panamared - your argument might work, except for the rules of economics. IF everything about modern age was true, all of those cows would have died long ago. instead they are economical productive. heathy cows make money. unheathy cows lose money. Quality VS Quantity? the earth is racing toward 9 billion people. anyone whos read National Geographics for the last 100 years would see that LACK OF or unstable FOOD supply is what has brought down most anchent civizations. Genetical Enhanced crops save soil by allowing more production per acre AND the use of NO-Till Farming. Millions of Tons of Pesticide are no longer produced, truck across our lands, and dumped on our soil. I8 the evil "M"pier, but if RR soybeans didnt work, Farmers would not be paying the Tech fee to grow that on 90% of the crop acres. Many thing are happening in AG today that will soon compete with the M's tech. and level the playing field once again. (i hope) Fewer Farmers free up large amount of "people capital" to support modern civization. Doctors, Engineers, Factory Workers. etc. 3rd world countries tend to require most of thier population to produce thier food at a much higher cost. yada yada yada...

The environmental impact is only one of the issues surrounding industrial agricultural operations. I hope the day will come when Americans begin judging monoculture agriculture not by its objectives but by its unintended effects on the environment and our health. The intention of the agriculture industry (dairy, beef, pork, poultry and grain) has been to streamline, modernize and automate, all in the interest of higher profits. But the consequence has been to concentrate power and money in the hands of a few, to drive down prices and to create a national surplus of product that forces small agricultural producers out of business. All of which is only sustainable by depending on government subsidies. That, in turn, frees former farmland for development. ie; urban sprawl. The consequence has also been to breed an animal that can barely sustain the way she is forced to live, land that’s force fed nitrogen and “engineered” grain “designed” to grow most anywhere. Animals are fed high fat, protein rich diets laced with hormones to increase production instead of feeding on grasses as nature intended. Our future depends more on the quality of our food than the quantity.

i know that dairy "right out side milton". very well. Those are great VERY hard working and VERY good people. They are many generation diary farmers, survivors. When wisconsin lost a 1/3 of its dairy farms in the '80's, they made it work. Some feeds are different than others. they use lots of byproducts from the food industry that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill. ONLY HAPPY, HEALTY COWS produce milk, if those cows were not happy, they would have been out of business long ago. Some who drive by may not understand them, but they successful in thier own way

I've been by, and on, "large dairies" and they don't have the smell that some smaller farms have. There's one right outside of Milton and smells to the high heavens. Rotten, sour, etc. It's as though their manure is never cleaned out of their sheds. Yuck! It's really nice on a humid summer day with the wind in the west. You can easily smell it towards the center and east side of Milton. Those big dairies I've been at have never come close to that kind of smell.

I'm sorry I missed the meeting. The paperwork that the Larsons need to build is in order. The DNR is satisfied with the environmental impact statement, and the Larsons have proven that they are going to do this the right way, which also happens to be in step with the law. As long as the waste facilities are up to code-including existing structures, and there is no contamination of surface and/or groundwater, and the noxious fumes from the poo are reasonably controlled, there is no cause for alarm. I believe many people were angry initially because of the historic water pollution from this site. As long as the water quality monitors are collecting samples legally, and the results are not negative, there should not be many problems in the future.

Good for them. It's great to know they are doing so well. It's funny the things you have to do to run a business on your own property.