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When Riverview Dairy announced its intentions to build a there were a lot of questions about what that would mean for the community.

Now, 2 陆 years after the Waukon Dairy began milking, Kelly 鈥淏uck鈥� Engen, the mayor and fire chief in Gary, said Riverview has become a positive part of the community.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e well thought out, they鈥檙e really great to work with,鈥� he said, noting that there was some negativity before the dairy started and a lot of questions from the community. 鈥淪o far right now, it鈥檚 worked out great.鈥�

Riverview Dairy, a beef, crops and dairy company based in Morris, Minnesota, has operations in Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona and New Mexico. and , including plans for a 25,000-head dairy in Hillsboro, North Dakota, a 25,000-head dairy in De Smet, South Dakota, and a 12,500-head dairy in Abercrombie, North Dakota, near Wahpeton.

The Abercrombie Dairy is planned to be similar to the Waukon Dairy in Gary, Minnesota. And not everyone has been happy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not wanted. It鈥檚 definitely not wanted,鈥� said Erik Olson, who lives within a few miles of the proposed dairy site.

Olson and others make clear that they support agriculture and livestock. Their concerns, primarily, are for the safety and availability of their water supply. They鈥檝e questioned things like what happens if their wells run dry or show signs of contamination. While Riverview has told them they want to be good neighbors, Olson and his neighbors want to see more in writing about how problems will be handled.

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According to a fact sheet from Riverview Dairy, the Abercrombie Dairy is expected to cost about $90 million and will be located in Section 27 of Richland County鈥檚 Abercrombie Township. The site will include a freestall barn, an asphalt feedpad, and a 128-stall rotary parlor that is cleaned every 12 hours.

On the odor front, Riverview鈥檚 fact sheet lists covered manure storage basins and 鈥済ood housekeeping practices鈥� that include cleaning stalls twice a day as control methods. The manure will be injected into the soil 鈥渢o minimize odor and nutrient loss鈥� and will be tested daily in-season and applied per a state-approved nutrient management plan. They expect to use the manure as fertilizer on about 9,000 acres of land.

The dairy expects to produce about 11 loads of milk per day and to purchase 7,000 acres of corn silage, 2,500 acres of alfalfa and 500,000 dry bushels of corn from local farmers.

Based on the impact of its other dairies, Riverview expects the Abercrombie Dairy to pay out $3 million in annual payroll, $300,000 in annual repairs, and $425,000 in annual utilities. It also touts an increase in customer base for local businesses and an increase in local job opportunities, including jobs in trucking, manure application and dairy repairs 鈥� which Engen said has happened in the Gary area.

According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Riverview has 20 permitted sites in Minnesota. The agency took two actions against the company in 2008 at its Hawk Creek Calves location in Chippewa County.

鈥淭hey include failure to submit an annual report on time and failure to submit an application for a water permit (also known as a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit),鈥� an email from the agency said. 鈥淭he MPCA sent two separate letters of warning to Riverview Dairy. Those violations were corrected. No monetary penalty was issued for these two violations.鈥�

No other Riverview locations in Minnesota have faced penalties.

Riverview has submitted an application and nutrient management plan to the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. According to a public notice placed in the Wahpeton Daily News, comments were accepted by the department until the end of the day on Oct. 4.

Olson didn鈥檛 know about Riverview鈥檚 plans to move into Richland County until he was contacted by Dakota Resource Council and informed of it. While Riverview held an open house to talk about its proposed dairy in Hillsboro in July, Olson said by the time he learned about the Abercrombie plans near him, Riverview already was deep into the permitting phase. The company held an open house in Abercrombie in September, well into the comment period.

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鈥淗onestly, if it wasn鈥檛 for DRC coming to Abercrombie, I don鈥檛 think a lot of us would have realized what was happening,鈥� Olson said.

That lack of contact with anyone but the closest people to the dairy bothers him. He feels like there should have been more outreach and more questions answered.

Caitlin Johns was among the neighbors to the proposed dairy site who knew about the plans earlier. She said Riverview visited the farm where she lives with her fiance, Dylan Johnson, in early 2024. She contacted the DRC after that visit to learn more about getting people organized to learn more.

Like Olson, Johns and Johnson are concerned about their water and the water of their neighbors. They are worried about seepage from Riverview lagoons and how that could impact their water supply. And they鈥檙e also worried about wells running dry and the nearby Red River and Wild Rice River running low.

Johns said when they asked Riverview representatives about water management, she was told rural water would be an option for the people near the dairy rather than use well water.

鈥淲hy should we have to pay for that?鈥� Johns said. 鈥淲hy should we have to do any of that when we have a perfectly good working well?鈥�

鈥淲ater is our greatest resource. We鈥檙e trying to protect not only for ourselves but our future generations. And we have our right of having our well water on our farms,鈥� Olson said.

Smell is another concern. Abercrombie Elementary 歪歪漫画 is near the site, and Johns worries about her two children having to smell manure there as well as at home, depending on how the wind blows.

Engen said smell hasn鈥檛 been a big problem around Riverview鈥檚 Waukon Dairy. While there is an occasional smell, it鈥檚 not constant, which he said was 鈥渒ind of surprising.鈥�

鈥淩eally, you can only smell probably a few times a year. In the fall of the year they drain their lagoons and they pump that onto the farmers fields and things. They actually knife that in, and so when you drive by, you can smell that for a few days,鈥� he said.

But Johns said the proposed dairy in Abercrombie would be closer to populated areas than the Waukon Dairy is to Gary.

The neighbors opposed to the dairy also are concerned they will be on the hook for road improvements necessary for increased traffic in the township. Even if the dairy intends to pitch in on road improvements, they want to see that in writing rather than be told it will be taken care of.

鈥淭hey need to have all of this in writing,鈥� Johns said.

They're also concerned that the dairy will benefit a few 鈥� farmers who want the dairy's manure or want to grow feed for the dairy 鈥� but be a detriment to others nearby.

Riverview began milking at the Waukon Dairy on June 20, 2022, 15 months after construction began on the facility. Engen said the dairy is about five miles outside of Gary.

Engen said the school has gotten at least nine new students related to dairy employees. The employees frequent businesses in the community, like the local cafe and gas stations, and the company purchased memberships at the fitness center. He鈥檚 heard it鈥檚 the same in nearby Twin Valley, Minnesota, where Riverview bought a closed nursing home to provide housing for employees.

The dairy also has contracted with farmers to grow crops for corn silage and haylage. Engen said he didn鈥檛 know the terms, but he knows of local farmers pleased with the new market. And some farmers have been hired on as harvest help for the company putting up the feed, providing another income source.

As fire chief, Engen has taken numerous tours of Waukon Dairy for emergency planning.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very clean, well-run facility. It鈥檚 just a beautiful facility. They do tours all year long. If the public is interested, they would be more than willing to take you around on a tour,鈥� he said.

Touring, he said, is the best way to get the reality of the situation. He said the site manager in Gary has answered any questions the public has had, and the company has been straightforward about their operations.

Riverview welcomes tours, said Martha Koehl, Riverview communications specialist. The closest existing dairies to the Abercrombie site are the Waukon Dairy in Gary and the Campbell Dairy in Campbell, Minnesota. To set up a tour, contact Koehl at 320-287-2759 or martha.koehl@riverviewllp.com .