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Letter to the Editor: Verification of Liquid Manure Spreading Quantities Is Needed

A Kewaunee County CAFO owner, manure hauler and crop/agronomist consultant were recently criminally charged by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Department of Natural Resources after investigating a case of severe overspreading of liquid manure on land, which eventually entered Lake Michigan. This manure reportedly contained large amounts of E. coli.

The Kewaunee County Board, appropriate committees, and the Land and Water Department must go forward into 2023 with renewed purpose to do whatever is necessary to eradicate this self-serving, voluntary reporting of unreliable numbers of liquid manure and begin verifying what is really being spread.

Water contamination is still ongoing, and excessive liquid manure spreading can be a source. Almost half the population of Kewaunee County depends on well water.

If you are a landowner renting land for liquid manure spreading, please check your written land-lease agreement for application limitation. Landowners renting land for liquid manure spreading without a written lease agreement should contact their attorney for direction. 

A sample land-lease agreement is available on the Door County Soil and Water Conservation website, or call the agency at 920.746.2214. Also, check out AgLease101.org. The Kewaunee County Land and Water Department is not currently offering this information on its website.

Residents of the county need to be vigilant and informed on this potentially deadly assault on our water sources.

Sue Weisser

Kewaunee, Wisconsin