As the number of factory farms has grown in Wisconsin, so has the power of the Dairy Business Association, a lobbying group that has gained unprecedented influence over the permitting and regulation of the giant farms - in some cases, crafting the law itself.

Correspondence and memos obtained through the state's open records law show the association is heavily involved not only in shaping policy but also has intervened in the state's handling of individual permit applications.

The DBA is the most powerful advocate on behalf of the state's biggest dairies, those with 700 or more cows, requiring them to get pollution permits from the state Department of Natural Resources. Each of the farms produces millions of gallons of liquid manure that is stored in large lagoons and spread on fields. In some cases, waste has run into nearby streams or polluted nearby wells.

Despite the volume of waste, an investigation by the Wisconsin State Journal found inspections by the DNR have been spotty, with some farms being checked only once during the five-year life of their permit.

At the same time, the State Journal found, the DBA has pressured the agency heavily to streamline permitting and further ease oversight. For example, it was largely the DBA that engineered a little-publicized change in the DNR's handling of factory farm permits in March 2008.

Speeding up the state review

According to a March 24, 2008, memo from DBA Executive Director Laurie Fischer to DNR Deputy Secretary Patrick Henderson, the agreement prompted the agency to speed up its processing of permit applications and even agree to issue approvals for farm building plans automatically if they aren't approved in a certain amount of time. Fischer noted such automatic approvals are authorized in the law and said the DBA was simply pushing the agency to follow the practice.

Last May, the DNR signed an agreement with the lobbying group in which the agency agreed to pursue a number of substantial changes in the regulation of factory farms, changes that some say weaken oversight. Those include the creation of a "general" permit, which would streamline and expedite permitting of the farms, and the sharing of some regulatory reviews between the DNR and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection - a practice criticized by some because of DATCP's role as an advocate for farming in the state. The DNR retains the authority to give final approval to farm plans.

The close involvement of the DBA in regulatory matters is representative of changes at an agency that has become increasingly politicized over the last several years, said former DNR Secretary George Meyer, who now is executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.

Meyer said it is not unusual for the agency to adjust permitting practices with input from both the public and industry but added that "in recent years the agency has become rather one-sided in consulting with industry on such permits."

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