Mega Dairy Farm in North Dakota Closer to Reality

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service) – North Dakota is joining neighboring states in welcoming large farms which dramatically boost livestock production but come with environmental concerns.

The Department of Environmental Quality issued a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation permit to Riverview LLP for its proposed mega-dairy farm in Traill County. If it clears other hurdles, it would be the second large site operated by Riverview in the eastern half of the state near the Red River. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations are often scrutinized for their history of air and water pollution coming from large amounts of animal waste.

Laxmi Prasad, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering and extension water engineer at North Dakota State University, said the industry has made improvements to limit environmental impacts but there are still challenges.

“Especially if the operations are growing in size,” Prasad pointed out. “Many times, outcomes depend on implementation of the best management practices.”