ELMWOOD – At 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin is holding a forum for residents and town board members to discuss options to protect local roads, water, and rural communities from industrial livestock operations.

Pierce County residents have been following Ridge Breeze Dairy’s plan to nearly quadruple in size to 6,500 cows for over a year. Since the expansion was announced, residents in surrounding Pierce County towns have been looking for ways to protect themselves from unchecked corporate agribusiness expansion. In just the last five years, Wisconsin communities have lost more than 2,000 dairy farms, or 28 percent of all registered herds, due in large part to corporate consolidation. Beyond the disruption to local economies, residents are wrestling with wear and tear on local roads from increased heavy truck traffic and nitrate contamination in their wells and waterways.

Residents of Pierce County have been looking for solutions on a local level to protect their towns, and started organizing with GROWW over a year ago in response to the proposed Ridge Breeze Dairy expansion.

“So many stories of poisoned well water, torn up roads, and ash falling from the sky from incinerated cow carcasses have united people in Pierce County and beyond,” said Danny Akenson, a field organizer with GROWW. “That’s what people are already experiencing even without the expansion near Ridge Breeze and other factories.” 

In July, over 400 people registered to share their opposition, listen in, and testify at the DNR public hearing for Ridge Breeze’s expansion. Now, residents are following examples from Burnett, Bayfield, and Polk counties and are turning to their local governments’ authorities to protect themselves.

Mary Anne Wise is a Town of Maiden Rock resident and the chair of her town’s Operations Ordinance Study Committee. This group is studying operations ordinances passed in multiple Wisconsin towns and counties in the last few years. 

“There's a lot at stake here,” said Wise. “We know state laws for industrial livestock operations are weak and they rely on self-reporting along with a thinly staffed DNR to monitor compliance. Taxpayers are rightfully concerned about issues affecting public health, roads, and especially our surface and groundwater. Our towns need to exercise their legal authority to safeguard our communities.”

Operations ordinances require large livestock facilities to work with towns to develop plans that protect citizens’ homes and small farms, which are closing every day due to corporate consolidation that squeezes them out of the market.

“This is a lot bigger than just Ridge Breeze, or any one factory farm. This is about an industry that wants to be left completely unregulated as factories get bigger and bigger,” said Akenson. “We know that regardless of where we’re from or how much money we have, we deserve access to safe roads, clean water, and clean air. We’re pursuing these local ordinances to make sure everyone can pursue the American dream where you can start a family farm, own a small business, or raise a family in western Wisconsin.”

GROWW’s Operations Ordinance Forum will be held on Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Elmwood Auditorium from 2-4 p.m. There will also be a Zoom option for those who cannot attend in-person. The forum will include a presentation from Lisa Doerr, a Polk County resident who worked to pass Operations Ordinances in her community. Residents and town board members who want to learn about steps their communities can take to protect themselves are encouraged to attend.

Link to Register: https://secure.everyaction.com/TYRW6_zU-UqYGkylUa-9vw2
GROWW is a grassroots organization based in western Wisconsin. We build power in our communities and create the change we need for all of us, no matter the color of our skin, how much money we have, or who we love. 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. We began our work in 2019 as Pierce County GrassRoots Organizing, and grew out of the name as we began to organize with communities in seven Western Wisconsin counties: Barron, Buffalo, Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, and Saint Croix. 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.

Submitted by GROWW