Blue Earth County, MN Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Blue Earth County Code Sec. 24-111 sets the purpose of the A district: to preserve extensive areas of the county for agricultural related uses and to prevent scattered residential development from encroaching on farmland, under Sec. 24-111(a) and (c). Subsection (b) goes further, stating the board of commissioners' intent to enhance and encourage agricultural operations within the county, and it treats the district as a zone for commercial agricultural production. It lists exactly the disturbances that owners, residents, and neighboring property owners in and next to the A district must be prepared to accept as normal: noise, odors, dust, aircraft operation, late-night farm machinery, and the storage and application of manure, fertilizer, soil amendments, herbicides, and pesticides tied to normal agricultural operations.

The section then invokes Minnesota's right-to-farm statute, Minn. Stats. Sec. 561.19, putting affected owners and residents on official notice that this declaration may prevent them from winning a nuisance judgment against those normal farming practices. Section 24-111(d) also protects natural resources within the A district, aiming to conserve woodlands and scenic areas that serve as water retention, wildlife habitat, or green space. These purpose statements guide how the county's zoning administrator and planning commission apply the A district's permitted-use list in Sec. 24-112, and how the board of adjustment weighs any variance request that would cut against them.