Below are highlights from an article by Travis Nyhus published in the Dunn County News on Sep 4, 2019.
On Wednesday, members of Speaker’s Task Force on Water Quality put together by state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos met with about 70 individuals at a public hearing held at UW-Stout.
The mission of the task force is to identify the best practices for testing and data collection, determining the sources and causes of contaminants impacting water quality and consulting with stakeholders to assess current practices to manage runoff.
Representatives from state agriculture and local conservationists and others addressed the committee before public comments were accepted.
The Wisconsin Dairy Alliance and Dairy Business presented to the committee detailing the impact Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations have on water quality. While CAFOs are highly regulated, they only include around 27 percent of all cattle in the state, the alliance said. Many smaller farms aren’t required to follow regulations only in place for larger operations.
“To solve this there needs to be an act of compliance for all sources not just some of them,” Cindy Leitner, president of the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance, said.
John Holevoet, director of government affairs for the Dairy Business Association, asked the committee to consider increasing resources for soil mapping and groundwater testing. Holevoet said there needs to be more promotion for manure irrigation and use of vegetated treatment areas surrounding farms. One way to support farmers taking steps to meet new standards, Holevoet said, is to make it easier for farmers to get approval for manure-treatment systems and manure digesters.
Read the article in its entirety at https://chippewa.com/community/dunnconnect/news/dunn-county-shares-concerns-about-water-quality-during-speaker-s/article_7b1c3194-a2eb-5591-b4c7-1926f73764ee.html
