Daley Farm v. County of Winona (Land Stewardship Project Intervention)

Daley Farm v. County of Winona (Land Stewardship Project Intervention)

This case is a dispute over the dramatic expansion of a dairy operation. The authority of local government hangs in the balance. In a bid to get around the clear will of the people for the economic benefit of just a few, Daley Farm is seeking to divide the people of Winona County, MN, by spreading falsehoods about the work of Land Stewardship Project, a sustainable ag champion across Minnesota.  

FarmSTAND is representing LSP at the appellate level of its intervention in a lawsuit by Daley Farm against the county. The factory farm operator has twice been denied a permit to expand its dairy operation by the local government, due to a law limiting the size of agricultural operation feedlots within Winona County.  

Rather than accept those denials, Daley Farm sued Winona County’s government, claiming that the rejections were biased and the result of a conspiracy. They claim that the county’s permit denial was invalid because some members of local government have connections to Land Stewardship Project: an organization that works across Minnesota to promote sustainable agriculture and develop healthy communities. Daley Farm lost its suit, but is appealing.   

FarmSTAND is fighting alongside LSP at the appellate level of this case because what Daley Farm is attempting to do through the courts is a harbinger of what agribusiness wants to do to more rural communities around America. We cannot allow a smear campaign against those potentially harmed by the presence of a factory farm in their vicinity to render local environmental laws unenforceable. In a victory for LSP and rural communities in Minnesota, the appeals court affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

FarmSTAND is appellate counsel for LSP, working with Public Justice and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (counsel for fellow intervenor Defenders of Drinking Water) on this case.