In the latest episode in a years-long legal struggle between the dairy’s owners, Winona County authorities, and local environmental organizations, a Minnesota district judge ruled against the planned expansion of a Lewiston dairy on Tuesday.
Daley Farm, a dairy with over 1,700 cows in southeast Minnesota, originally requested for expansion in 2017. The owners want to change the farm’s environmental permit so that it may accommodate more than 4,600 cows.
The farm is in an ecologically vulnerable section of the state, where poisonous nitrates from fertilizer and manure are readily absorbed by drinking water sources. The US Environmental Protection Agency informed three Minnesota state agencies earlier this month that further effort was needed to prevent nitrate contamination in the region.
The planned expansion sparked a protracted legal dispute between dairy owners, environmental organizations, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Winona County Board of Adjustment.
The verdict on Tuesday was a setback for the Daley family, according to Ben Daley, one of the dairy’s proprietors.
“We’re obviously disappointed, but we’re going to appeal,” Daley said in a statement.
Winona County has a limit of 1,500 animal units for animal feedlots, including dairies. (Animal units are a legal unit of measurement used to determine feedlot sizes across different species; a cow weighing more than 1,000 pounds is 1.4 animal units, while a huge hog is.4 animal units.)
Daley Farm had a capacity of 2,275 animal units before the Winona County Zoning Ordinance imposed a maximum of 1,500 animal units, therefore it was grandfathered in and permitted to preserve its big herd.
Daley Farm’s owners were required to seek for an exception from the county’s 1,500-animal unit limit as part of the planned expansion. The Winona County Board of Adjustment refused the variance application 3-2 in 2019.
The dairy owners claimed that the Board of Adjustments was prejudiced against them and filed an appeal, launching a succession of appeals, court orders, and litigation.
Daley Farm sued Winona County Board members and Land Stewardship Project members in November 2022, claiming that the county officials’ past affiliation with the environmental organization deprived the farm due process. In March, the Daleys dropped their lawsuit.
The decision handed down on Tuesday was part of a separate lawsuit contesting the variance rejection.
