Background:
Right now, more than 175,000 Minnesotans live in communities with elevated nitrate levels (>3mg/L) in their drinking water, particularly in southeastern Minnesota. Consuming too much nitrate can affect how blood carries oxygen and studies suggest that nitrate exposure increases the risk of cancer, increased heart rate, nausea, headaches, abdominal cramps, and more. Nitrate is also a serious risk to wildlife populations, particularly fish, and may affect local economies dependent on fishing and water recreation. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), more than 70% of nitrate pollution in Minnesota, and 89% in southeastern Minnesota, comes from commercial fertilizer and manure application. In the Fall of 2023, the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated Minnestoa state agencies take increased action in addressing chronic nitrate contamination of southeastern Minnesota's groundwater. 

We know that corporate, industrial agriculture is a major source of this contamination. Currently, an insufficient manure management program in our state does not hold Minnesota's largest livestock operations accountable for their impact on our water and soil. By passing the costs of pollution on to the public, these enormous operations are allowed to become even more economically dominant in the markets, pushing more and more of our small and mid-sized farmers off the land.

By better stewarding our manure resources, we keep small and mid-sized farmers on the land and ensure clean drinking water for generations to come.  Join us in demonstrating the demand for manure management reform and clean water in Minnesota! Add your name to our manure management reform petition below. 

The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture, and to develop healthy communities. LSP is dedicated to creating transformational change in our food and farming system. LSP's work has a broad and deep impact, from new farmer training and local organizing, to federal policy and community-based food systems development. At the core of all our work are the values of stewardship, justice, and democracy.

You can learn more and join as an LSP member on our website here.

Questions? Please contact us at 612-722-6377 or policy@landstewardshipproject.org.