Action Alert: Ask Your MN Representative to Co-Author LSP's Manure Management Reform Legislation!

Take just two minutes to ask your state legislator to co-author LSP's comprehensive manure management legislation, if they aren't already!

Please personalize your message to be even more effective. Share your story: Are you a farmer? Have you or someone you care about experienced having unsafe drinking water? Why do you care about this issue?

Questions? Contact LSP Policy Manager Amanda Koehler at akoehler@landstewardshipproject.org.

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Co-Author H.F. 4630 - Comprehensive Manure Management Reform

Dear [elected official],

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HF 4630 (Smith), which strengthens manure management in Minnesota, was developed by and is supported by small- and mid-sized livestock farmers in Minnesota who know that careful stewardship of manure is important for the productivity of their farms and the health of their communities. Nitrogen is a critical nutrient to crop production, but when over-applied, it puts the health of the public, the financial security of families, and the health of our ecosystems at risk.

The bill:
- Lowers the threshold for required manure management plans to include the largest 16.75% of feedlots (feedlots over 500 animal units)
-Adds the testing wells and application fields identified in or affected by a manure management plan for baseline nutrient load levels as a part of approving a manure management plan.
-Requires mapping of manure management plans to identify overlapping manure management plans and areas of potential over-application.
-Strengthens setbacks for manure application from municipal and private wells, hospitals, sinkholes, bodies of water, or wetlands.
-Slowly increases county feedlot inspection rates from 7% of feedlots in the county each year (approx. once per 14 years) to 20% (once per 5 years). 
-Increases MPCA feedlot inspection rates for the largest 13% of feedlots to once per year.

As I’m sure you know, the status quo isn’t working and communities across the state are asking our legislature to take action. Nearly 9,300 people in Southeast Minnesota alone have unsafe drinking water due to nitrate contamination – but it’s important to note that this issue is not limited to the Karst region.

Moreover, Minnesota feedlot rules have not been updated in nearly 25 years. Between 1997 and 2022, Minnesota lost 78% of our dairies and the average dairy herd increased in size by 277%. Our current rules and regulations do not reflect what our agricultural system looks like today.

Right now, the costs of this are on Minnesotans. Nitrate pollution is an expensive issue to remedy. Minnesotans impacted by nitrate pollution, at best, have to purchase bottled water for the rest of their lives or install a reverse osmosis system. At worst, they must pay tens of thousands of dollars to drill new, deeper wells or end up with large bills from nitrate-caused health conditions. This is a cost passed onto the impacted community, not those who contaminated the water in the first place. Externalizing the cost of pollution benefits few at the expense of many.

If you haven't yet, will you please add your name as a co-author on this legislation?

Sincerely, [Your information here]