CAFO regulator shortage in Wisconsin as fctory farms increase
In Wisconsin, state regulators overseeing industrial farms are increasingly outnumbered.
Of the 370 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) in the state, just 13 full-time staff members work for the Department of Natural Resources to monitor and oversee the permits that track manure waste at the state’s largest farms.
The state has said it needs at least 20 staff members to keep up with recent permit growth.
This week, Wisconsin-based reporter John McCracken took a closer look at the shortage of state officials and why lawmakers have been resistant to increased funding for more staff.
“The Department of Natural Resources faces staffing limitations across all programs,” a DNR spokesperson told Investigate Midwest. “Over the past 20 years, the department has lost over 500 FTE positions due to cuts in the biennial budget process.”
As John reports, more than half of the state’s impaired waterways are caused by phosphorus and E. Coli pollutants, primarily due to animal waste and agricultural runoff, making regulating manure waste an important job for the state.
— Ben Felder, editor-in-chief
DATA HARVEST: Argentina rarely sold beef to the US. Now, the country surpasses major trade partners.
By John McCracken, Investigate Midwest
A decade ago, the United States imported less than half a million dollars’ worth of beef products from Argentina. Since 2016, those imports have topped $1 billion.
Brazil, now a leading exporter of beef products to the U.S., also did not sell into the country before 2016. Since then, the country has surpassed long-term trade partners such as Japan, Honduras and Uruguay.
This shift has raised concerns among beef cattle ranchers, as the country relies more on South America for products while the national beef inventory is in freefall.
ICYMI: Wisconsin’s dairy industry sues town over denied permits, regulations
Since 2018, large Wisconsin dairy farms have filed 13 lawsuits against municipal and state governments, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of court records and state permitting data for concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. Dairy farms with roughly 700 or more milking cows are considered CAFOs, requiring a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit.
“The trend does seem to be moving up, particularly for CAFOs and state agency-based litigation. The local municipality-based litigation tends to rise, as well,” said Adam Voskuil, a staff attorney at the environmental law firm Midwest Environmental Advocates.
