Wisconsin Supreme Court Removes Hurdle For Large-Scale Dairy Farm

Property rights advocates are hailing a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in favor of a proposed large-scale dairy farm in central Wisconsin.

Opponents of Golden Sands Dairy insist they are not defeated.

The company wants to house 5,300 cows and grow vegetables on almost 6,400 acres of land in Wood County`s Town of Saratoga.

A state appeals court blocked the project in 2017 when it sided with town officials.

The town officials said the building permits they issued did not give the dairy the right to farm on the adjoining acreage. The town board re-zoned the property to prohibit farming after Golden Sands had acquired the land and applied for the permits. The board also initially refused to grant the permits, but was forced to issue them by a circuit court judge after Golden Sands sued.

The state Supreme Court reversed the appellate court ruling on a 5-2 vote. Justice Michael Gableman, writing for the majority, said because it had the building permits, "Golden Sands has a vested right to use all of the property for agricultural purposes."...

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Ken Notes: Read this and let me suggest one more time that the time to consider regulations is before a CAFO is even proposed in the region. Require digestion, water and waste management, limited water use, and other things now - today - soon - go to the councils and boards with ideas and recommendations not protests and an anti farm bias...