University of Michigan Study Finds Large Animal Farms Might Be a Significant Source of Air Pollution

By Joe Tarr

When an eastern wind blows through Larry Brenner’s home in Pierce County, he knows two things are likely.

“One, as the old farmers will tell us, it’s going to rain. And two, when I wake up in the morning and head outside, the smell is not very good,” Brenner told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

The bad smell emanates from a dairy farm about a mile east of Brenner’s home, where he runs the outdoor restaurant Vino in the Valley. The nearby farm, Ridge Breeze Dairy, has 1,700 cows, but it is planning on expanding next year to 6,500 cows.

Brenner worries what that expansion could mean, not just for the smells that might blow his way, but also for the potential for his well water to be contaminated. He’s among a group of neighbors who have petitioned the state Department of Natural Resources to reconsider its approval of the farm expansion.

The planned expansion in Pierce County would generate almost 80 million gallons of manure and wastewater, and Brenner said there’s a big concern about how that will impact water quality.