One of SEJ's many tours Thursday took participants to the Crave Brothers dairy farm in Waterloo, Wisc., less than an hour's drive from Madison. Our tour included a look at the barns where the farm's 1,000 dairy cows are kept, a peek into the cheese-making operation next door, and a delicious lunch featuring several kinds of cheese made on site.
SEJ-ers packed into an open-air wagon for a trip around the farm.
Farmer Tom Crave told us how he and three of his brothers began the farm 30 years ago with 80 cows. In addition to its 1,000 cows, the operation now has 1,700 acres of crops and a cheese-making business.
The farm uses a digester to process cow manure and turn it into electricity. The $4 million facility helps manage odors, nutrients and greenhouse gas emissions, said Karl Crave, a second-generation member of the family.
At Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, the SEJ group enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches, salads with fresh mozzarella, and a variety of desserts using the farm's ricotta and mascarpone. Karl's wife Beth, a chef, prepared the food.
Gordon Stevenson, chief of runoff management for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, challenged the idea that large concentrated animal feeding operations (called CAFOs) are the major source of agricultural pollution. Stevenson said the 200 CAFOs in Wisconsin are highly regulated, whereas the 30,000 smaller farms do not have to meet the same standards.
Small family farms are perceived as "holy" and unassailable, while CAFOs are perceived as uncaring "factory farms," a term he thinks is unfair. "Here is the truth about Wisconsin," he said. "Those small farms are no more virtuous than large farms are villainous."
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