Land Stewardship Project

Land Stewardship Project
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Long Range Plan
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
      • LSP Board Committees
    • LSP Steering Committees & Working Groups
    • Contact Us
    • Past LSP Projects
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • LSP Publications
    • Financial Statements
  • The Latest
    • Community Care
    • Songs for the Soil
    • CSA Farm Directory
    • Upcoming Events
    • News
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • LSP in the News
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Land Stewardship Letter
    • LIVE-WIRE Sign-up
    • Myth Busters
    • Fact Sheets
    • Farm Crisis Resources
  • For Farmers & Landowners
    • Farmland Clearinghouse
    • New Farmers
      • Farm Beginnings Class
      • Journeyperson Course
      • Farm Dreams
      • Accessing Farmland
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Beginning Farmer Profiles
      • Fresh Voices Podcast Series
    • Retiring Farmers & Landowners
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Farm Transition Planning Course
      • Conservation Leases
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Land Transition Tools
      • Transition Stories
    • Soil Health
      • Cover Crops
      • Grazing
      • No-till
      • Microbiology
      • Kernza
      • Soil Builders’ Network
      • Soil Builders’ E-Letters
      • Soil Health Steering Committee Members
      • Ear Dirt Soil Health Podcast Series
    • Cropping Systems Calculator
    • Conservation Leases
  • Creating Change
    • Community-Based Food Systems
      • Ear Bites Community-Based Food Podcast Series
    • Policy Campaigns
      • Soil Health & Climate Change
      • Healthcare
      • Factory Farms
        • Anti-Competitiveness & Price Gouging
        • LSP Powerline Story Center
      • Federal Policy
        • A Farm Bill For Us
      • State Policy
        • MN Farm, Food & Climate Funding
      • Developing Leadership
    • Justice & Stewardship
    • Organizational Stewardship
  • Get Involved
    • Your Membership Matters
    • Take Action!
    • Upcoming Events
    • Land Stewardship Action Fund
    • Connect with LSP
      • Stay Connected
      • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
      • Shop
      • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
      • Legacy Giving
    • Network with LSP Members
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Soil Health
    • Farmland Clearinghouse
  • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
  • Stay Connected
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
Search
More...

Comments Needed: New MPCA General Feedlot Permits

July 3, 2024

Share

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • email

On Monday, June 24, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) opened a public comment period for Minnesotans to respond to proposed changes to two permits that regulate the state’s largest animal feedlots. The aim of these changes is to protect Minnesota water by reducing nitrate contamination from manure produced by feedlots that are 1,000 animal units or more, especially in parts of the state with vulnerable groundwater such as southeastern Minnesota.

Some of the major changes in these permits include:

  1. Required visual inspections of fields for signs of manure discharge both during and after manure application. The inspections must happen at:
    • Down gradient field edges.
    • Tile intakes.
    • Water features.
    • Any other potential point of discharge from the fields.
  2. Required best management practices (BMPs) focused on reducing runoff and nitrate impacts. Some required BMPs include:
    • During the summer months, manure must be applied to a growing perennial or row crop.
    • Starting in 2028, from October to November a cover crop must be planted prior to or within 14 days of application.
    • From December to February, manure cannot be applied to vulnerable groundwater areas.

You can read more about the changes here.

The Land Stewardship Project supports these changes to the permits, but there is still more work to be done in order to clean up our water and protect local communities. Show your support for these changes and push the MPCA to do more by leaving a public comment today.

Click HERE to Leave a Public Comment

 

It is crucial that the MPCA hears from residents around the state about this issue. Public comments are a part of the official record and demonstrate to lawmakers the level of public concern on this issue. The public comment period is open until Tuesday, Sept. 3. Leave your comment to the MPCA today by clicking here.

Don’t know where to start? Use LSP’s sample comment.

We have written a comment for you to copy/paste into MPCA’s comment portal. Feel free to change and edit our comment with your own personal stories, scientific data, or any other way you see fit. Check out MPCA’s infographic on how to write an effective public comment here. 

Sample Comment:

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Representative,

Thank you for the chance to comment on this important issue. My name is ____. I live in _____. I care about this issue because ______. [Share a little bit about yourself and your experiences.]

I am glad to see some of the changes and updates that the agency has proposed for the new NPDES and SDS permits. Many of them are commonsense ways to protect our shared land, water, and communities from the harmful effects of CAFOs, and I want to share my support for these changes including:

  – Protecting our shared groundwater by requiring that by 2028, all lands that have manure applied to them in vulnerable groundwater areas must have either a growing crop, a perennial crop planted, or have a cover crop planted with 14 days of manure application if spreading in October and November. I also support phasing out winter application entirely in these areas.

  – Protecting surface waters by limiting manure application within a 100-year floodplain to only application that incorporates the manure into the soil.

  – Monitoring spreading by requiring the permit holder do visual inspections of all land application areas.

  – Helping with cleanup and accountability by requiring the permit holder do water sampling after a manure discharge event.

  – And making our rules consistent by requiring people who buy manure from a permit holding operation or spread manure for one follow the permit requirements.

These new changes are a good start to what must be done to keep people and our shared water and land safe, but they also leave quite a bit of room for improvement. Here are some changes to your proposed permit that I think would make it stronger and would bring it closer to what people like me and my neighbors need:

  – While protecting water sources in Minnesota’s vulnerable groundwater areas is particularly important, all Minnesotans, regardless of where they live, deserve to have access to clean water. The additional requirements to the October, November, and winter applications of manure in vulnerable groundwater areas are good, commonsense management practices, and the requirement that those practices be followed should be extended to all lands where manure is applied.

  – While it is good that record-keeping of applications, including water sampling and ensuring that manure buyers are following permit rules, will be required to help make sure that permits are being followed, there needs to be a more robust requirement for permit holders to share this information with the agency so they can ensure permits are being followed. In addition, this information should be made available to the public. Communities that are at risk of CAFO pollution and its effects deserve to know that permits are being followed. Making this information publicly available will also allow community members to help the agency ensure that permit requirements are being met.

  – In addition to water sampling and testing being done after a discharge event, this permit should require more proactive water samplings to ensure long-term compliance with the permit and to help ensure accountability. These permits should require water sampling and testing be done regularly around the permit holding site and where liquid manure from the site is being spread so that the agency and the public can know that long-term damage and contamination is not occurring. These permits should also require that new constructions of manure basins and new lands used for spreading must undergo water sampling and testing before construction begins or manure is spread to establish a baseline nutrient load for future testing to be measured against.

I am encouraged by the steps the agency has taken to strengthen Minnesota’s NPDES and SDS permits to help keep us, our communities, and our shared water and land safe. I hope that you can continue these steps and incorporate some of the much-needed changes I have shared here into your new permits. Let’s make these new permits something that will protect all Minnesotans.

Thank you,

(your name)

Click HERE to Leave a Public Comment

Category: Action Alerts
Tags: CAFOs • factory farms • feedlot permits • feedlots • karst • manure • MPCA • water pollution • water quality

Contact

Martin Moore, policy organizer, Land Stewardship Project, e-mail

Upcoming Events

×

September 2025

Monday September 1

All Day
Final Deadline for LSP's Farm Beginnings Course
Monday September 1
Final Deadline for LSP's Farm Beginnings Course

Beginning and prospective farmers are invited to apply to the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course, a year-long training program that focuses on the goal setting, marketing, and financial skills needed to establish a successful farm business. The Farm Beginnings course creates a space for folks to name their vision, acquire the tools and skills needed to make it happen, and become part of a community of support to help them succeed.  

The course will run from November 2025 through March 2026, with some additional educational opportunities to take place later in 2026. 

The deadline for applications is Sept. 1. Early bird applications submitted by Aug. 1 will receive a $100 discount if you are accepted into the class. Partial scholarships are available.

More details are at http://www.farmbeginnings.org or Annelie Livingston-Anderson at annelie@landstewardshipproject.org.

You can apply to the course here.

Wednesday September 3

10:00 am – 3:00 pm
LSP Montevideo Office Coffee & Conversation
Wednesday September 3
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
LSP Montevideo Office Coffee & Conversation
111 N 1st St, Montevideo, MN 56265, USA

On the first Wednesday of each month, the Land Stewardship Project hosts coffee and conversation at our downtown Montevideo office (111 North First Street), and we hope you will have time to join us at the next one on Wednesday, Sept. 3, from 10 a.m. to noon.

The open house-style mornings feature a quick update on recent LSP work and then plenty of time to enjoy your coffee and build community the old-fashioned way, by talking face-to-face. This month we will give an update on our work to combat consolidation in animal agriculture and provide an overview of our recent town hall in Paynesville with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.  

 Come when you can and stay as long as you like! Don’t hesitate to bring along a friend or two — we always enjoy meeting someone new.

For more information, contact LSP’s Matthew Sheets at msheets@landstewardshipproject.org.

Friday September 5

9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Soil Health Field Day on the Cotter Farm: Austin
Friday September 5
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Soil Health Field Day on the Cotter Farm: Austin
50203 205th St, Austin, MN 55912, USA

 Sign up today for a get-together down on Tom Cotter’s Farm. This field day brings together food companies, local farmers and other professionals in agriculture — a perfect opportunity for networking and discussion.
Hear from soil health experts, then board the Topless Bus to take a tour of Tom’s farm. A FREE TACO BAR LUNCH will featureTom’s own grass-fed beef, along with authentic, homemade tortillas and rice. Featured speakers include soil scientist Kris Nichols and agronomist Joe Ailts.
 
You can check out the field day flier here. For more details and to register, click here.

Saturday September 6

9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Soil & Food Health Field Day: Austin
Saturday September 6
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Soil & Food Health Field Day: Austin
50203 205th St, Austin, MN 55912, USA

Details are here.

Monday September 8

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Anne Biklé in conversation with Ross Evelsizer: What Your Food Ate
Monday September 8
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Anne Biklé in conversation with Ross Evelsizer: What Your Food Ate
Pulpit Rock Brewing Company, 207 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

Join Anne Biklé (co-author, What Your Food Ate: How to Restore Our Land and Reclaim Our Health) and NEIA RC & D Natural Resource Projects Director, Ross Evelsizer, for a conversation and Q & A session followed by a book signing. Everyone is invited to this free event sponsored by the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation, with support from Pulpit Rock Brewing and Dragonfly Books.
 
Details on the Sept. 8 event are here.

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  • Land Line: MAHA, Bumper Corn Crop, Oats, Defining Regenerative Ag, Feeding the World, CAFO Hotspots August 28, 2025
  • Farmers to AG: Take Action to Counteract Community-Killing Consolidation August 27, 2025
  • Tell the MPCA by Sept. 10 to Focus on Clean Water, New Crops & Living Cover August 22, 2025
  • Land Line: Farm Finance Crisis, Mental Health, Inflated Inputs, Crop-Livestock Synergy, Bread Bloat, Pesticides in Water, Soil Health & MAHA August 9, 2025
  • Farmers Gather in Madison to Discuss ‘Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota’ August 6, 2025

Montevideo

111 North First Street
Montevideo, MN 56265

(320) 269-2105

Lewiston

180 E. Main Street
Lewiston, MN 55952

(507) 523-3366

Minneapolis

821 E. 35th Street #200
Minneapolis, MN 55407

(612) 722-6377

  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Land Stewardship Project. All rights reserved.

https://landstewardshipproject.org/comments-needed-new-mpca-general-feedlot-permits