WC Minnesota News

A Minnesota Court of Appeals decision in October ordering state regulators to reconsider an already approved permit for expansion of a Winona County dairy megafarm may have effects beyond that farm's family, a state senator critical of the ruling said.

“I am really disappointed in the court's decision to reverse the permit granted to Daley Farms," Sen. Bill Weber, R-Luverne, said in a statement posted on the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus' website. "Notwithstanding the court's nonsensical rationale, the decision could have far-reaching implications for farmers and farm families in Minnesota as the first case in which farms are regulated based on greenhouse gas emissions."

Weber's statement came two days after a Minnesota Court of Appeals three-judge panel ruled that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's decision to not conduct a full dairy expansion environmental review of Daley Farms in Lewiston had been "arbitrary and capricious." The court ordered MPCA to reconsider the permit approved for the farm, saying regulators "did not account for climate change and greenhouse-gas emissions the expansion would produce."

That was bad news for the Daley family, according to Weber's statement.

"Like many family-owned small businesses, the Daley family was looking to expand operations and continue its legacy," Webster said in his statement. "But even after an arduous review process and comprehensive public comment period that led to the MPCA issuing the necessary permits to double the feedlot’s capacity, certain environmental 'advocacy' groups appear to be bent on stopping agriculture dead in its tracks. As the next steps are considered, I remain confident the project will continue to meet MPCA standards and move forward."