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The battle over cattle: 11 Investigates hidden costs of Williams County large-scale farms

Environmentalists and an Amish farming community battle over cattle, manure and the protection of Lake Erie.

Brian Dugger

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Published: 5:15 PM EDT August 15, 2024
Updated: 7:47 AM EDT August 16, 2024

Calves huddle together in fields that stretch out on both sides of county roads 1 and K in Edon.

In another field, a large herd of tagged cattle wanders over to see why a group of people are gathered near their fence.  

Barns for the animals dot the Williams County landscape. In some areas, partially built barns are coming together. In spots, the barns are near each other, separated only by a gravel driveway.

Near one of those locations, an argument erupts on the roadway as an agitated woman screams at a man who is leaning on the window frame of his large white pickup.

“How do they comply with permitting? They don’t get permits. I filed 10 complaints against them myself. … I’m tired of looking at cow manure,” the woman screams at the man.

After several attempts to counter the woman’s complaints, the man apparently tires of the conversation. 

“I’m holding up prosperity by sitting here. You folks have a good day,” he says as he drives away with a wave.

For two years, sides have formed in this Williams County battle. On one side is the Williams County Alliance, a group known locally as “the lake people.” On the other is a group led by Schmucker Farms, a large Amish family that controls 50 square miles in the far northwest corner of the state. On that land, they raise close to 100,000 calves and cattle that will eventually be shipped to JBS Foods, the largest meat producer in the world.

The battle is being waged atop the Michindoh Aquifer, in the St. Joseph River Watershed. Those creeks, streams and rivers eventually wend their way to the Maumee River and into Lake Erie.

Some of those waterways are dangerously polluted. If you ask the lake people why, the answer to them is clear: There are thousands and thousands of cattle living within too small of an area. And that many cattle leave behind a lot of manure.

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