MPCA

MPCA Needs to Set the Right Precedent for this Unprecedented CAFO

Tell the MPCA by March 12 that Industrial-Scale Projects Need Industrial-Scale Review

March 2, 2026

Minnesota’s largest dairy producer has applied to build the first livestock operation in the state to hold over 20,000 animal units. If built, the concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) will hold 18,855 dairy cattle, bringing the total animal units to 26,397 in one facility. This proposed operation is the first of its size in Minnesota.…  Read More →

Category: Action Alerts
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Tell the MPCA by Sept. 10 to Focus on Clean Water, New Crops & Living Cover

Agency Accepting Comments on Nutrient Reduction Strategy

August 22, 2025

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is accepting comments on updating its Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy 2025 (full draft document found here), which establishes a roadmap for reaching both phosphorus and nitrate reduction goals.  Please take a moment to review LSP’s comments and rationale for actionable items for this plan and submit your comments via…  Read More →

Category: Action Alerts
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Contact the MPCA by July 22 About Revising its Feedlot Rules

This is a Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity to Improve How Minnesota's Manure is Managed

July 2, 2025

The Land Stewardship Project and our members have worked for 43 years to push back against the expansion of a factory farming model that forces out farmers, harms the land and water, and puts our communities at risk. This work is built upon that experience, and the stories of our farmer and rural members who…  Read More →

Category: Action Alerts
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LSP Demands Answers Surrounding Recent Manure Spill in Kandiyohi County

Riverview's Meadow Star Dairy Suffers Manure Leak From Biogas Digester System

March 7, 2025

PENNOCK, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) today called on one of the country’s largest dairy farming firms and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to release details on a recent manure spill that was reported in southwestern Minnesota’s Kandiyohi County. According to the West Central Tribune, Riverview, LLP officials reported to state officials that…  Read More →

Category: News Releases
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Comments Needed: New MPCA General Feedlot Permits

July 3, 2024

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…  Read More →

Category: Action Alerts
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LSP Says State Work Plan Falls Short in Addressing Nitrate Pollution in SE MN 

Focus Should be on Promoting Water-Friendly Farming Systems, Not the Status Quo 

February 5, 2024

LEWISTON, Minn. — A work plan submitted by Minnesota state agencies to address nitrate pollution in southeastern Minnesota does not address the root cause of the problem and instead relies on pre-existing programs that have shown little evidence of success thus far, said members of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP). “We know that we can…  Read More →

Category: News Releases
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Nitrate’s Season of Reckoning

Ag Pollution in Karst Country Offers a Critical Opportunity for Soil-Friendly Farming

By Brian DeVore
January 20, 2024

For residents of southeastern Minnesota, the past few months must seem like “The Season of the Nitrate.” It turns out nitrogen, that critical source of crop fertility, is quite adept at escaping our farm fields, and, in the form of nitrate, polluting groundwater. So much so that scientists, government officials, and physicians now recognize it…  Read More →

Category: Blog
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Letter: When it Comes to Addressing Nitrates, State Needs an Effective Public Engagement Campaign

LSP & Allies Call for Several Action Steps on the Part of MDH, MPCA & MDA

December 18, 2023

Note: In April 2023, the Land Stewardship Project joined 10 other groups in filing a petition calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to use its emergency authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act to address the fact that nitrate contamination is causing “an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health” in the karst region of…  Read More →

Category: Blog
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Fish Kill Bill Offers Comprehensive Protections for MN Water Quality

Local Citizen Organizing Prompted Passage of Legislation After SE MN Disasters

June 6, 2023

LEWISTON, Minn. — Winona County residents are hailing the passage of a comprehensive bill that makes significant changes to the investigation of fish kills in Minnesota. The legislation, which was passed during the recently concluded session of the state Legislature, was pushed by a group of local residents after a series of fish kills in their…  Read More →

Category: News Releases
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2023 Minnesota Legislative Session Wrap-Up 

Historic Wins for Sustainable & Regenerative Ag, Small & Mid-sized Farmers & Rural Communities 

By Laura Schreiber & Amanda Koehler 
May 25, 2023

During the recently concluded session of the Minnesota Legislature, Land Stewardship Project members and partners worked to win record investments in sustainable and regenerative agriculture, small and mid-sized farmers, and rural communities after decades of underfunding. We won a MinnesotaCare Public Option, as well as historic investments in the Emerging Farmers Office at the Minnesota…  Read More →

Category: Blog
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