Photos by Lauren Justice

On a hot midsummer morning in 2012, Rhonda Carrell received a mailer from the Wysocki Family of Companies announcing its intention to build a mega-dairy and farm Golden Sands just a stones throw from her driveway in Saratoga, Wisconsin.

Carrells small town was a convenient location for the big agriculture firm. Twenty miles east of its headquarters, Saratoga is a midpoint between the companys farm fields, another of its mega-dairies, and its offices.

The day before Carrell got the mailer, a Wysocki delegate had come through Saratoga to drop off permit applications for Golden Sands Dairy. Its proposal included 5,300 cows and more than 6,000 acres of farmland scattered throughout the community. If the plan moved forward, the rural town of 5,000 residents would have more cows than people.

It was a prospect that frightened the Carrells. Wisconsin, known as the dairy capital of the U.S., is no stranger to mega-dairies. The proposed Golden Sands would join around 300 already operating in the state. Known as CAFOs , or concentrated animal feeding operations, these giant factory farms hold upwards of 1,000 animals that are kept mostly in confined conditions.

Their sheer scale makes them cost-efficient, but efficiency comes at a heavy price. Not only can they knock smaller farms out of business by outpacing them on price , but the waste they churn out can carry a heavy environmental toll especially when it comes to water. And Rhonda Carrell was aware of what was at stake.

The big problem with CAFOs, such as Wysockis, is what comes out of the cows: manure.