From Wagner v. Scheirer, decided last week by Eighth Circuit Judge Bobby Shepherd, joined by Judges Jane Kelly and David Stras:
Wagner owns two separate cattle farming operations in Minnesota. The first is a cow/calf operation aimed at breeding, and the second is an animal feedlot operation aimed at raising cows until they can be sold for processing. Wagner's cow/calf operation takes place in several pastures around Minnesota, while his feedlot operation takes place in feedlots in Minnesota.
Notably, animal feedlots and pastures are not the same under Minnesota law. Feedlots generally use lots and buildings to house animals, while pastures are open grazing areas. The key distinction between the two is the amount of vegetative cover; feedlots are not required to maintain any vegetative cover, while pastures must generally maintain vegetative cover during the growing season.
This distinction is significant because Minnesota feedlots are subject to stricter regulations than pastures. Under Minnesota law, the MPCA [Minnesota Pollution Control Agency] has the authority to adopt permitting requirements for feedlots, but not for pastures. Permitting requirements for feedlots are intended to minimize manure runoff into water sources; pastures are exempt from the rules that feedlots are subject to because the vegetative cover of pastures slows the discharge of manure into water.
The distinction between feedlots and pastures under Minnesota law has been at the center of multiple feuds between Wagner and the Appellees (collectively Scheirer). In two instances in 2014 and 2015, Scheirer accused Wagner of violating certain laws and regulations applicable to animal feedlots and imposed penalties on him. Both times, Wagner denied the violations and disputed Scheirer's authority to regulate the properties—maintaining that they were pastures, not feedlots—but ultimately entered into agreements with Scheirer and paid a portion of the penalties to avoid costly legal fees….
