The Dairy Gateway Project

The Dairy Gateway project is developing a grassroots network to promote profitable dairy farms and quality communities in northeastern Wisconsin. The project engages local stakeholders to develop a vision for the project area (currently Door, Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties) and specific commitments and programs that foster economic growth, environmental gain and community participation.

Dairy farms are vital to the future of Wisconsin's economy and have great potential to protect clean, open space around our communities. The Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection are partnering with non-governmental representatives to break down traditional barriers between farms, government, municipalities and environmental groups. Together, we're finding common ground and increasing cooperation among northeastern Wisconsin's diverse interests. Local participation is critical to the success of this proactive "yes we can" strategy.

Dairy farms participating in the project gain streamlined access to technical expertise, information on best management practices, compliance assistance, and the products of agricultural research at the University of Wisconsin. Passage of the Green Tier could provide new legal and policy instruments to protect and support the commitments of all project participants, including local communities.

Dairy Gateway Project Synopsis

Dairy Gateway is a partnership of numerous parties, including:

• the Department of Natural Resources
• the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection
• the Wisconsin Agricultural Stewardship Initiative, and,
• the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership.

This project will provide lessons and inspiration to those concerned about our environmental, economic, and social future. These lessons could ultimately be applied in other geographic areas and/or in other agricultural and non-agricultural settings. More specifically, we hope to support networks of people working at the local level to develop processes that will:

• Prevent Conflict and Bring Rural Neighbors Together
• Promote Quality Rural Neighborhoods
• Build Economic Strength and Jobs; and,
• Improve Water Quality.

The Challenge

Environmental sustainability: Agricultural runoff, especially from animal waste, may pose Wisconsin's greatest unmet challenge to water quality. Contamination of drinking water is already a problem in some parts of northeast Wisconsin. Odors and air emissions are looming as agricultural issues. Future supplies of water for drinking, agriculture, and industrial use are all threatened and aquatic habitat is in jeopardy. Major improvements by dairy agriculture, local communities, and other parties are both possible and necessary if northeast Wisconsin's natural resources are to be sustained for future generations.

Economic sustainability: Over the last decade, Wisconsin has lost an average of 3.5 dairy farms per day. Wisconsin dairies are struggling to compete with larger dairy farms in California and other states. Cheese producers are also moving out of state as they see declining milk production in Wisconsin and increasing production elsewhere. Many dairy farmers in Wisconsin believe their economic survival depends on expanding and modernizing. The importance of these trends to Wisconsin's economy cannot be denied. Dairy agriculture and cheese production has always been vital to the economy of Wisconsin. They create more than 80,000 jobs in the state and pump $18.5 billion dollars into the economy. Wisconsin's economy has suffered and will continue to suffer if we can't sustain our dairy and cheese industries.

Social sustainability: Wisconsin is a unique place. We have our own history, traditions, and values. Wisconsin's cultural identity, not just as "America's Dairyland" but also as the environmental leader among states, is very much at risk. The environmental issues and economic issues described above are colliding head-on. Conflicts stemming from proposed dairy expansions are raising tensions, and in some cases pulling apart, the communities of northeast Wisconsin. Disputed permits, zoning battles, and increasingly-heated public meetings too often pit neighbor against neighbor, and even the "winners" can end up feeling bitter about the process. History teaches us that even the best environmental and economic plans are not sustainable unless there is mutual trust, respect, and a shared vision among the members of a community.

Project Outline

In general terms, the Dairy Gateway vision is to unite communities around ideas and specific actions that support a strong dairy industry while at the same time protecting and improving our water resources and quality of life. An outline of how this might work is offered below.

• The project sponsors will identify a network of people in northeast Wisconsin with diverse interests and backgrounds who share the Dairy Gateway vision and are willing to work toward its realization. These people need to be ready and willing to cooperate in developing sustainable responses and specific actions to meet the challenge. The group could be created as a new entity or as an offshoot of an existing entity. The network ideally will include farmers, cheese producers, environmentalists, local government leaders, and others.
• The group will identify a framework of processes that will create the opportunity to develop goals and priority actions that all participants can support. Some existing entities have already created their own lists of most pressing issues impacting natural resources, which could be very useful starting points.
• The project sponsors will empower this network of people to take actions that benefit all parties. The sponsors can bring legitimacy, credibility, and recognition to these efforts potentially going all the way up to the Governor's office. There is also the potential of providing official standing and sanction for these efforts under state law, especially if the Environmental Results Act is enacted. The network could be chartered under that Act to enter into binding contracts with DNR to deliver environmental results.
• The project sponsors will provide participants with world-class consultants and other resources to help them accomplish their goals. We are prepared to offer participants the advice and services of mediation professionals, contract law and public policy experts, and agricultural and environmental researchers. The Dairy Gateway project has sparked interest at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and within the governments of Australia and the Netherlands.
• The project sponsors will assist the participants with carefully and objectively documenting progress toward their goals, noting what does and does not work, and sharing the lessons learned across the state and beyond.

Some of the initial efforts undertaken by participating Dairy Gateway farms include:

• Participating in proactive meetings with their neighbors. The objective of these meetings is to build neighborhoods capable of generating "terms and conditions" under which farmers and their neighbors can support one another.
• Helping DNR figure out how to apply the charter concept in the new Green Tier law (Act 276) to get better environmental results at lower costs for agriculture and the food processing industries.
• Providing locally-generated inspiration and ideas that will inform a statewide consensus-based policymaking effort.
• Developing projects to prevent pollution and conserve natural resources. These projects will address and minimize water quality and other environmental threats posed by agriculture and turn them into opportunities.
• Collecting and sharing environmental, economic, and social information that helps DNR characterize problems and opportunities and track progress over time.
• Supporting research to develop farming methods that are better for the farm business and for the environment.

The Dairy Gateway concepts also can complement Wisconsin Act 235, the new livestock facility siting law. Governor Doyle said Act 235 "will only be successful if you partner with your neighbors, your environmental and conservation friends, to grow agriculture in your communities." Ultimately, we envision a future where some of the more controversial aspects of siting and expansion decisions can be discussed, before a producer applies for local approvals, by informed stakeholders eager to find collaborative solutions.

The Joyce Foundation has generously provided funding to make the Dairy Gateway project possible. The lessons we learn will be applied as soon as possible in other geographic areas and in other agricultural and non-agricultural settings.