Environmental advocates are legally challenging a permit issued to a large dairy farm in southern Wisconsin which has been operating without one, despite state law requiring it.
Rob-N-Cin Farms is a concentrated animal feeding operation near West Bend. It currently has more than 1,800 animals. A group of local advocates and community members have filed a contested case hearing to oppose a permit recently issued to the factory farm by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. They had been operating for several years without one.
Adam Voskuil, senior staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, argued the farm was allowed to evade regulations without consequence.
"DNR ultimately told Rob-N-Cin Farms in 2023 that they were violating state law," Voskuil explained. "An application wasn't submitted until 2024, and we're going to get to 2026 before there's even a resolution."
The group is currently waiting for the DNR to grant the petition before it can present evidence in the coming months.
Voskuil noted the systemic problem of large facilities operating above thresholds without seeking permits, explaining it is largely a self-reporting regulation which the DNR lacks the capacity to enforce effectively. He pointed out issues are usually reported by community members, and called for the DNR to make it apparent choosing to violate state laws will come with repercussions.
"If they're not going to do that, the message that it sends to other operations is there's no real downside to that slow expansion and creeping over, or eventually exceeding that 1,000 animal unit amount," Voskuil contended. "Because the only cost is one that you'd be incurring anyway, whenever you eventually decide to apply for a permit."
Rob-N-Cin Farms has plans to expand to around 2,500 animals by 2030. Voskuil added local residents have significant environmental concerns about impacts to groundwater, surface water and endangered species. He stressed the environmental review for their current permit was inadequate and violated the Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act.
