Accept responsibility to gain back trust

Don Niles was one year out of veterinary school when he came to Kewaunee County in 1983. The countryside was dotted with cows, their caretakers proud dairymen in their communities. However, dairying in Kewaunee County has changed from something of pride for farmers to something that needs to be explained after a “brown water event” gained national attention, with officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency descending on the Wisconsin county looking for answers in 2015 and 2016.

There were helicopters buzzing above and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials visiting large farms, requesting seven-plus years of manure application records from farmers, Niles recalled. But in the end, no fines were issued by the EPA, just a statement about the fractured geology of the area and a suggested solution: get the farmers to start communicating and working together to improve water quality in the county.

“As we’ve gotten more attention and modified our practices, we’ve had one brown water event in the last five years,” said Niles, who also serves as the president of the Peninsula Pride Farms farmer-led group. “Times are changing.”...

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Ken Notes: Time are changing and we need to change with them. We can find cost effective solutions, develop best practices, restore family farms, and return to an economy that sustains both our farms and our watersheds....