Posted: 05.19.2010

The Livestock Siting law in Wisconsin has been around for about four years - but it still draws attention when communities are asked to comment.

Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture held a series of listening sessions around the state to find out what worked - what didn't - and what needs changing.  In the end, some 850 comments were filed.  But now what?

Mike Murray with the WDATCP is the fellow that got to go through all those comments and condense them down for consumption by a soon-to-be-reformed technical committee.  That committee will have the responsibility of trying to decide if specific revisions are necessary - and to what extent the law might have to be changed.

Murray spoke with Pam Jahnke about the comments.

"I think 850 is quite a few comments," he said.  "When you look at how they play out - you can kinda tell the difference between producers, the farm groups, lenders - comments from that segment, who say the rule seems to be working.  Then there's the other segment like enviromental groups, rural citizens and other people that may not like the scale of large animal agriculture - they express those concerns."

So what side had the most comments?  Amazingly enough - Murray says it was about a 50-50 split.
"When we tallied it up on whether you support the rule or not - it was about 50-50,"  Murray said, "Although some of the comments against the rule were really general and didn't say much - just like comments in favor of the rule,"

Murray said there were also plenty of "form letters" that were submitted that had to be included too.

Murray helped write the four year evaluation report which includes these 850 comments.  Murray said they split some of the issues into areas that fall within the scope of the livestock siting rule and those that do not.  He said the committee will specifically look at what changes might be made under the rules current jurisdiction - specifically siting standards and waste management guidelines. 

How long will this all take?  Good question!  Murray says by mid-June they're hoping to have all the technical committee appointments made with the first meeting scheduled by late June or early July.  After that, the group will work on their recommendations - with the goal of presenting them to the public some time in December.

Listen to Mike Murray explain the comment period and upcoming process HERE!

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