Overview

Overview of Water Protection Permits for Large Farms

Every farm is responsible for properly managing its manure and the other nutrients it applies to the land to prevent polluting lakes, rivers, wetlands and groundwater. See the statewide performance standards and prohibitions that all farms, regardless of size, are responsible to meet to prevent manure running off their land.

In addition, state and federal laws require larger farms - those with 1,000 or more animal units to get water protection permits. These permits are aimed at ensuring these farms use proper planning, construction and manure management to protect Wisconsin waters. Smaller farms may be required to get permits as well if they've had past manure problems or meet other risk factors.

The process to get a permit

Permit applicants must submit detailed information about the operation, a manure management plan, plans and specifications for all manure storage facilities, and a completed environmental analysis questionnaire. They must undergo an environmental assessment and public review. While the process is rigorous, the DNR has not rejected any completed, well-documented and credible application.

Permit requirements to protect water

The permit DNR issues requires farms to meet standards, follow prohibitions on certain activities, and meet other requirements to safeguard water, including:

• Follow approved facility construction plans
• Develop and implement a plan for when, where and how much manure and other nutrients to spread
• Have a minimum of 6 months storage for liquid manure
• Not spread liquid manure during frozen/snow-covered conditions
• Not spread liquid or solid manure during February or March
• Collect detailed landspreading and inspection records
• Control feedlot runoff to a zero discharge standard
• And others

The permit requirements, found in Chapter NR 243 of the state administrative code, apply only to water protection. They do not give the DNR authority to address air, odor, traffic, lighting, land use or other concerns, nor many of the social concerns people have about large farms.

When farms should apply for a permit

New farms that want to start with 1,000 or more animal units, or farms that are expanding to at least that size, must submit an application at least one year before they expect to reach the threshold. It's essential that operators contact the DNR early on so that we can complete our review of regulated structures before their construction, that permitting concerns can be addressed as part of the planning process, and that the permit is issued before the operation expands beyond 1,000 animal units.

NOTE: If an operation currently has more than 1,000 animal units and does not have a WPDES permit, the owner or operator must contact the DNR immediately.

It is the responsibility of the owner or operator to request an application from the DNR. Enforcement actions could result for those who do not apply but are found to have 1,000 animal units or more. See below for more details on the WPDES CAFO permit process.

Contact Information

For more information about this page, please contact Tom Bauman 608-266-9993

Rock Prairie Dairy

WPDES Permit for Rock Prairie Dairy

On June 30, 2011, the DNR issued a water protection permit for a Large Dairy Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) in Rock County called Rock Prairie Dairy.

For more information on the Environmental Assessment completed for this project, click here.

Contact Information

For more information about this page, please contact Mark Cain 608-275-3252

General Permits

General Permit for Large Dairy Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

On April 4, 2011, the DNR issued a standardized water protection permit known as a "general permit" for Large Dairy Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO). This culminates a lengthy process of reviewing and responding to comments from members of the public, livestock operators and their representatives and EPA. By issuing a general permit, instead of individually written permits, the DNR hopes to streamline the permit process and free up additional staff time to complete other critical activities. These activities include inspecting large-scale operations already covered under a permit and focusing on other aspects of the permit process.

Who Can be Covered under the General Permit?

The Large Dairy CAFO General Permit applies to dairy operations with 1,000 to 5,720 animal units and would require these operations to meet the same water quality standards used in the individual permits. DNR retains the ability to write individual permits when staff determine it's necessary to protect public health and lakes, rivers, wetlands and groundwater. Individual permits will continue to be issued for other non-dairy large-scale livestock operations (e.g., swine, beef, poultry) and for dairy operations that will have more than 5720 animal units.

DNR now successfully uses general permits to regulate wastewater discharges from more than a dozen different categories of industries. Wisconsin is the last state in the country to use only individual permits to regulate large-scale livestock operations.

General Permits Get the Same Scrutiny

The permit application and review process for general permits is very similar to the process for individual permits. This means that operations that get covered under the Large Dairy CAFO General Permit will have submitted the same amount of information and the DNR will give the application documents the same level of scrutiny to ensure compliance with permit requirements as with individual permits.

Members of the public will still have an opportunity to comment on a DNR decision to cover an operation under the general permit, as well as the operation’s plan for spreading manure and process wastewater on cropped fields, known as a nutrient management plan. This public comment process must be completed before the DNR can cover a given operation under the permit.

Operations must apply for and obtain coverage under an individual or general WPDES permit prior to reaching CAFO size (1,000 Animal Units). Contact your regional Agricultural Runoff Management staff person to obtain more information on the WPDES permit program and permit application materials.

General Permit for Small and Medium CAFOs

In addition to the Large Dairy CAFO General Permit, the DNR is also working on a general permit for Small and Medium CAFOs. This permit would be used on a limited basis for livestock operations with fewer than 1,000 Animal Units that fail to properly address impacts to water quality. The DNR is currently summarizing and drafting responses to written comments and comments that were received at hearings held in the spring of 2010 on the draft Small and Medium CAFO General Permit. The DNR is also determining if changes to the permit are necessary based on these comments. No date has been set by which a decision will be made on the issuance of the Small and Medium CAFO General Permit. While the comment period for this permit has closed, you can still view the draft version of this permit by clicking on the documents in the sidebar

Contact Information

For more information about this page, please contact Tom Bauman 608-266-9993

Statistics

Statistics on Wisconsin Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

Over the past decade, Wisconsin's become home to an increasing number of large livestock operations, also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOS, which must receive state water protection permits. These links below allow you to see maps and lists of these operations by county, animal type, and geographic region.

Map of CAFOs in Wisconsin

Wisconsin's WPDES Permitted Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Map [PDF 522KB]

Graph Showing Growth in CAFO Numbers by Animal Type

WPDES CAFO Permits 1985 - January 2010 [PDF 32KB]

Note: Effective July 1, 2002, a single permit issued to Jennie-O Turkey Store now covers 55 of their operations. Previously, there had been 17 separate permits covering each of the operations that were at 1,000 AU or higher. Reflecting this change in permitting for Jennie-O Turkey Store, the total number of permits for Wisconsin has decreased accordingly.

Operations with permits by county and animal type

Searchable List of CAFO Permittees - search, filter and download information about CAFO permitted operations.

Wisconsin CAFO Tracking Report

The CAFO Tracking Report [PDF 38KB] - provides only status updates, such as permit issuance/reissuance and review of plans for designed structures, on operations that currently have active projects submitted to the Department. The report is updated with new submittals at least bi-monthly. A complete list of currently permitted operations can be accessed from the "Online Data" tab on this page.

Contact Information

For more information about this page, please contact Tom Bauman 608-266-9993

Richfield Dairy

Richfield Dairy

WPDES permit

On Nov. 3, 2011, the DNR issued a water protection permit under the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit program for a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) in Adams County called Richfield Dairy.

DNR held a public informational hearing on the proposed version of the permit on July 18, 2011, that was attended by over 300 people. DNR received extensive comments on the proposed permit. After reviewing and responding to these comments as part of a Notice of Final Determination and certifying the Environmental Assessment for this project, DNR has issued the WPDES permit for Richfield Dairy.

The final certified Environmental Assessment for the Richfield Dairy project and the response to comments on the Environmental Assessment are also available.

High capacity well approval

On Nov. 3, 2011, the DNR issued a high capacity well approval for the proposed Richfield Dairy.

Contact Information

For more information about the WPDES permit, please contact Tom Bauman, 608-266-9993

For more information about the High Capacity Well approval, please contact Eric Ebersberger, 608-266-1722

Applications

• WPDES CAFO Permit Applications - The components for a complete WPDES permit application packet can be downloaded below in PDF format. If you would like to receive the permit application packet through the mail, or if you have any questions, please contact your Regional WDNR Ag. Runoff Management Specialist or check the list of Frequently Asked Questions concerning permit application timelines and procedures.
  1. Livestock Operation Permit Application Cover Letter (updated 1/07) [PDF 56KB]
  2. Instructions for Completing a Livestock Operation Permit Application [PDF 26KB]
  3. Livestock / Poultry Operation WPDES Permit Application (Form 3400-25) [PDF 53KB]
  4. Animal Units Calculation Worksheet (Form 3400-25a) [MS-Word 224KB] | [PDF 74KB]
  5. Environmental Analysis Questionnaire [PDF 46KB]
  6. Appendix A: State and Local Permit Checklist [PDF 37KB]
  7. Appendix B: WPDES Permit Application Process Flowchart [PDF 15KB]
  8. Appendix C: Manure Production Worksheet [PDF 146KB]
  9. Appendix D: Wisconsin Administrative Code NR243 [PDF 166KB]
  10. Appendix E: Consulting Engineers Specializing in Water Quality Design [PDF 40KB]

Contact Information

For more information about this page, please contact Tom Bauman 608-266-9993

Forms

• WPDES CAFO Permit Forms
  1. CAFO WPDES Compliance Monitoring Checklist [PDF 260KB]
  2. Plan and Specifications Checklist [PDF 64KB]
  3. CAFO Nutrient Management Plan Checklist [PDF 74KB]
• WPDES CAFO Reporting Forms
  1. Animal Feeding Operations Annual Spreading Report [PDF 24KB]
  2. Manure Applicators Daily Spreading Log [PDF 12KB]
  3. CAFO Self-Inspection Calendar [PDF 12KB]

Contact Information

For more information about this page, please contact Tom Bauman 608-266-9993