Proposed farming permit changes in Minnesota aim to lower nitrate levels in groundwater

ST. PAUL (WKBT) -- Minnesota health officials say nitrate contamination is all too common in Winona, Houston and Fillmore County groundwater.

Minnesota's Department of Agriculture reported that more than one in 10 Southeastern Minnesota private wells have unsafe nitrate levels. Unique geological features make the area even more at-risk to nitrate contamination.

The state's Department of Health says nitrate is linked to serious health risks like cancer and blue baby syndrome.

One of the easiest ways it gets into groundwater is manure runoff from farms, but a new proposal would restrict certain farming practices to lower Minnesota's nitrate levels.

The new requirements can be broken down into three parts. The first is when the manure is spread. Farmers will be required to plant cover crops in the fall in order to soak up the manure's nitrogen.

Farmers will also be required to go through visual inspections.

"Once you are spreading the manure, you have to go around the field and look around and see is this washing off into the ditch," said Joy Anderson, a supervising attorney for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.

Farmers will need to inspect their fields while manure is being applied and at the end of every workday.

The last part focuses on manure ownership.

"If the feedlot transfers manure to someone else to apply on their fields, that person who bought the manure will have to follow the same rules as the person who sold the manure," Anderson said.

The permit changes would impact only 1,000 of the state's 17,000 registered livestock feedlots. Anderson hopes there will be greater changes later on.

"This is what we'd like to see for a first step, and we think that things need to go a lot farther."

In a statement to News 8 Now the MPCA said if adopted the changes would not be enforced until 2028.

"The proposed requirements are a significant change for farmers and they, along with associated industries, will need time to determine how to implement the changes most effectively at their farm," the statement said.

Some agricultural advocates are concerned the changes will hurt the state's farming industry, but Anderson said clean drinking water for all is more important.

"This is hurting rural people," she said. "They have to take the steps that could cost, I mean digging a new well is tens of thousands of dollars to make sure they are protected from this nitrate that's getting into the groundwater."

​COPYRIGHT 2024 BY NEWS 8 NOW/NEWS 8000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.