Posted August 19, 2014
A judge recently ruled that a coalition of utilities that
planted a power line through a small organic dairy farm could be forced to buy
the whole property, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune article by Emma
Nelson available here.
The St. Cloud Times also published an article available here.
Scott County
District Court Judge Caroline Lennon turned to Minnesota’s “buy the farm” law
when a power line threatened Cedar Summit Farm near New Prague, Minn., which is
the only 100 percent grass-fed organic dairy farm.
The public ruling applies only to that farm, but other
landowners are preparing legal fights along the route of the CapX2020 line from
South Dakota through Minnesota, according to SC
Times.
David and Florence Minar chose to force a purchase of their
legacy farm instead of operating under the new power lines. Lennon ruled that they
were within their rights to do so and now the utility is on the hook for
possibly $1.4 million when the case moves into an appraisal phase.
The
utility companies argued that the law did not apply, because their transmission
structure would cover less than an acre and would not have a “major impact,”
according to the Minneapolis
Star Tribune.
The Minars
disagreed and worried that a 345,000-volt line would harm the cows and have a
negative impact with customers’ perceptions.
Lennon's ruling
stated that the line existence "on one portion of the property necessarily
affects the entire property which is farmed together for the purpose of
producing 100 percent grass-fed organic milk," according
to SC
Times.
The Minars were pleased with the ruling.
"We're
very relieved. We're so glad the judge saw the common sense of the law that was
intended to help us get out from under the power line," David Minar said.
For more information on animal feeding operations, please
visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
