Posted: 03.08.2011

The Janesville Gazette is reporting this morning that a Nebraska dairy farmer proposing a 5,000 cow operation in Rock county could get some answers by Wednesday night.

The Bradford Town Board could vote on an ordinance requiring a permit to regulate manure applications during their Wednesday evening meeting.  The board will also be meeting jointly with zoning commission to discuss a conditional-use permit that Rock Prairie dairy has applied for.

Todd Tuls of Columbus, Nebraska is asking to build a 5,200 cow dairy that would run 24 hours a day and produce approximately 7 truckloads of milk a day.

Tuls, who owns two similar dairies in Columbus, is asking to use a manure management system that takes manure from the farm by watering it down and spraying it through center-pivot irrigators onto growing crops. It's a successful practice he uses currently in Nebraska, but not normally seen in Wisconsin. Tuls has said the practice lets him empty his manure-storage lagoons on a regular basis to reduce lagoon odors, to apply fertilizer at a time when crops will use it quickly to prevent groundwater contamination and reduce the amount of traffic the farm generates.

Even if the Bradford conditional-use permit is approved Wednesday, it's not the final approval Tuls needs to operate the farm. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is still reviewing his' application for a state wastewater permit, among other permits. Rock County also must issue some permits.

The state's livestock siting law prohibits municipalities from creating ordinances that are stricter than the state law.

« back to news articles