Stop the Proposed Vernon County CAFO
We the undersigned accept your right to develop your property as you see fit. However, we also have a right to clean drinking water and air free of pathogens and noxious odors. The neighbors of your proposed dairy CAFO are rightly concerned for their property values, the air and water quality, and their children's health and safety. Please reconsider your plans and use the 4,900 acres you own in Vernon County to ensure not only your wealth, but our future.
Illinois
These developments are detrimental to the environment and community
Illinois
CAFOs make lots of money for Big Biz and for some politicians...but they do great and lasting harm to small communities and to the environment, and ultimately to ALL Americans. Ask any innocent neighbors (off the record) of these monstrosities what they REALLY think. Someday soon CAFOs will be banned. CAFOs are the pits. They stink and they should be outlawed. All of them. Don't listen to the Farm Bureau. CAFOs are the ultimate in UNPATRIOTIC! Is it patriotic to harm American rivers and streams and air quality and rural property values-just so rich people can get richer? No.
wisconsin
dairy should be small time farms where the animals can be cared for properly and where waste can be managed not just dumped or run off
Wisconsin
My husband and I learned recently that a CAFO is planning to move into our neighborhood. We have peaceully co-existed with our small farm neighbors for decades but are very concerned how this 500 pound gorrilla will affect every facet of our lives and our neighbor's lives. It's so worrisome.
This CAFO will displace family farms, disrupt communities, and harm the citizens. The clay-lined manure ponds are designed to leak, and this leakage will enter the aquifer. The air and water of Vernon County is worth more than any 3,200 cows anywhere.
Illinois
I was going to purchase some organic acreage in Westby and establish and organic/permaculture farm that would not only serve the community with local food but also restore the natural ecology to the land. After learning about the proposed CAFO facility, I have decided to look elsewhere, because such an operation will surely have a negative affect on the environment, quality of life, and value of the land. I would imagine, upon learning of the CAFO facility, others will also look elsewhere to live and work so that their efforts and livelihoods are not undermined by such destructive operations.
Wisconsin
CAFOs pollutes our environment with manure pools, which can run off into our water supply and stink up the air. Keeping farms small helps keep down the amount of manure produced. Who wants to smell foul air and drink polluted water? Nobody!! So why is this being forced on the community of Vernon County?
Factory farms are not a welcoming property in our environment. They exist only for profit and do not care about sustainable causes like equal pay for all and protecting the earth.
Mega farms do not support sustainable communities.
Madison WI
Factory farms are awful for the envrironment not to mention for the people living next to them. Remember where the pig flu came from, factory farm in Mexico. Small and local farms are the way to go. We dont need this mostrosity in a scenic part of Wisconsin
I am from Wisconsin and am a descendant of farmers in Vernon County.
Several of my ancestors and extended family members were or are farmers in Vernon County. Family farms historically play a large role in the Vernon County community. The proposed sites pose a significant risk to the environmental well-being of the Bad Axe watershed. The scenic beauty of both sites is at risk with a huge, unsightly dairy farm in it. It is not in the interests of this community to have competition from out of state agri-business giants threating these family farms. We need to maintain the integrity of the family farms in this area for economic reasons also; tourists come to Vernon County because of its scenic beauty. To place a huge operation like that in Vernon County is obscene. I don't want to see farms that generations of people in Vernon County have worked to maintain taken away from these families. Vernon County is known as a location where environmental stewardship is valued, for example the volunteers and others who maintain the Kickapoo River watershed in LaFarge. Keep your big mega-farms in Illinois. Vernon County doesn't need them. Keep Vernon County the gem it already is by staying out.
IL
CAFOs harm communities. It's ALL about money and greed, nothing more. One day CAFOs will be outlawed because they spoil and pollute American land, air, and water so that soulless businessmen with bloated egos and no thought for anyone but themselves can buy more Lear jets and extra mansions. These guys buy off a few grasping locals as stooges and then systematically call everyone who disagrees small-minded and anti-farm. Farm? Ha. CAFOs aren't farms. They're unnatural death factories turning out inferior products as they destroy local property values. Do the owners ever live on or near the CAFO property? No, they're miles away in fine, unstinking houses with protective zoning. Yes--it's about greed, a terrible, sick greed. Watch neighbor turn on neighbor as a gaggle of deluded neighborhood fools (who hope to put a few pieces of the rich man's silver into their own little pockets) do the rich man's bidding. Beware the ironically named Farm Bureau, too. CAFOs represent greed. It's stupid, shortsighted, and UNPATRIOTIC to destroy our own land and water for a few dirty pieces of silver.
Wisconsin, I have lived here all my life.
I lived in Westby for over thirty years, until a year ago this past october. I'm sure I will always call it home. We do not need to have our trout streams threatened. The proposed sites are much to close to town, and the odor this would create would be enough to stop anyone from visting our town,
As someone who grew up in Southwestern Wisconsin, and really realizing the natural beauty of the area, it would be a shame to destroy it. When ever I talk to people in the Minneapolis/St Paul area about where I grew up, they always comment on how beautiful it is (or must be for those that have not visited yet) Keep the area nice, it will most likely bring in more money through tourist dollars than through a farm!
I live only 35 minutes from Westby.
Why would we want a CAFO at all when we know the dangers of it. Why would you? We need to think about what is really good for our community. Money isn't everything!
I am a lifelong resident of Wisconsin that grew up in Vernon County.
This issue is important to me because my father has a small dairy farm in Vernon County and I know that a CAFO in the area can put him out of business in an economic climate that he is having a hard time in already. He is one of the few farmers in the area that hasn't went belly up in these hard times. Also since he's closing in on the retirement age, all he wants is to have a few good years of farming left. He doesn't want to be forced out by a corporation looking to make money by treating the industry disrespectfully. I am currently attending UW Platteville in the hopes that someday I can do something to save family farms so you can see why I'm not a fan of a CAFO in Vernon County.
I am a proud Wisconsin resident.
I was born and raised in Vernon County, attended Westby High School and have friends and family that live and work close to this proposed cattle CAFO. I have heard many concerns with this project. Please respect Vernon County's water supply by rejecting the application for this harmful project. Thank you. Joe Muellenberg
Wisconsin
Factory farming is bad for the environment, as large numbers of animals in one area strains the natural eco-system, and also has a negative effect on small family-owned farms. Factory farming is an unhealthy metaphor of our culture, and needs to be stopped.
Wisconsin
I grew up in this very beautiful and unique region of Wisconsin and would hate to see some big ugly building destroy some of its landscape.
i am from the state of Hawaii.
I find this issue most important because of the question most people are asking about it now a days. That question is "how can we stop CAFOs and factorie farming?". Also because i am concerned of the possible effects it may have on our future generations and the generations to follow. I find it hard to believe that the government can know about and support these kind of acts that are being performed on our foods and land as well as our natural resources. I think that if we are going to try and stop this we need to start now before it is to late and the situation escalates even further.
wisconsin
I live there
Wisconsin
I am from Vernon County and strongly oppose this CAFO.
Wisconsin
I think factory farms are an inhumane way to treat an animals. I am not against eating meat, I am against the way they are being raised with CAFO's. There's also overwhelming evidence of pollution and health problems with people who live around them. Nobody should have to live near one of these.
Wisconsin
There is a 700-foot mega barn going up on the hill above my home and I am sick about it. Lafayette County, WI, has not bothered to adopt ATCP 51, the ordinances that would regulate these CAFOs. I am terribly worried about the environmental impact, the loss of our home life as we know it, the safety issues surrounding the location of the building, our property values, not to mention the terrible price that animals pay being imprisoned in these buildings. It is not natural for cows to stand on cement all their lives.
Originally Wisconsin, now Illinois
Wisconsin
The pollution, smell, and cruelty to animals is terrible. This needs to be stopped.
Wisconsin
CAFOs are highly toxic to the local environment and the damage they cause to watersheds is irreversible. Stop this CAFO now!!
Sigh, Texas. Texas has the same problem, but they build and continue to build vast neighborhoods of empty or slightly occupied homes. To obtain this useless goal, the land is razed to the 'bone'. No trees, bushes, plants, animals of any kind; leading to horrible flooding when it rains, change in the environment and negative changes in behavior from so many people denuding our land.
Wisconsin is my state because I was conceived there and spent every vacation from my first year to my 18th in Wisconsin. My father's family history started and ended in Wisconsin. His mother's forced move (with six kids) to Chicago was an 'end' for him. He was born in 1913 and told his children stories until his death at 94 about the beauty and wonders of Wisconsin. We visited many places he had camped at as a teenager and young man; but many places no longer existed just 40 years after his birth. Sadly, many of the beautiful nature areas that say 'WISCONSIN' have disappeared in my life-time. It is sad that the 'powers that be' have put Wisconsin on the auction block ready for the company that will wring the most money from land that has existed for millions of years. What has happened to Wisconsin's typical concern for the local population, or is Vernon County run by a 'few' chosen ones? Where is everyone? Are the small farmers fighting this? I wrote a paper for a sociology master's class about small farmers, this was in the early 1980s. Have the bliners not come off yet? Everyone has to get involved, local residents, state residents, people who hold Wisconsin in their hearts; not just farmers or dairy producers. I am confident there are studies that show the negative effects of CAFO on everything we hold dear and count on to contiue our existence. The CAFOs also cause horrible mistreatment of dairy cows; the people who own, are employed at and support CAFOs verge on the edge of sociopathy. They don't care about and won't learn or listen to the negative impact CAFOs cause worldwide. It breaks my heart to think that my children will never see some of the most beautiful spots in Wisconsin and that their lives will not be enhanced by construction of a COFA. It is also sad that "no one was minding the store" while plans were being made to construct something will negatively impact the lives of generations; not just Wisconsinites, but people whose lives have been changed by this great state.
California, but lived many years in Wisconsin and still visit. Love rural Wisconsin--especially the Crawford and Vernon County areas.
I don't believe in large-scale farming. There is NOTHING good about them. I support small farmers, especially organic ones.
I'm from Illinois
where we are also fighting the construction of a giant dairy. I am concerned about the potential contamination of our drinking water supply, along with our air and surface waters. I am also opposed to the permanent confinement of animals, none of which will ever be allowed to be what God created them to be. Such operations are often also de-humanizing, turning workers into things, as they attempt to numb themselves to the cruel reality they are helping to perpetuate. These workers are often exploited illegal aliens, paid less than mimimum wage and provided with poor working conditions by CAFO operators. The so-called benefit of having production concentrated loses all of its meaning when actual costs are factored in, particularly those not typically quantified via a dollar sign.
I live in Illinois and am looking for a second home in Vernon County
I am lured to this area by the pristine trout streams that have been restored. If the CAFO come into this area I will likely not purchase the large parcel of land I am considering for my second home. The economic impact of tourists and fisherman to this area will be jeopardized. will closely watch the development of the CAFO before I make my decision
Illinois
I live in Chicago and have been visiting this area for 25 years. I hope to extend the streak to 50 years, but for that to happen, I need the water to remain cool, clean, and clear.
Wisconsin
I grew up in Westby and most of my family still lives there. There is no economic need to raise livestock in this manner and the dangers posed by the resultant animal waste are unacceptable to the environment and to the people who live in the area, as well as to people who care about either one. This operation is not welcome in the community; I have not heard from one person who defends it. Money shouldn't trump all other things.
I've spent a number of beautiful weekends in that area both fishing for trout and teaching others about fly fishing. Southwest Wisconsin's coldwater streams are as precious a resource as you'll find anywhere. Hopefully those who have the say over approving something like this realize the threat it poses and the potential consequences when something goes wrong.
Illinois
I have been coming to the area from Chicago for the past 9 years and have seen the positive impact that fly fishing has had on the communities of Southwest Wisconsin. You have some of the best fly fishing in the COUNTRY. Obviously, the successful improvements to area streams and rivers made by many local individuals and organizations have contributed greatly to the well being of area restaurants, hotels, motels, and other service related businesses. The addition of the proposed facilities would serve to negate and possibly reverse the improvements to the local watersheds that have been achieved over the last decades. It would also negatively impact the local businesses I mentioned earlier, as the water/air quality in the area worsens. Therefore, I strongly oppose the proposed development.
Wisconsin
These CAFOs compromise the health of residents and the future economic viablility of the driftless region. We need our elected representatives to pass legislation prohibiting large scale livestock production facilities. The arguement of job creation is false and based on short term thinking.
To whom it may concern: I have heard rumors of this debacle for quite a while and have been wondering how to oppose it in most effective and strongest terms. My husband and I own a beautiful little plot of land at the bottom of a valley barely three miles from Viroqua. Not only would we be directly affected by this operation, but the lovely and productive land of all of our neighbors, town people and country people would as well. Such operations are not farms, but rather waste-generating factories. Similar ones in South Carolina have been responsible for massive fish kills and possibly new strands of disease that have spread to humans. It is a bad and evil idea from every possible point of view to allow this kind of environmental blight to continue when every scientist (not to mention observant citizens) has cautioned and rallied against their being allowed. We don't need it in Vernon County; nobody needs it except t he narrow self-interested and cynical persons who will exploit resources belonging to all of us for their own gain. Stop this CAFO now. Sincerely, Gay Davidson-Zielske
First, I love Vernon County and stand to lose the beauty and purity of its waters that makes it unique. Only secondly do I oppose this idea on financial grounds--having land and a cabin in the valley a mere three miles away.
Wisconsin
I have a medium sized CAFO in my backyard 200 feet from my backdoor and it's a nightmare. The noise and smell are horrible. The 16 plus fans point directly at us, can you imagine. Now he's pasturing these 34,000 chickens up slope from us and our well, shouldn't take long till the ground water is contaminated with manure and barn wash. Cafo's rather large medium or small need more regulations and set backs. Can you imagine trying to live next to 75,000 (expansion next year)chickens 200 feet from your door? Non factory farms are struggling why bring this in and make it worse.
Minnesota
I believe CAFO's are detrimental to our environment, unhealthy and cruel to the animals kept there and are surely a threat to our health and well-being.
IL
This is an important issue because several of my relatives, including my parents, live very closeby.
Illinois and Wisconsin
It is so important that we STOP the spread of CAFO's which harm the environment and pollute the water table. It's so much better to support the small family farm, and in particular Organic farms. John Rosenheim
Wisconsin
I grew up on a farm. I believe factory farms are cruel to animals. Such farming is not a sustainable way to protect land, water and air quality. I don't believe meat or dairy products produced in factory farms are as healthy for the consumer. I am also concerned about working conditions of people employed on CAFOs.
Illinois
I have been fly fishing the Viroqua area for more then 10 years. I hope that one day that my two little boys will be able to embrace the same type of passion that this country side has provided me with for more then a decade.
