Stearns County staff presented a two-year delegation agreement and work plan with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to administer the county's feedlot program at the county level. County staff said the agreement continues the delegation and adds assistance for feedlot owners in designated drinking-water supply management areas (DWSMA Level 2) and encouragement of the state's online nutrient-management tool for manure planning when available.

Becky Schlorf told commissioners the county has more than 1,300 state-required registered feedlots and approximately just under 2,000 total feedlots when including smaller, locally regulated operations. Schlorf and other staff said the delegation applies to the state-required registered sites and emphasized that adoption of the state online nutrient tool is limited so far; county staff said they expect to support producers with training and "a lot of hand holding" if the system is rolled out widely.

After discussion about enforcement and MPCA follow-through on cases, and recognition that county staff will need to assist some operators, the board approved the delegation agreement.