January 9 – 15, 2022

Same story, different day.  CAFOs’ way of saying “Crappy New Year!” 

Applying CAFO waste on frozen, snow-covered, or saturated ground is one of the worst possible practices because of the potential danger to surface water.  None of the fields pictured have cover crops, there’s no growing crop in the field so there’s absolutely no agronomic reason for applying manure right now.  This is not precision application to meet the nutrient needs of any crop.  This is simply waste dumping.

Here’s what MSU’s EnviroImpact tool says about all the manure application fields in this long stench alert:

Soil temperature at both 2” and 4” deep < 32 deg. F

Runoff risk:  Frozen (snow) for Jan. 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21; Severe risk (frozen/snow) Jan. 19

Bakerlads, NW corner of Morey Hwy. and Beecher Rd.  South Branch – Raisin watershed.  E. coli TMDL, Jan. 13, 2022

Same application, around the corner at tributary to South Branch Raisin on Morey Hwy.  We’ll be watching this one.  Michigan’s CAFO permit requires either a 35 ft. wide vegetated buffer or a 100-ft. setback from surface waters.

Manure application north side of Plank Road at Morey Highway.  South Branch – Raisin watershed.  E. coli TMDL, Jan. 13, 2022

Hartland application, north side of Forrister Rd. between Hawkins and Bates.  South Branch – Raisin watershed.  E. coli TMDL, Jan. 13, 2022

Hartland, north side of Beecher Road between Henning and Hughes Highways, South Branch – Raisin watershed.  E. coli TMDL.  January 13, 2022

Hartland, southeast corner of Beecher Rd. and Dowling Hwy.  Bean Creek watershed, Jan. 15, 2022.

 Bakerlads stockpiling manure, south side of Beecher  Rd. Morey and Henning Highways.  South Branch – Raisin watershed.  E. coli TMDL, Jan. 13, 2022

There’s an orange perforated tile riser close to the road (obscured by vegetation) close to the road between the tree and the barn.  It’s in a low spot, so you can’t see it in this photo.  This tile riser will take melting surface runoff down to the tile drain and discharge it to the South Branch of the Raisin. 

Here’s another view of the same stockpiles, Jan. 15.  The gray box with the black top to the right of the telephone pole is a gate valve for a drainwater management device.  Jan. 15, 2022.

Bakerlads stockpile and application on east side of Whaley Highway, between Beecher and Cadmus Roads. South Branch – Raisin watershed.  E. coli TMDL, Jan. 13, 2022.

Bakerlads, same field as above.  This is what it looks like after they push the stockpiles around a bit.

The stench is awful for miles as these fields are not far apart.  What a way to start the new year.