Minnesota’s trout streams and groundwater are some of our most valuable — and most vulnerable — resources. Minnesota Trout Unlimited urges our members to tell the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to strengthen the Feedlot Rule to better protect clean water and healthy aquatic ecosystems.

STEP ONE : Develop your comments

Specific comments on aspects of the Feedlot Rule that need to change are important and if you have expertise or interest in developing some of your own that is great. MNTU is currently developing specific comments that will be submitted. However, a volume of comments that make it clear that updates are needed, why it is this important and why is it important to you are just as important.

Some reasons we know these updates are important include:

1. Water Quality Impacts

•Feedlots produce large volumes of manure that can carry a variety of chemicals and nutrients including nitrogen, ammonia, and sediment into nearby waterways.

•Nitrates reduce the size and potentially survival of trout populations and impact the macroinvertebrate populations trout depend on for food.

•Ammonia from manure is directly toxic to fish at even relatively low concentrations and has been tied to recent fish kills in southeast Minnesota.

•Excess nutrients can cause algae blooms that reduce oxygen levels, killing aquatic insects and stressing or killing trout.

2. Groundwater Contamination

•Trout streams depend on clean, cold groundwater.

•Many feedlots are in the southeast Minnesota karst region, where groundwater moves quickly through cracks and sinkholes.

•Nitrate pollution from manure can easily seep into aquifers, threatening groundwater-fed trout streams.

3. Habitat Degradation

•Poor manure management can cause erosion and sedimentation in rivers and streams.

•Sediment covers up the gravel beds trout need for spawning and reduces aquatic insect populations which are the base of the trout food chain.

STEP TWO: Submit your comments

Comments must be submitted in writing to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) via the rulemaking e-Comments website at https://minnesotaoah.granicusideas.com/discussions

Alternatively, comments may be submitted via U.S. mail to:

OAH attn: William Moore, OAH

600 N Robert St. PO Box 64620

St. Paul, MN 55164-0620

STEP THREE: Tell your friends

If you use social media post the following:

🐟 Coldwater streams can’t protect themselves. Join me and @mntroutunlimited in commenting on Minnesota’s Feedlot Rule at https://mntu.org/2025/06/protect-coldwater-streams-strengthen-minnesotas-feedlot-rules/

If you want to send an email:

Subject: Join Me in Protecting Minnesota’s Trout Streams — Strengthen Feedlot Rules Now
Dear _________
I just took action on protecting Minnesota’s trout streams and I invite you to join me! Minnesota is home to some of the finest coldwater trout streams in the Midwest — clean, cold rivers that support vibrant fisheries, outdoor recreation, and rural economies. But these streams are highly vulnerable to pollution, especially from poorly managed manure at animal feedlots.
Right now, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is updating the state’s feedlot rules. This is a critical opportunity to strengthen protections for our most sensitive waters and the communities that depend on them. Please visit the Minnesota Trout Unlimited action page and follow the steps to share why you think Minnesota’s Feedlot Rule needs to change.
Thanks for taking action with me today!