Dairy groups, state chamber fight a Wisconsin local CAFO ordinance

Two farm organizations and a Wisconsin business group are pushing back against what they call an illegal local ordinance against large farms.

Venture Dairy Cooperative and the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance are working through the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Litigation Center.  They have sent a letter to the Polk County Town of Laketown for over-regulating concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFO’s.

The letter to Laketown’s clerk says their ordinance contains at least 16 provisions that are preempted by state law and are illegal including several local fees, requirements for compliance testing, water use plans, construction, fire, and road plans, and what’s called an odor and toxic air pollution prevention plan.

…