Livestock and Feedlots in Stearns County, Minnesota

Why this matters more here than in most Minnesota counties

Stearns County leads Minnesota in dairy cow numbers, according to a Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor review of the state's feedlot program, and livestock agriculture -- dairy in particular -- is a dominant land use across the county's townships, not an occasional feature. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has delegated feedlot program administration to Stearns County's own Agricultural & Water Resources Division (part of Environmental Services), meaning most feedlot registration, permitting, and inspection for facilities under the state's large-CAFO threshold happens at the county level, not through direct MPCA contact. For a buyer, this means an existing or proposed feedlot near a parcel you're considering is genuinely more likely here than in most of the state, and the county office is usually the right first call rather than the state agency.

The 700-foot setback: a flat rule, not a sliding scale

Stearns County's Land Use and Zoning Ordinance #439 (Section 6.7.5) requires a minimum 700-foot setback between a new residential dwelling and an existing animal feedlot, a rule that has been in place since 2000. That replaced an earlier, more complicated system: the county's first feedlot ordinance, adopted in September 1998, set setbacks on a tiered scale keyed to the size of the feedlot in animal units, with larger operations requiring greater separation. The 2000 revision simplified that into the current flat 700-foot figure. Practically, this means the setback runs in both directions -- a new home cannot legally be sited within 700 feet of an existing registered feedlot, and by the same logic an existing feedlot generally cannot be sited within 700 feet of an existing dwelling. Confirm current locations of registered feedlots relative to any specific parcel with the county directly; feedlot locations are not always obvious from a site visit alone, especially for smaller or less active operations.

Registration, Conditional/Interim Use Permits, and the state EAW trigger

Not every feedlot in Stearns County goes through the same process. Smaller operations are handled primarily through county feedlot registration -- a Minnesota county feedlot officer administers registration, inspection, complaint follow-up, and basic permitting for most facilities under 1,000 animal units on MPCA's behalf. Larger or more consequential proposals instead go through the county's Conditional Use Permit (CUP) or Interim Use Permit (IUP) process, which requires a public hearing and county board or planning commission action rather than administrative sign-off alone. Layered on top of the local process is a state-level environmental review trigger: Minnesota generally requires an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) for a proposed feedlot at or above 1,000 animal units, or at or above 500 animal units in a designated sensitive area, and any operation meeting the federal Large CAFO thresholds (roughly 1,000 animal units for cattle, 2,500 hogs over 55 pounds, or 55,000 turkeys) requires an NPDES permit issued directly by MPCA rather than county-level registration.

One more local wrinkle worth checking early: some Stearns County townships require their own construction permit for a new feedlot building in addition to whatever the county requires, separate from city-limit exemptions. If a feedlot is proposed in an unincorporated township (rather than inside a city), check with that specific township as well as the county -- the county's own guidance flags this as something to verify locally rather than assume.

The regional context: this is a live statewide fight, not settled history

Large-scale dairy expansion is an active, contested issue in west-central Minnesota right now, not a settled backdrop. As of spring 2026, a proposed Riverview LLP dairy expansion in Stevens County (roughly an hour from Stearns) would become the largest feedlot in state history at nearly 26,400 animal units, and has drawn MPCA-extended public comment periods, DNR groundwater concerns, and township-level moratorium discussions on CAFOs over 1,000 animal units. That controversy is not inside Stearns County itself, but it reflects the same regulatory and political terrain -- MPCA delegation, EAW thresholds, and township pushback -- that governs any large livestock proposal here too. A Stearns County buyer evaluating land for a sizable livestock operation, or land near one, should expect the same level of public and regulatory scrutiny that large proposals are currently drawing statewide.

What this means for your purchase

Before closing on rural Stearns County land, ask the county's Agricultural & Water Resources Division whether any registered feedlot sits within 700 feet of the parcel (this affects whether you can build or expand a dwelling there) and, separately, whether any feedlot proposal or permit application is pending nearby that could change that picture. If your own plans involve livestock, find out early whether your intended animal unit count keeps you in the simpler registration track or pushes you into CUP/IUP territory with a public hearing, whether the parcel's township layers on its own construction permit requirement, and whether your numbers approach the state's 500/1,000 animal-unit EAW triggers or the federal Large CAFO thresholds -- each of those crossings adds real time and cost to a project.