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Vreba-Hoff Dairy LLC’s decision to install a $1 million system to treat waste from two dairies in Michigan could put more pressure on the livestock industry.

Vreba-Hoff of Hudson, Mich. said it plans to have the treatment system in place by Dec. 1. It also agreed to pay a $50,000 fine and eventually stop the land application of untreated waste. The decisions, announced in late December, were made to settle litigation with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Vreba-Hoff was cited after the DEQ said it documented 25 separate discharges of agricultural waste to waterways from November 2002 to March 2004.

While the settlement does not set a court-binding precedent, it puts more pressure and a "bull’s-eye on the livestock industry," said David White, executive director of the Ohio Livestock Coalition and OFBF’s director of commodity relations.

"It puts further restrictions on manure – that’s what’s drawing the livestock industry’s attention," he said. "Any time you see restrictions on manure application, it makes things more challenging for producers."

The settlement should not have a direct impact on Ohio farmers because Ohio’s laws are very different than those in Michigan, said Deb Abbott, public information officer for the Livestock Environmental Permitting Program in Ohio. She noted that while Vreba-Hoff developed several large farms in Ohio, it does not own them.

"We have one of the strictest programs in the country," she said. "Our permits already meet or exceed the federal laws."

Only one farm in Ohio has applied for a similar treatment system, Abbot said. She said the state has approved the permit for Harrison Ethanol, a group that is building an ethanol plant and livestock facility near Cadiz.

Both Abbott and White said that not only are manure treatment systems environmentally friendly, but they can eventually be used to produce energy.

"The only problem is that they are very expensive – not everybody has the opportunity to do this," White said.