The controversy surrounding a proposed dairy farm with up to 8,000 cows near Rosendale shows that Wisconsin should update its regulation of large-scale livestock operations.

At stake is Wisconsin's ability to maintain the competitive ability of its $26 billion-a-year dairy industry while adequately protecting the environment from harm.

Whether the $70 million Rosendale Dairy should be approved or rejected is a question for regulators to answer based on an evaluation of the plan and its suitability for the site southwest of Oshkosh.

But the evaluation process and how long it may take point to a problem lawmakers and regulators should solve.

The underlying administrative code governing the regulation in question was written with municipal wastewater treatment plants and industrial sites in mind.

The state should have a rule aimed at farms, giving regulators and farmers more flexibility to deal with farm-specific issues. The goal should be to conduct regulatory reviews in a more tailored, streamlined fashion, while assuring that the environment will be protected.

The Rosendale farm is projected to have up to 4,000 cows initially, later expanding to as many as 8,000. At the larger level, it would be the biggest dairy farm in the state.

The farm proposal underwent a review by the Department of Natural Resources, including an environmental assessment. But then, for the first time in a case involving a dairy farm, the DNR required a more complex analysis called an environmental impact statement.

Because the new requirement delays the farm plans and adds costs, the owners are upset. So are several dairy industry officials, who fear that the new level of regulation will make Wisconsin unattractive to dairy farm expansion.

But strict regulation is not the problem. After all, the state should apply tough regulation to large farms to limit risks to the environment.

The problem is that the law tries to fit farming into a process that fails to consider the economics of agriculture.

For example, the DNR looks at the Rosendale farm as an 8,000-cow operation, though plans call for just 4,000 cows to start. The regulatory scheme fits projects, such as wastewater treatment plants, that are not phased in or dependent on the economy. But it does not fit farms.

Lawmakers should give regulators the flexibility to deal with farms differently from municipal wastewater treatment plants. Environmental protection should not be sacrificed. But the goal should be to give farmers an answer in a reasonable time and in a framework that accounts for the specifics of farming.