South Dakota Dairy Farm Raises Concerns for Minnesota Lake

HENDRICKS (AP) -- A legal fight over a proposed mega-dairy farm near a lake that helps drive the economy in southwestern Minnesota will soon be heard in a South Dakota courtroom.

The Lake Hendricks Improvement Association has filed a court challenge to stop construction of the proposed 4,000-cow dairy farm near the lake on the South Dakota side.

The association says the farm could negatively impact wildlife in the area.

Officials in Brookings County, South Dakota approved the proposal last year. A
South Dakota judge will determine if the approval was legal in January.

The association says the cows will produce phosphorus-rich manure that will wash off into area fields and eventually go into the lake.

The farm's developer says he'd install safeguards to prevent manure from spreading.