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Support Lowered Environmental Review Thresholds for Manure Digesters

April 19, 2024

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Every three years, the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) publishes an updated Mandatory Category Report detailing project types that require environmental review in our state. Examples of Mandatory Categories included in this report include pipeline projects or feedlot expansions. Currently, the EQB is soliciting input from the public on the mandatory categories or their decision criteria for their next report, due in December 2024.

As you may know, Minnesota has recently experienced an uptick of large-scale anaerobic manure digester project proposals. These projects present significant environmental risks to our rural communities’ air, soil, water, and public health. The concentration of liquid manure in one location heightens the likelihood of spills and accidents during transportation, collection, and storage. Digesters can diminish air quality through elevated emissions of ammonia, nitrous oxide, and dust from increased truck activity. In extreme cases, digesters may pose explosion hazards, endangering nearby workers, animals, neighbors, and emergency responders.

As the environmental review rules currently stand, only anaerobic manure digesters processing 25,000 dry tons of input or more per year qualify for environmental review. Twenty-five thousand dry tons of input is approximately equivalent to the amount of manure produced by an 11,000 animal unit dairy operation. Just seven of Minnesota’s registered feedlots are larger than 11,000 animal units. Our environmental review policies must reflect the realities of our state’s agricultural demographics. It is essential to lower the environmental review threshold of anaerobic manure digesters from 25,000 dry tons of input per year to 10,000 dry tons of input or more per year.

Will you sign our petition telling the EQB to lower the environmental review threshold for anaerobic manure digesters from 25,000 dry tons of input per year to 10,000 dry tons of input or more per year? Sign below!

 

—Click HERE to Sign the Petition—

 

Want to be part of the conversation with the EQB? Click here to join the EQB’s next virtual roundtable on this topic on Tuesday, April 23, from noon to 1 p.m.

Want to Get More Involved in LSP’s Animal Ag Work?

• Join our next Campaign Action Meeting, from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m., on April 23, via Zoom.

• Sign the manure management reform petition.

 

Category: Action Alerts
Tags: CAFOs • clean water • Environmental Quality Board • factory farms • manure • methane digesters

Contact

Martin Moore, LSP organizer, e-mail

Upcoming Events

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May 2025

Thursday May 15

5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
MN Women in Conservation
Thursday May 15
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
MN Women in Conservation
42652 County Rd 7, Belview, MN 56214, USA

NOTE: REGISTRATION IS CLOSED FOR THIS EVENT
 
Come out and play with MNWiC and Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District. Tour Iverson Tree Farm, learn from other women land stewards, and meet local Master Gardeners and conservation professionals who can help with your own land dreams.
 
For details and to register, click here.
 
 

Saturday May 17

11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Community Plant & Seed Swap
Saturday May 17
11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Community Plant & Seed Swap
Lift Bridge Brewing, 1900 Tower Dr W, Stillwater, MN 55082, USA

Lift Bridge Brewing Co. and Sustainable Farming Association are partnering to host a free seed and plant swap and fundraiser at Lift Bridge’s taproom in Stillwater. Vendor opportunities available. 
 
Details here.

Tuesday May 20

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Webinar on Agrivoltaics: Sheep Solar Grazing Producer Panel
Tuesday May 20
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Webinar on Agrivoltaics: Sheep Solar Grazing Producer Panel
Zoom Virtual

Participants will hear from sheep producers about their experiences, along with the benefits and challenges of grazing sheep under solar panels. This webinar is part of a series about cattle and sheep solar grazing and growing forages or grain crops under solar panels.
 
For details and to register, click here.

Thursday May 29

9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing for Sustainable Farmers
Thursday May 29
9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing for Sustainable Farmers
Zoom Online

Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing Best Practices to Get Your Farm’s Next Customer is designed to help farmers grow their customer base by sharpening their storytelling and digital marketing skills—whether they’re selling through farmers’ markets, CSAs, or direct-to-retail. This Greener Pastures and Meet the Minnesota Makers workshop will cover how websites and social media can actually convert viewers into buyers to creating content that builds community loyalty.

This workshop is also designed for ag educators, professionals, and partner organizational staff who support farmers directly and want to be well-versed on the marketing best practices to support direct-to-consumer farms. 

For details and to register, click here.

June 2025

Wednesday June 25

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Wednesday June 25
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Hoosier Ridge Ranch, 15998 Wabasha County Rd 26, Altura, MN 55910, USA

Over the last 50 years, livestock have left many farms. Eric Heins is doing the reverse: bringing cattle – and their poop, pee and hooves – back to his land. Come see how Eric is using his Normande-shorthorn crosses in a variety of grazing situations. During this Land Stewardship Project-Practical Farmers of Iowa field day, you can view permanent pasture, where Eric (like everyone) is battling the cool-season grass takeover. You’ll also learn how Eric is using his cattle in cover crop mixes, prairie and woodlands.

Since purchasing the farm in 2020, Eric has converted the cropland to pasture. He also custom-farms a diverse rotation of crops, covers and small grains on neighboring farms, including an established prairie on Iowa Department of Natural Resources land. A possible bonus: Eric is hoping to have virtual fence collars by the time of the field day, but no guarantees!

A meal featuring Hoosier Ridge Ranch burgers will follow the field day.

See & Discuss

  • Cash-flowing the conversion to pasture on owned versus rented cropland
  • Stockpiling pasture for winter grazing
  • Mechanical buckthorn clearing for silvopasture
  • Grazing agreements on DNR prairie and neighboring cropland
  • A sudangrass mix after a canning pea crop
  • An extended rotation with oats, barley and Kernza

For more information, contact LSP’s Alex Romano at aromano@landstewardshipproject.org.

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