Minnesota Deer Farmers Suing Minnesota DNR 

The Minnesota Deer Farmers Association has announced that they are filing a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Board of Animal Health for enforcing laws that they claim are discriminatory and will eliminate white tail deer farming in the state. 

The lawsuit comes after the Minnesota Legislature passed new laws centered around white tail deer farms. Some of these new laws passed by the legislature include the transfer of deer farm oversight to the Minnesota DNR, and the discontinuation of the deer farm registration program which will see the State of Minnesota stop issuing licenses to new deer farms in the state, which would make it so no new deer farms can be opened in the state.  

The Minnesota Deer Farmers Association claims that these new laws violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment by discriminating between white-tailed deer farmers with registrations and those without, and between farmers with immediate family members and other farmers without immediate family members.

The lawsuit also claims that the new laws violate the 5th amendment, which centers on the DNR being authorized to destroy the deer herd upon violation of these new laws without compensation. 

The Minnesota DNR has claimed that the new statutes are necessary to stop the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease in the state.