Disquiet in North Dakota Town as Mega-Dairy Tries to Move In
Erik Olson lives in Abercrombie, North Dakota, a town with a population of about 250 people in Richland County. He earns a living as a broker for a trucking company, and he describes himself as always having been “for animal agriculture.” His in-laws own a feed lot, and he doesn’t have a problem with cattle farming, manure, or the smell of manure.
Up until two years ago, North Dakota had an anti-corporate farming law that restricted corporations and LLCs from building and operating massive farm or ranch operations. Voted into existence in 1932, in response to the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, the law was intended to support family farms. But in July, 2023, the state legislature added an exemption that allows industrial livestock operations, and it was signed into law by Governor Doug Burgum. Since then, there’s been considerable interest from corporations that want to build CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations, in the state.
“When I heard talks of a dairy coming in,” says Olson, “I couldn’t remember if I heard it was 1,200 cows or 12,000 cows, but I thought it couldn’t be 12,000 cows because that would be insane.”
It turns out that Riverview Dairy, LLP, a Minnesota-based company, received a permit to build a mega-dairy in Richland County with 12,500 cows. For Olson and many of his neighbors, the first they learned about the new project was when the Dakota Resource Council, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable use of the state’s natural resources, held a community meeting. It was three weeks before the deadline for public comment.
“There was no transparency about the project in the community,” says Olson. “But my eyes opened up in that first meeting. I didn’t even know about CAFOs before then, and this news was a little bit of a shock not just for myself, but for everybody.”
Nobody at that meeting thought the proposed mega-dairy was a good idea, says Olson. The unanimous concern had to do with water. Several community members rely on their wells for drinking water, and Olson has had his water quality tested—and testing came back as excellent, he says. The wells are privately owned and paid for by their owners. Some well owners can’t access rural water piped in unless they do so at great expense.
“Our own private wells are our right,” he says. “We paid for those wells.”
The Town of Abercrombie, North Dakota (also known as the Historic Fort Abercrombie), is situated along the Red River that borders North Dakota and Minnesota. The planned site ist approximately 1.8 miles from the Red River and 1.4 miles from the Wild Rice River and only 3 miles south of the small town of Abercrombie. Residents have been warned by water experts that pollutants from the proposed mega-dairy would flow downstream into the valley.
The community hired an independent hydrologist who looked at data that the Department of Environmental Quality was using to permit the mega-dairy, and according to Olson, his report found that their water table would be contaminated with nitrates within approximately one year of the start of operations. The mega-dairy would be located directly above the Wahpetan Buried Valley Aquifer, which supplies the drinking water for three municipalities and rural farmsteads. Its manure lagoons would only be 22 inches from the valley’s water table, and the lagoons would be constructed with clay liners, which according to North Dakota Century code, have an “allowable seepage.”
The community worries that the wells tied to the aquifer will go dry or get contaminated, says Olson. There is no back up plan in place for communities to get clean drinking water if, or when, the water is contaminated. Riverview has told the community that if their wells go dry, they’ll be a good neighbor and help out. But they don’t offer details on what the help will consist of, and while they offer to “do a handshake,” they won’t put anything in writing.
“For most of us, the wells are all we have,” says Olson. “The CAFO will not be liable to get us fresh water if our well goes dry.”
When he investigated what it would take to get rural water piped in, he learned he’d have to pay to have one and half miles of pipeline laid down, at a cost of approximately $70,000 to $90,000.
Riverview estimates that it will need to pull 300,000 to 350,000 gallons of water from the aquifer every day in order to operate the proposed facility. And although Riverview has the permit for the mega-dairy, they haven’t started to build yet because they don’t have water security. The corporation is waiting on a contract with the nearby rural water company for the 300,000 gallons per day. They are trying to rush it along, though, according to Olson.
“We’re hoping and praying that something falls through,” he says. “We hope they don’t get a foot in the door.”
The concern about the dairy getting a foot in the door comes from conversations Olson and the community have had with residents of towns in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Arizona, where mega-dairies have come in. Invariably, he says, once the dairy gets established, they end up needing more water, which in turns leads to more drilling of wells, and a more depleted aquifer.
“Another concern from the community is that Riverview will only be taxed the same amount as if the land were planted with a crop,” he says. “There are no tax incentives to the community, and our property value will most definitely go down due to all the negative effect this dairy will have.”
Riverview will not be required to pay for road damage created by heavy use. “Residents’ taxes pay for road repair, and all their product is going out of state. Basically, we’re going to be a dumping ground,” he says.
The Red River flows northward into Canada, eventually emptying out into Lake Winnipeg, which is already eutrophic as a result of excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Olson feels that the location of the proposed mega-dairy—in the Red River Valley—is going to have adverse impacts on many more communities than Abercrombie. The river supplies water to thousands of people, Americans and Canadians alike, and the pollutants from the dairy are expected to be carried by the river. “It will be in everybody’s backyard soon,” he says, noting that several organizations, including Hog Watch Manitoba, Coalition to Save Lake Winnipeg, and Manitoba Eco Network, are also opposing the facility.
“We are a close-knit community,” says Olson, but he says that people are talking about moving. He’s heard from others who used to live near mega-dairies that they were driven out. People are reluctant to talk, or fight back, he says, because, if their wells do dry up, they feel they can’t ask Riverview for help after fighting them.
“We’re all tied to so many people in our community, and people are scared to agitate,” he says. “We don’t want to look like enemies when it comes time to ask for help.”
According to Olson, the community has sought help from county commissioners, state legislators, and city councils, but at every turn they’re told the same thing: “We have no control over this.” North Dakota is a state known for its lack of local control.
“The biggest struggle that I run into is that North Dakota is a huge agriculture state,” says Olson. “But this is not about being in favor of or against agriculture. It’s all about doing what’s right. It’s extremely important that we work together to protect our way of life, our water, and natural resources, keeping our community healthy and ensuring a better future for the next generation. We’re not anti-animal agriculture, that’s not what this is about. We want people to realize how truly harmful this operation will be to the Red River Valley.”
When I ask Olson if he thinks of himself as an activist, he says he does not.
“I am just a firm believer in doing what’s right. With people, with your life, and with the environment, but I will speak up and have a voice if I believe it is the right thing to do.”
Recent coverage of the issue is available at FarmAid, Sentient Media, AgWeek and more.
For more insights and opinions, check out CLF Perspectives on Food Animal Production.
Image: Mike Milli, 2025.