To the people in Dover who are complaining about the smell of a dairy farm, may we say politely that you live in the country and should expect that?

The dispute over the potential expansion of Jay Noble's dairy farm at 21721 Plank Road is only the latest installment in a long tale that includes not only new rural settlers objecting to dairy farms but people objecting to factories, airports, wind turbines, and highways. In all cases the objection has the same root: Homeowners fear that their peace and quiet will be disturbed, and perhaps that the values of their properties will be affected.

In many cases, however, the answer is much the same: The farm (airport, wind turbine, highway, factory) was there when people purchased their homes so they knew that they were next to a dairy operation and that cows generate certain odors. In the case of Noble's farm, his family has owned the place since the 1840s.

This is not an exceptional case in which the farm will become much larger. Noble has a total of 475 "animal units" now - 320 adult cows and other immature animals - and he wants to expand to a total of 800 animal units. (An animal unit is the equivalent of a 1,000-pound animal.) Some neighbors are worried about the millions of gallons of waste which these animals will produce, but it is an agricultural area. And this is nothing compared to the 8,000-cow dairy operation approved this spring for Fond du Lac county and which will store 80 million gallons of manure.

That's another issue. Neighbors are concerned about how that manure will be handled. The answer is that there are requirements in place for that, and the state has been stressing manure handling for several years. Also, any smart farmer makes use of that free fertilizer because he doesn't have to pay for it.

This touches on the reason why Noble wants to expand. Agriculture markets have not been kind to medium-sized farms in recent years. There is a niche for small farms producing specialized products and for very large farms. In a county where we are seeking a mix of urban and rural uses, and in a time when people are turning to locally generated food, we should strive to preserve a local person who fulfills those goals.

There is also the possibility for cooperation if neighbors will stop objecting for a minute or so. Perhaps they would like to help Noble obtain money for a manure digester. These turn cow waste into natural gas, and why couldn't Noble's farm turn its smelly byproduct into energy? If neighbors contribute directly, why couldn't they take payment in the form of compressed natural gas for cooking or heating their homes during the winter, because that smell they don't like is also an odor of opportunity drifting past.