Josephine Marcotty reported on the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week that, “A bitter three-year legal battle between a Todd County hog farm and neighbors forced out of their homes by foul smells has become a flash point in the larger fight over Minnesota’s expanding pork business and the power of rural residents to protect their tranquil way of life.
“The struggle has spilled over into the Legislature, where pork producers are trying to limit so-called nuisance suits brought by feedlot neighbors.
“Together they illustrate how dramatically rural life in Minnesota has changed as farms grow bigger and more mechanized.”
Graph from, “As hog feedlots grow, neighbors ask: What about our rights?” by Josephine Marcotty, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, April 17, 2017.
The article noted that, “Opponents to the proposed law point out that such lawsuits are exceedingly rare in Minnesota — there have been only a handful in the past 15 years — and say banning them would deprive rural residents of one of their last remaining protections against large livestock operations. Moreover, they say, it’s an attack on a centuries-old property right that protects citizens’ ability to use and enjoy their homes, one that could quickly extend to conflicts beyond feedlots.
“Leaders in the hog industry, however, say such cases are on the rise elsewhere, and, like the one in Todd County, are supported by national advocacy groups fundamentally opposed to practices essential to the modern livestock industry. No one, they say, should have the right to sue them for being a nuisance if they comply with the law.”
Graph from, “As hog feedlots grow, neighbors ask: What about our rights?” by Josephine Marcotty, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, April 17, 2017.
The Star-Tribune article added that, “Leaders in the Minnesota pork industry say it’s not the neighbors they fear as much as the attorney who represents them: Charlie Speer, a Missouri-based lawyer, who has built a career on winning tens of millions of dollars for clients in similar lawsuits across the country. And by his side is an attorney for the Humane Society of the United States, which has been involved in similar lawsuits across the country.”
For more on state activity relating to large animal production operations, see these BartellPowell updates: Iowa, Illinois, and North Carolina.
