ST. PAUL, Minn. – The new Daley dairy lawsuit over limits on herd sizes is an attempt to intimidate public dialogue on Winona County farm policy, according to the Land Stewardship Project. The suit, filed last week, named LSP activists and three county commissioners for opposing a Daley plan to expand its Lewiston farm from 1,500 to 6,000 animals.In a statement from its St. Paul headquarters, LSP said that the Daleys’ lawsuit seeks “to suppress the public’s right to discuss and debate the future of our community here in Winona County.” For several years the Daleys have tried through numerous channels for county permission to expand. In respondjng to the new Daley legal intitiative, LSP asserted that:
> The suit is an effort “to suppress the public’s right to discuss and debate the future of Winona County.”
> The suit “appears to be an attempt by Daley Farm and its agents to intimidate public servants for doing their jobs.”
> By suing the Land Stewardship Project as an organization, the Daleys are “shockingly suing individual community members and neighbors.”
> The lawsuit is an effort “to intimidate the hundreds of farmers who have worked with LSP in southeastern Minnesota to protect clean water, promote soil health, support beginning farmers and bolster the local economy.”