The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has begun the process of reviewing and potentially changing Minnesota’s existing feedlot rules (MN Rules section chapter 7020, Revisor’s ID Number R-4928). This is the first time since 2000 that these rules have come up for review. For more information, contact Land Stewardship Project organizer Matthew Sheets via e-mail.
How you can contribute
This comment period is open until July 22 at 4:30 p.m. Writing a personalized comment to the MPCA before then is the best way to make your voice heard and have an impact on the future of Minnesota’s feedlot rules. Comments are being taken both online and by mail. Fill out the form below or mail your comments into the MPCA addressed to: “OAH Attn: William Moore” at 600 N Robert St., PO Box 64620 St. Paul, MN 55164-0620.
This is a tremendous opportunity for Land Stewardship Project and our members to influence this reviewal process from the very beginning. And while comments from organizations like LSP and experts are important and will happen, the most impactful comments are from individual farmers and other Minnesotans who have personal stories that relate why the rules need to be changed.
Background:
The current set of rules was first fully implemented 25 years ago. In the past quarter-century, livestock operations have continued to consolidate and scale upward. This growth, emerging issues around fish kills, and other changes related to modern feedlots were given by the MPCA as reasons for reviewing and updating Minnesota’s feedlot rules.
This request for comments opened what will be the first of four total comment periods that will span the estimated two-year process of reviewing the current feedlot rules and proposing changes to those rules. These are the rules that govern all feedlots in Minnesota, whether they have five horses, or 20,000 milk cows. These rules can and do make specific requirements for feedlots of a certain size as well. For example, they could address when manure management plans are required or address caps on the size of feedlots allowed to be built in Minnesota.
This comment period is the first time in nearly 30 years that the MPCA will be taking comments from the public on the entirety of Minnesota’s feedlot rules, and any part of those rules can be changed. This first comment period is also the most impactful, because the results of this comment period will determine the parts of the rules that the MPCA starts looking into. This comment period is happening before the MPCA has looked into what changes it would like to see and before there is any proposal on the table.
What LSP Is Looking For
The Land Stewardship Project and our members have worked for 43 years to resist the expansion of a factory farming model that pushes out other farmers, harms the land and water we all rely on, and puts our communities at risk. That historical experience, along with more recent work to respond to a large fish kill that the MPCA admitted was most likely caused by manure runoff and our members’ advocacy around the siting of multiple factory farms and factory farm connected infrastructure across the state, give us a clear picture of the things that need to change with Minnesota’s feedlot rules. Some of the changes that the Land Stewardship Project is proposing are:
- More rigorous reporting for transferred manure, and including winter application regulations for new permits.
- Lowering the threshold for feedlots to obtain NPDES and SDS permits to 600 animal units to prevent the common regulatory issue of feedlots being built right below the current threshold to avoid the more stringent requirements that come with permitting. This is an issue that has been recognized by the MPCA.
- Changes to how a collection of small feedlots all under the same ownership structure is permitted. We are requesting that rather than being permitted individually, they are permitted collectively.
- Updating the new manure management plan mapping tool to include more information about spreading plans and manure infrastructure like digesters. This information should always be made available to the public, not just to potential permitees while they are creating their manure management plan.
If you have questions about LSP’s proposed changes, contact policy organizer Matthew Sheets via e-mail.
