A broad-based coalition of respected Minnesota farmer organizations, including the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA), filed a request in April 2025 to intervene in Ramsey County District Court litigation filed in late January by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Minnesota Trout Unlimited and the Minnesota Well Owners Organization.

The MCEA/MNTU/MNWOO litigation alleges that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture have not adopted sufficient rules to protect ground and surface water in the southeast Minnesota Karst and Central Sands region from nitrates and seeks to force the state agencies to rewrite existing regulations on farming practices. MSGA and the coalition of Minnesota farmer organizations strongly disputes these allegations against the state agencies charged with protecting ground and surface water.

Key arguments that support the position of the various farmer groups include the following:

1. Minnesota farmer organizations support protection of their water resources. Minnesota has some of the strictest water protection rules in the country. Farmer organizations and individual farmers share the goal with the public of protecting the water.
2. Farmers are implementing effective solutions. There are multiple contributors to ground and surface water impairment, and this is not an issue strictly related to agriculture. Several organizations, including farmer groups, have invested significant resources to discover new/effective practices and help inform and assist farmers in the adoption and implementation of new practices to protect water from impairment. Farmer groups have also been working closely with farmer-leaders and membership to assess sustainable practices implemented on individual farms. Examples of recent practices include:
   1. Livestock farmers regularly implement best management practices that exceed the requirements outlined in state rules and permits that direct the utilization of nutrients from manure.
   2. State agencies report that 99% of Minnesota farmland has now reached compliance with the buffer water protection law – compliance which has been totally funded by farmers with no state financing support.
   3. Over 1.7 million acres have been enrolled in MDA’s voluntary Minnesota Ag Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP), an initiative that MSGA has supported since its inception a decade ago. Farms have added over 9,350 new conservation practices, which protect Minnesota’s waters.
   4. MDA has awarded grants to farmers to purchase or upgrade equipment for soil health practice adoption. Based on awards to date, this grant program has resulted in new soil health practice adoption on 320,000 acres.
3. Farmers are not seeking to lower water rules. While compliance with Minnesota’s water rules requires a significant commitment by Minnesota farmers, they are not seeking to lower the standards. After all, farmers get their drinking water from the same groundwater resources they are working to protect.
4. Important to follow accepted science. State agencies always need to balance competing interests among the public, environmental organizations, local governments, businesses and farmers when adopting environmental rules. To build public confidence and compliance with environmental rules, a key principle is that rules should be based on “sound/accepted science” and not political positions and the PR claims of advocacy organizations. Farmer organizations have worked diligently with state agencies to incorporate accepted science in the development of our state’s water quality regulations, and we take seriously our role in helping farmers adopt and implement new practices to protect our water resources

“As producers, we continue to be proactive and invest our capital year after year toward adapting and improving our practices to protect our natural resources and soil health,” said Darin Johnson, MSGA president and participant in the Ag Water Quality Certification Program. “We believe this litigation against these state agencies is unfounded and we’re proud to stand with our fellow farm organizations to defend sound science and support MDA and MPCA’s rulemaking and review processes.”

In addition to MSGA, farmer organizations that have joined to file the motion challenging the litigation include the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Pork Producers Association, Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, Minnesota Milk Producers Association, Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association, Minnesota Turkey Growers Association and the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association.