Milk Source receives Richfield Dairy
WPDES, and high-cap well permits
RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP, ADAMS COUNTY, Wis. (Nov. 3, 2011) – The Wisconsin Department of Natural resources today issued the final permits for Richfield Dairy. Milk Source Holdings, LLC, was issued both its WPDES permit and its high-capacity well permit for the dairy, which will be located at 1st Drive and Cypress Avenue in the Town of Richfield.
Milk Source partner Jim Ostrom noted that the process for approval of Richfield Dairy has included more than a dozen permits and approvals. “Our permit application has received an extraordinary amount of scrutiny and review. We know we have met and exceeded all the standards to have a dairy that will be one of the most environmentally friendly dairies not only in Wisconsin but in the country.”
Ostrom added, “We thank the professional staff from the DNR for working in a diligent and independent manner as they evaluated our permit applications, our project and the science without bias. The extended review of our application and the permit approval show that science and fact support our due diligence and that a person’s personal agenda cannot and does not override scientific accuracy.”
Milk Source owns dairy farms in Kaukauna, Omro and Rosendale, and has broken ground on New Chester Dairy, a new farm in Grand Marsh. In addition, Milk Source owns a calf-raising facility in Greenleaf, Wis.
Richfield Dairy will cost about $35 million to construct and the dairy will employ about 40 people and offer health benefits, a matching 401K plan and paid vacation.
The yearly local economic impact of the farm is estimated at nearly $18 million. An additional benefit to local growers is that each cow yearly would produce the equivalent of 1.3 acres worth of organic fertilizer, which adheres to sandy soil better than chemical fertilizer, increasing crop yields and more effectively retaining moisture. There will be about 5,600 acres of fertilizer produced at the farm that could fertilize about 9 percent of the more than 60,000 farm acres within a 10-mile radius of the farm. Richfield Dairy already has requests for more than 16,000 acres to be fertilized within miles of the dairy.
Town Chair Margaret Burrows said, “This is a great addition to the community and we look forward to the dairy getting started. Members of our Richfield community are very much behind this great and exciting addition to our agricultural heritage. We are very excited to see the dairy coming to our area.”
Ostrom said, “We hope to have construction finished and start populating the farm in 2013.” |
