EDON, Ohio — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is stepping into a battle over cattle in Williams County.
11 Investigates has learned that eight properties associated with Schmucker Family Farms have been cited by the agency for manure management issues.
Last week, 11 Investigates reported on concerns about a growing Schmucker herd of cattle near the Indiana border. The family business partners with JBS Foods, one of the world’s largest meat providers. After the business’ plans for a large facility in Steuben County, Ind., were rejected in early 2023, a large number of properties were bought and split in northwest Ohio.
A facility would be considered a concentrated feeding facility if it has 1,000 or more animals and would be required to have a permit. Splitting a parcel allows a barn with 999 cattle to be put on each half, doubling the total number of cattle, and not require a permit and closer state oversight.
Close to 100,000 cattle are on a 50-square-mile piece of land in the county. Large mounds of manure have appeared throughout the region and the Ohio Department of Agriculture cited multiple properties for manure-laden water escaping into nearby wetlands or waterways.
11 Investigates reviewed more than a year’s worth of water testing of the region’s creeks, streams and rivers, and several of them were polluted with high levels of E. coli bacteria.
The OEPA supported the findings of the Department of Agriculture and gave the properties until Sept. 1 to fix the issues. The significant part of this action is that if those fixes aren’t made by the deadline, the property owners will be required to apply for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, which would restrict the amount of pollutants that can be discharged and also subject the owner to strict monitoring.
Michael Schmucker, a spokesman for Schmucker Family Farms, could not be reached for comment. He previously told 11 Investigates that many fixes were underway, but that they would not all be completed by Sept. 1.
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