In a rural area of northwestern Wisconsin, a highway worker observed a dairy’s waste and recognized it as a potential road treatment. A cheese factory producing mozzarella and provolone was generating salty wastewater and incurring costs to have it disposed of. Simultaneously, a county road crew was purchasing rock salt and losing some of it from the road before it could be effectively utilized.
This marked the inception of Polk County’s cheese-brine initiative, which became fully operational in 2009. The partnership eventually concluded when the local dairy supplier shut down. Nonetheless, the concept persisted in other regions: Green County, located in southern Wisconsin, was still employing cheese-production brine as per its 2024–2025 report.
Two waste challenges pointing to a single solution
The cheese brine discussed here was a utilized saltwater solution from the cheesemaking process, already laden with salt, precisely what road crews utilize to aid in melting ice.
Emil Norby, a highway worker in Polk County, identified a potential link between the dairy’s waste dilemma and the county’s excess road salt. As he [mentioned to Modern Farmer](https://modernfarmer.com/2013/11/wisconsins-weapon-highway-safety-cheese-brine/#:~:text=I%20knew%20we%20had%20a%20lot%20of%20dairies%20looking%20to%20get%20rid%20of%20this%20stuff), “I was aware that many dairies were eager to dispose of this material.” The brine originated from F&A Dairy in the nearby area of Dresser.
The technique is known as pre-wetting. Instead of dispersing dry crystals, crews apply liquid to coat the rock salt, minimizing the amount that bounces or is lost from the road. According to a [University of Wisconsin–Madison overview of the project](https://news.wisc.edu/government-innovation-winners-announced/), two employees from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources assisted the dairy and Polk County in obtaining approval and formulating application rates. The inaugural season of full utilization occurred in 2009.
What Polk County claimed to have saved
Outside the Beltway, while summarizing current coverage, reported that Polk County officials [indicated they used 30 percent less road salt](https://outsidethebeltway.com/cheese-is-there-anything-it-cant-do-in-wisconsin-apparently-not/#:~:text=used%2030%20percent%20less%20road%20salt%20than%20usual%20during%20that%20first%20year) during that initial year. This aligns with the anticipated advantage of pre-wetting: by minimizing salt loss, less may be required.
Financial benefits were realized on both fronts. Polk County saved $40,000 during its first full season of implementation in 2009. Modern Farmer also reported that F&A saved [almost $30,000](https://modernfarmer.com/2013/11/wisconsins-weapon-highway-safety-cheese-brine/#:~:text=nearly%20%2430%2C000) in brine-disposal expenses. Chuck Engdahl, the dairy’s wastewater manager, [summarized it](https://modernfarmer.com/2013/11/wisconsins-weapon-highway-safety-cheese-brine/#:~:text=Everybody%20wins) succinctly: “Everyone benefits.”
From a financial perspective, the attractiveness is evident. Whether this practice also mitigates environmental impact is contingent upon the quantity of salt and other materials that ultimately enter the surrounding water sources.
To provide insight into the scale, NPR reported in January 2014 that Polk County had utilized at least [150,000 gallons](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/01/21/264562529/cheese-to-the-rescue-surprising-spray-melts-road-ice#:~:text=at%20least%20150%2C000%20gallons%20in%20recent%20years) of cheese brine over the past years. Norby noted that 38,000 gallons had been applied just the prior winter.
Reasons behind Polk County’s cessation
The limitation lay in the very factor that facilitated the arrangement: proximity.
A low-cost byproduct can become pricey once factors like hauling and storage come into play. In February 2024, Wisconsin Public Radio reported that Polk and Burnett counties [had discontinued the use of cheese brine following the closure of their local cheese factory](https://www.wpr.org/news/green-county-ice-snow-road-salt-cheese-brine).
In the same discussion, Green County highway commissioner Chris Narveson clarified that the economics hinge on how far crews must travel to gather the brine. Trucks, storage tanks, and appropriate facilities are also necessary. The material’s low cost at the dairy represents only part of the equation.