Community and conservation groups in the Midwest worry that a change in California's carbon emissions policy could hurt the quality of life in the nation's heartland. This week, regulators are considering an amendment to California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Oil and gas companies would be allowed to offset emissions by purchasing credits from producers of "greener" fuel around the country - specifically, methane captured from cow and hog manure. It coincides with a push to offer government incentives to build anaerobic digesters, the facilities used for this production.
Matthew Sheets, organizer on factory farm and policy development for the Land Stewardship Project, fears it'll lead to more factory farms in states like Minnesota.
"It's mostly a concern about what it's doing to the ag economy, and what it's doing to other farmers," he said.
Supporters of the amendment say their goal is to reduce carbon emissions on a national scale. Many big dairy farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, are linked with digester projects. A 2020 report by Food and Water Watch found that, unlike human sewage, hog and cattle waste is not treated - so it can pollute groundwater and blanket downwind communities with a terrible odor.
Critics say those are some of the many effects industrial ag can have on farming communities.
Brenda Brink, with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said California's system of emissions credits would allow factory farms to "greenwash" their carbon footprint and put renewable energy, like solar and wind power, at a disadvantage.
"Because it's such a sweet deal, it's pushing more and more production through factory farms. State governments see the sweet deal it is - 'Well, look, it's clean energy.' And so, it's just this huge P.R. thing that is not true," Brink explained.
And officials with the Land Stewardship Project point out the nation has tinkered with scaling up digesters in past decades, but the movement didn't have the same staying power as other forms of renewable energy.
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A joint effort is helping Wisconsin farmers protect water quality in their communities by learning more about how to prevent manure and fertilizer spills and runoff.
"Nutrient Management Farmer Education" is a collaboration across six counties in northern Wisconsin, with partners from the University of Wisconsin, technical colleges and the Department of Agriculture. It helps farmers properly manage manure and fertilizer applications to optimize crop growth while protecting water sources.
Wayne Gajewski, a dairy farmer in Athens, said one of the biggest benefits is the collaborative aspect, where farmers learn as much from each other as they do from the instructors.
"I think it's a 'win-win'. It's good for farmers, it's good for the environment and it's good for the public in general," Gajewski explained. "Because farmers are trying to be as efficient as they can and without polluting or doing any harm to the environment."
State law requires farmers to develop and follow nutrient management plans to minimize their environmental impact. Gajewski noted the training enables them to create plans independently, reducing reliance on potentially costly external services.
Kirk Langfoss, analyst for the Conservation Planning and Zoning Department in Marathon County, said the program is unique in how it standardizes training in the region, educating about 60 farmers a year and covering about 22,000 acres. He pointed out grants allow them to offer incentives to farmers and help cover their tuition.
"They can get up to $750 reimbursement on soil testing, they can get payments to do manure testing, they commit to between eight and 12 hours a year when it comes to the class," Langfoss outlined. "It reimburses them for their time and makes it worth it."
Agriculture spills have been prevalent across Wisconsin, with one reported last month in Monroe County.
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Ohio food banks are urging state lawmakers to approve what they said is a modest budget increase needed to get more fresh, local produce into the hands of hungry families.
The request coincides with National Fruits and Vegetables Month and a broader call to support both food access and local farms. Through the Ohio Agricultural Clearance Program, surplus produce from nearly 100 Ohio farms is delivered to food banks statewide.
Alex Buck, president of the Fruit Growers Marketing Association, said the funding request is not just about food access, it is about sustaining local agriculture.
"Our relationship with the food banks isn't for profitability purposes, it is the right thing to do to support our communities," Buck explained. "It also allows our farms to be compensated fairly for produce that would not normally make it to the retailers."
He pointed out the requested increase of just under $5 million would help offset inflation. Food prices rose nearly 24% between 2020 and 2024, while Ohio food banks said their funding has remained flat since 2019, limiting how much food they can purchase.
Buck argued cutting funding could make it unsustainable for farms to participate, especially as labor and production costs have risen. He added the program shortens the distance between farm and table, preserving freshness and reducing food waste.
"Our farmers care. None of our farmers live in mansions. They love what they do, they love to feed families, they love to support the communities," Buck emphasized. "It doesn't make it viable for farmers to continue to support this program, if there's not funds behind it."
Food banks are bracing for a drop in state support from $32.5 this year to $24.5 million next year, which could mean 8 million fewer pounds of food. Advocates said the funding boost would help prevent the loss.
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By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.
Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Wisconsin News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration
At least eight miles of a Southwest-Wisconsin stream were polluted by a manure spill earlier this month. The spill killed hundreds of fish, including many wild brown trout. The affected waterways — Spring Valley Creek, Moore Creek and the Kickapoo River — have long been remarkable for their healthy water quality, healthy enough to sustain naturally-reproducing trout populations. The source of the spill appears to be manure applied to fields by a 600-head dairy operation near Norwalk, Ben Uvaas, who works at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), tells Sentient. A “gully washer,” or massive rain event, appears to have triggered the runoff, he says. Though the farmer of the dairy operation took measures to protect soil health, the combination of heavy rains and 11,500 gallons of applied manure per acre were enough to trigger a spill.
This year, there have been at least 9 documented manure spills in Wisconsin, according to the DNR. The Kickapoo River, where some of this manure was observed, eventually carries water all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Contaminants like manure and other agricultural byproducts contribute to an oxygen-depleted area known as the “dead zone” that can kill marine life. In 2024, the dead zone spanned 6,705 square miles.
On May 17, the DNR received a call about this spill to their violation tip line. The warden who received the call — a law enforcement official tasked with enforcing natural resources laws — went out to the stream, where they observed the hundreds of dead fish.
Uvaas works on the state DNR’s non-point source pollution program, referring to the kind of pollution that tends to be carried by rain or snowfall, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The warden was able to track the source back to a farm field in Monroe County, southwest of Norwalk, Uvaas says. Wisconsin Public Radio reported the farm as Brueggen Dairy Farm, a 600-head cow operation.
Brueggen Dairy is not considered a concentrated animal feeding operation as it falls under the 700-head dairy threshold set by the EPA. In 2022, the operation received the Monroe County Conservation Farmers of the Year award.
On Monday, May 19, the DNR fisheries team examined most of the area — collecting hundreds of dead fish along the way. Spring Valley Creek, Moore Creek and the Kickapoo River, where the spill occurred, are prized trout habitats in a region that is a destination for fishers and other recreationalists.
So far, the investigation has determined that the week of May 11, a farmer injected approximately 11,500 gallons of manure, per acre, to around 130 acres of farmland. A Wisconsin DNR official recently said that anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 gallons per acre is acceptable.
On May 14, the rain storm hit. Farmers frequently apply manure to their fields as fertilizer, but over-application can contaminate drinking water with nitrates, and high levels of ammonia can kill fish and other wildlife.
The farmer had been performing a range of what Uvaas describes as “soil health” practices meant to improve soil structure and the amount of manure applied does not appear to be beyond acceptable ranges. But the spill occurred anyway, illustrating that manure application has the potential to go wrong.
“Despite all our efforts to find the best time to apply (manure), Mother Nature is unpredictable,” Farm owner Randy Brueggen wrote in a statement to Wisconsin Public Radio.
“We as a dairy farm know how valuable this resource is, which is why we utilize incorporation practices in an intentional, safe and compliant manner,” Brueggen continued. “We strive to utilize our organic fertilizer over synthetic fertilizer for our crops. Our group’s farming practices always prioritize conservation. We want to sustain the land, so the land sustains us.”
In Wisconsin, “more than 1,500 miles of streams and rivers, and 33 lakes, in the nine counties assessed have impaired waters due overwhelmingly to combined pollution from manure and commercial fertilizer,” a 2022 investigation by the non-profit Environmental Working Group and non-profit law group Midwest Environmental Advocates found.
In the Driftless region of the Midwest, an area that covers parts of Northeast Iowa, Southwest Wisconsin and Southeast Minnesota, pollution containment and cleanup is especially difficult, Uvaas says. Unlike the rolling hills and lush soils of the Corn Belt, the karst topography is characterized by natural spring-fed streams, rocky bluffs and a thin layer of topsoil.
As a result, the streams are “fairly high gradient” and “high velocity,” says Uvaas, and this creates “an extremely narrow window” for response time, at least “compared to other parts of the state.” In the flatter parts of Wisconsin for instance, officials can put in barriers and collection sumps to collect contamination. But by the time DNR officials got to this site, it was too late. “There’s not any kind of collection or containment that’s feasible in the waterway, which is unfortunate, but that’s largely driven by timing and the topography here.”
Sentient is awaiting records from the Wisconsin DNR for more information regarding this spill, including enforcement action.
Nina B. Elkadi wrote this article for Sentient.
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