Minnesota Townships Stop Agribusiness from Preventing Local Bans on Factory Farms

Press Release from Land Stewardship Project (Minnesota)

State Legislative Roundup:
Township Rights Survive Legislative Attacks Principle of Local Control Still
Alive in Minnesota

CONTACT: Paul Sobocinksi, 507-342-2323; 507-430-1509
Alan Perish, 320-594-6586

5/20/04

ST. PAUL, Minn.‹Despite pressure from the Minnesota Department of
Agriculture and one of the state¹s largest corporate agriculture lobbying
groups to weaken local government, township powers survived the 2004
Legislative session. None of the half dozen bills introduced to weaken
township rights passed in forms that had any significant impact on township
local control. An unusual mix of farm, conservation, environmental and local
government groups made protecting local control one of their top priorities
during the Legislative session.

"In Minnesota, we believe in local democracy," said Alan Perish, an official
in Todd County¹s Hartford Township who is also a Land Stewardship Project
member. "Township government is closest to the people and should not be
weakened. A majority of legislators realized that and chose not to weaken
the principle of local control."

In Minnesota, townships and other local governments have the right to enact
ordinances to protect the community. These ordinances must be more stringent
than state and county regulations. Townships have used this right to place
common sense limits on large developments such as large-scale
industrial-style livestock operations, often referred to as factory farms.
As a result, township rights have been targeted by proponents of factory
farms.

By early March, six bills that would have dramatically weakened township
rights had been introduced at the Legislature. As a result, on March 15 over
200 township supervisors, farmers and rural residents gathered in Willmar to
learn about the attacks on township rights and to take action. The event,
"Protecting Township Local Control and Independent Livestock Producers," was
organized by the Land Stewardship Project, Minnesota Farmers Union, and
Minnesota National Farmers Organization.

"I felt like the meeting in Willmar was a turning point for us," said Jim
Falk, a Land Stewardship Project member from Swift County's Camp Lake
Township. "We came together to learn about our rights and left knowing that
if we want to keep those rights, we were going to have to fight for them by
making our voices heard at the Capitol. I left that meeting with 200 others
ready to fight for our township rights."

Even before the 2004 Legislative session began, a Minnesota Department of
Agriculture official attempted to blame problems in the livestock industry
on local governments, saying in Agri News on Nov. 27, 2003, that local
governments need to be reined in and given parameters in which to operate.
In addition, the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council released a report before the
session began which attempted to argue that local government was a major
reason for the decline in the state's livestock industry
(http://www.agrigrowth.org/livestock.html).

"Corporate interests don¹t like local control," said Perish. "They want to
take township rights and give them to bureaucrats in St. Paul. They don¹t
like the fact that township officers are looking out for family farmers and
local interests, instead of corporate interests. We¹re concerned about
what¹s best for our individual communities."

Proponents of township rights are concerned about future attacks on township
democracy and local control. Governor Tim Pawlenty's recently created
Livestock Advisory Task Force is made up of representatives from the
Agri-Growth Council and other corporate agricultural interests. Paul
Sobocinski, a southwest Minnesota hog farmer and Land Stewardship Project
organizer, said he expects the Task Force will recommend that township
rights and local control be weakened or eliminated.

"The makeup of the Livestock Task Force shows that the Pawlenty
Administration is not committed to local control," he said. "The Agri-Growth
Council and other proponents of factory farms see township rights as an
obstacle to their plan for promoting large-scale industrial agriculture in
Minnesota, and they will keep pushing no matter how unpopular it is among
farmers and other rural residents. We're glad we won this round at the
Capitol, but we¹re still out talking about the issue and preparing for next
year."

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