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MILWAUKEE  – The Wisconsin Supreme Court dealt a blow to environmentalists concerned about water pollution from huge livestock farms Wednesday, when it said communities couldn’t set stricter standards than the state.

The ruling was believed to be the first decision by a state Supreme Court in about a half-dozen cases pitting neighbors and small farmers throughout the Midwest against so-called factory farms, which can have hundreds or even thousands of animals. Similar cases have been filed in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Oklahoma, and the decision was closely watched.

Farm groups cheered the ruling, saying it will allow farms to grow and expand under predictable and consistent terms applied statewide. But clean water activists said it will only encourage the growth of huge farms, with thousands of animals producing more manure than the land can handle and runoff that contaminates rivers and underground water sources.

The Wisconsin case began in 2007 when Larson Acres Inc. applied for a permit to expand its farm in Magnolia, a rural community of about 1,000 people about 30 miles south of Madison. The farm already had 1,000 cows, and residents blamed it for polluting their water supply.

Town officials cited tests showing high nitrate levels, which could be evidence of pollution from manure, so the town granted the permit with conditions: The farm had to allow the town to conduct monthly water quality tests on its land, and it had to follow certain crop-rotation strategies to reduce nitrate buildup.

The farm sued, arguing that pollution-control measures are laid out by the state and can’t be modified by individual towns.