Community encouraged to attend MPCA Public Hearing in Morris on April 28
The push to “get big or get out” in farming has left its mark on rural Minnesota. In the last two years alone, 1,300 farms have gone out of business across the state, while large corporate operations have continued to expand. Now, Riverview LLP, one of the largest dairy corporations in the United States, wants state regulators to approve a dairy expansion near Morris that would house 18,855 cows in one location— more than twice the size of any other dairy in Minnesota.
The unprecedented scale of Riverview’s proposed dairy expansion has raised serious concerns about impacts to water, air, public health, and the future of family farming. In response, Minnesotans have asked the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to require a full Environmental Review of the proposed expansion before any permits are issued that would allow the project to move forward.
Community members, farmers, and concerned residents are encouraged to attend the upcoming MPCA public hearing on Tuesday, April 28, in Morris from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at the Old No. 1 Bar and Grill – South Side Event Center and Reception Hall.
People across west central Minnesota — along with groups like CURE — are concerned about what an 18,855‑cow dairy would mean for water, air, and the day‑to‑day reality of living in rural communities. In a region where farms, groundwater, and rivers are closely connected, water protection isn’t abstract — it determines public health, family livelihoods, and the long‑term future of the land. When an operation reaches this scale, it raises real questions about whether the impacts can be managed safely and whether this kind of growth supports or undercuts family‑scale farming.
The proposed expansion would generate about 285,000 gallons of manure —or roughly 20% more than the volume of the eight-lane pool at the Regional Fitness Center in Morris — every single day. That manure, teaming with nitrogen, phosphorus, and other pollutants, would need to be stored and spread on surrounding fields. Residents nearby and downstream are worried about what happens when that volume meets heavy rain or flooding, which are becoming more common. In areas already struggling with nitrate contamination and stressed watersheds, people see a real risk to groundwater, streams, and rivers, and ultimately to safe drinking water. That’s why the scale of this operation matters, and why careful scrutiny is needed before moving forward.
“Who decides when enough is enough? With 16 permitted CAFOs housing more than a total of 135,000 cows in a concentrated region of the state, how much is too much? The average dairy cow needs 30 – 50 gallons of water per day. That is anywhere from 4.5 – 6.7 million gallons of water per day currently, and that is just for the cows – it does not account for all the water used to irrigate for feed,” commented Peg Furshong with CURE’s Water Program. She continues, “The manure produced by these facilities saturates the landscape, threatening our wetlands and natural waterways. Overall, we all need to be concerned about how all of the added burden and impacts of this compound over time. Operations of this scale have forced out many of the small family farms that rural Minnesota was built on.”
Concerns raised by community members and advocacy organizations include:
- Potential groundwater contamination from manure storage and land application
- Increased nitrate levels in drinking water
- Air quality concerns, including odor and emissions
- Impacts on small and mid-sized family farms
- Cumulative environmental effects from multiple large CAFOs in the region
- The risk of continued expansion of large CAFOs across Minnesota with limited oversight
The MPCA hearing will give members of the public a chance to speak, submit written comments, or observe the process to better understand the scope of the proposal. Written comments will be accepted through May 7 via the MPCA website. Comments are also being collected by the Land Stewardship Project by searching online for “Riverview Dairy.”
