any problems since.

Still, Mindak, 70, said he is convinced that Big Dairy is the main culprit. He said the liquid manure spread in the fields around his property puddle in a low point just yards from his house.

“When they would spread manure here, it was just like a lake,” he said.

But owners of large farms say it’s not fair to point fingers at them.

“The source (of contamination) hasn’t been proven where it’s coming from, whether it’s septic systems, fertilizers or dairy men,” Augustian said.

“I know what we do here. We follow all the regulations in place, and we do things the right way. Clean water and good land is a number one priority to us. We need it to drink. Our cows do, too. That’s our goal, whether we have 100 cows or 900,” he said.

Family vs. factory farm

The sheer size of CAFOs has made them the main focus of neighbors and environmental groups concerned about well contamination, said Lynn Utesch, who raises grass-fed beef and also leads Kewaunee CARES, an environmental advocacy group that has been a primary critic of large-scale farms.

“The reason for focusing on CAFOs is because they have the greatest chance of causing pollution,” he said.

Almost half of the county’s cows and half of the manure come from just 15 farms permitted as CAFOs. The rest are spread across about 200 farms.

Kinnard Farms has received the brunt of the scrutiny. The operation plans to expand from about 4,000 milking cows to more than 6,500 milking cows. Construction on a new 4,000-cow barn is underway. Once complete, the farm anticipates producing about 70 million gallons of liquid manure annually.

At the same time, the number of contaminated wells around the farm’s 5,000 acres of cropland in the towns of Lincoln and Red River far exceed any other part of the county.

There are two other large farms located in that area, including Stahl Brothers Dairy in Red River and Dairy Dreams in Lincoln.

Forty-two percent of the 103 individual wells tested in the town of Lincoln between 2004 and 2014 were unsafe because of bacteria, nitrates or both. In Red River, 42 percent of the 85 wells tested were unsafe, according to data provided by the county.

The frequency of contamination prompted environmental groups to petition the EPA to investigate the farm.

Co-owner Lee Kinnard said the accusations against his farm have become personal.

He said the size of the farm doesn’t detract from the fact its a multigenerational family operation. His brother, sister and two siblings-in-law also help manage the farm. He said they have great respect the land, water and animals in their care.

“Our goal is to leave the environment in better condition than when it was entrusted to us,” Kinnard said, adding that he thinks large farms can do a better job of protecting groundwater than smaller operations because they can afford new, green technologies.

For example, the Kinnards employ a team of consultants who have mapped all of the sink holes, shallow soils and other sensitive areas in their fields. They also test the nutrient content of every gallon of manure to make sure they’re applying it at appropriate levels on the soil.

This testing is required under state regulations for large farms, but Kinnard said his family takes it further. As part of their expansion, the family is installing a water filtration system that allows the farm to recycle and reuse dirty water five times before sending it to their manure lagoons.

“If we go back to reality, we have to fertilize a crop to grow a crop. What would be the incentive to the farmer to apply more than the land could use?” Kinnard said.

Quality of life challenged

The county’s rolling hills, lighthouses and beaches on the shore of Lake Michigan attracted Scott and Deb Kliment to the area in 1995. They planned to live in their home on a quiet, wooded property in the town of Pierce for the rest of their lives.

But a few years after their arrival a nearby farm, Ebert Dairy Enterprises, began expanding. The Kliments now live next to the noise and lights of a 24-hour, 5,700 cow operation, the smell of 41 million gallons of manure stored in nearby lagoons and the worry about the potential effect on their water supply.

In 2012, an unknown volume of liquid manure spilled on a nearby field and ran into the Kliments’ property. A berm prevented the manure from entering a pond on their land.

That same year, the appraised value of the Kliments’ home plummeted from $360,000 to $249,000.

“This is not the kind of place I want to live anymore,” Scott Kliment said. “If I wanted to live in conditions like his, I wouldn’t have moved back to Wisconsin.”

The growing negativity between neighbors has County Board President Ron Heuer worried about the future of the county. He said the widespread media attention is a deterrent to potential new residents, businesses and tourists.

It also threatens the livelihoods of farmers, who create one of every five jobs in the county.

“We don’t want to impede their business. We don’t want to put them out of business,” Heuer said.

Heuer said he’d like to see environmental groups, affected residents and farmers come together to work out their differences in a more productive way. He said blaming the county’s 15 largest farms for the problem is inappropriate.

“I think that trying to pin the tail on the donkey is pretty damn challenging thing to do. It’s hard to be exact, and people can be ruined by innuendo and assumptions when they had nothing to do with it, necessarily,” Heuer said.

—arodewal@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter @AdamGRodewald and on Facebook at Facebook.com/AdamGRodewald.

THE DEBATE AT A GLANCE

How bad is groundwater contamination?

“We should not mince words about this. This is nothing short of a public health emergency. What we’re talking about are Third World conditions in America’s heartland.” — Scott Dye, field associate with Socially Responsible Agricultural Project

“If you look at raw data of well water reports, you can’t make the case that Kewaunee County has worse water than Wisconsin or the rest of the Midwest.” —Gordon Speirs, board president of the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association

What is causing well contamination?

“Right now, the land can’t absorb the amount of manure being produced, and we can’t absorb it over a very vulnerable geology.” — Lee Luft, Kewaunee County supervisor

“The source hasn’t been proven where it’s coming from, whether it’s septic systems, fertilizers or dairy men.” — Todd Augustian, co-owner Augustian Farms

Are large farms at fault?

“The reason for focusing on CAFOs is because they have the greatest chance of causing pollution.” — Lynn Utesch, founder of Kewaunee CARES.

“(CAFOS are) doing things more intelligently, more efficiently, with more oversight from the government, with more care for the environment and a better understanding of how everything relates to the surrounding ecology.” — John Holevoet, director of government affairs for the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association.

Aren’t CAFOs already regulated?

“(The DNR) has utterly failed in its duty to regulate the county’s large industrial-sized farms and failed to do its duty to protect the county’s residents and environment.” — Scott Dye, field associate with Socially Responsible Agricultural Project

“It is one of the most, if not the most, protective sets of regulations in the United States.” — Lee Kinnard, co-owner of Kinnard Farms

CAFO Hearing

WHAT: A public hearing regarding the proposed permit for Augustian Farms’ expansion in the town of Carlton.

WHEN: 10 a.m. on Tuesday

WHERE: The Lake Michigan Room in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources facility, 2984 Shawano Ave., Green Bay