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Comments Needed: New MPCA General Feedlot Permits

July 3, 2024

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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

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November 2025

Saturday November 1

6:15 pm – 9:15 pm
Community Potluck & Folk Dance in Bay City, Wis.
Saturday November 1
6:15 pm – 9:15 pm
Community Potluck & Folk Dance in Bay City, Wis.
W6275 Main St, Bay City, WI 54723, USA

Calling all folk dance lovers! The Land Stewardship Project is co-sponsoring a potluck and folk dance at the Town Hall in Bay City, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 1. Can you attend or volunteer? LSP is looking for one or two more people to help represent our people-powered organization by tabling at this event. To volunteer, reply directly to this e-mail and let me know you’re available. 
 
For details, check out this flier. 

The potluck and dance are co-hosted by LSP members from Oxheart Farm and the Oak Center General Store. No RSVP required; please direct questions to Emmet at oxheartfarm@gmail.com.
 

Folk Dance Flyer 2025.jpg

Tuesday November 4

11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Birds in the Balance: Pest Control Services Across Crop Types
Tuesday November 4
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Birds in the Balance: Pest Control Services Across Crop Types
Online

This 10-lesson Wild Farm Alliance virtual course teaches agricultural professionals and farmers how to support beneficial birds and manage pest birds on farms. By learning how to assess the farm’s avian needs and opportunities, farms can be designed to provide for a diversity of beneficial birds. 

If pest birds are a problem, they can be discouraged with specific practices during the shorter periods when they cause damage. The sessions cover the latest research, tools and resources, and are given by experts in avian pest control, entomology, ornithology and conservation. While many topics and species are specific to the Midwest, most of the principles discussed are applicable across regions. 

Continuing Education Credits have been requested and are expected to be approved from American Society of Agronomy.

For details and to register, click here. 

The Course Schedule:

LESSON 1

Why Birds Belong on the Farm: Biodiversity, Pest Control & A Thriving Landscape

Tuesday, September 23, 2 p.m. CT


LESSON 2

Birds as Pest Control Allies on the Farm

Tuesday, October 14, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 3

Birds in the Balance: Pest Control Services Across Crop Types

Tuesday, November 4, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 4

Integrating Habitat into Croplands: Prairie Strips and Bird Conservation

Tuesday, December 2, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 5

Birds on the Farm: Balancing Biodiversity and Food Safety

Tuesday, January 13, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 6

Beyond the Crop: Birds, Biodiversity, and the Power of Edge Habitat

Tuesday, February 3, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 7

Bridging Forestry, Farming, and Habitat

Tuesday, February 24, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 8

Perennial Pathways: Agroforestry for Birds and Biodiversity on Farms

Tuesday, March 17, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 9

Birds on the Range: How Grazing Practices Shape Habitat for Grassland Species

Tuesday, April 7, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 10

Birds at Risk: How Pesticides Shape Safety on Agricultural Lands

Tuesday, April 28, 11 a.m. CT

7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Big Ag, Big Problems: LSP Panel on Rural Consolidation
Tuesday November 4
7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Big Ag, Big Problems: LSP Panel on Rural Consolidation
Lanesboro Community Center, 202 Parkway Ave S, Lanesboro, MN 55949, USA

 
The concentration of money and power in our food and farming system is a threat to our rural way of life, the land, and Main Street economies. According to research compiled by Farm Action, agricultural industries ranging from poultry processing to seed distribution are now dominated by four or fewer corporations, creating a system that for all intents and purposes no longer represents an open market situation. This makes it next to impossible for small and mid-sized farms to compete economically.  

Those of us who grew up in the rural Midwest have seen these effects firsthand. As once vibrant agricultural economies diminish, so too do community resources: hospitals, public schools, religious institutions, grocery stores, and more. Young people who see little opportunity in their hometowns move to cities and suburbs to start their careers and families. 
 
A consolidated, corporate-controlled agricultural system is also wreaking havoc on our natural environment. Runoff from large-scale factory farms and row cropping operations threatens our drinking water and spoils natural landscapes that people from all walks of life cherish. Without intervention, it won’t be long before all of us — urban or rural, farmers and non-farmers, rich or poor, young or old — will be impacted by the devastation of Big Ag. 

Join the Land Stewardship Project on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to hear from two people who think a lot about the power of Big Ag and its negative impacts — Austin Frerick and Sonja Trom Eayrs. They will lead a discussion about the forces threatening our rural communities and how we build the people power to take them on. 

This is an opportunity to take the first steps toward developing the kind of positive future for our communities that builds homegrown wealth, treats people fairly, and is resilient in the long term. If you love something and someone, you fight for it. Come fight with us! 
 
Austin Frerick Biography: Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. In 2024, he published his debut book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry.
 
Sonja Trom Eayrs Biography: Sonja Trom Eayrs, author of Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America, is a farmer’s daughter, rural advocate, and attorney.

To register for this event, click here.

Friday November 7 – Saturday November 8

Emerging Farmers Conference
Friday November 7 – Saturday November 8
Emerging Farmers Conference
Brooklyn Center, MN, USA

Details on the 20th Annual Emerging Farmers Conference are available here.

Thursday November 13

8:30 am – 1:00 pm
Women in Conservation Northern Network Gathering: Stories from the Field
Thursday November 13
8:30 am – 1:00 pm
Women in Conservation Northern Network Gathering: Stories from the Field
Bigwood Event Center, 921 Western Ave, Fergus Falls, MN 56537, USA

Join Minnesota Women in Conservation and Renewing the Countryside for a relaxed, creative, restorative, and interactive day of networking and learning with fellow women conservation professionals. Breakfast and lunch are included at the lovely Bigwood Event Center. Cost is $25. 
 
For more information and to register, click here. 
 
Please reach out to burke@rtcinfo.org for information on scholarships before registering.

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