johnson v paynesville farmers union case brief
We first address the district court's conclusion that chemical pesticide drift cannot constitute a trespass. The Johnsons sought a permanent injunction under the nuisance statute, Minn.Stat. 1998), review denied (Minn. Dec. 15, 1998). Intro to Legal Research. Kevin F. Gray, Matthew W. Moehrle, Rajkowski Hansmeier, Ltd., St. 86, 342 P.2d 790, 793 (Or.1959) (suggesting that one explanation for the historical adherence to a distinction between tangible and intangible invasions of land was that science had not yet peered into the molecular and atomic world of small particles). While the court of appeals expressly reversed the district court's denial of the Johnsons' claim for a, At that time, the binding precedent was this court's opinion in the same case, in which we held that a fine, Full title:Oluf JOHNSON, et al., Appellants, v. PAYNESVILLE FARMERS UNION COOPERATIVE. This is an appeal from summary judgment. As other courts have suggested, the same conduct may constitute both trespass and nuisance. WebJohnson v. Paynesville Farmers Union Cooperative Oil Co. EN. Having concluded that applied to it refers to situations where the producer has applied prohibited substances to the field, we must consider whether the district court correctly dismissed the Johnsons' nuisance and negligence per se claims based on 7 C.F.R. (holding that Minnesota law "has not recognized trespass by particulate matter"); The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 1282 (4th ed. In addition, the Johnsons' nuisance claim alleges that pesticides below the recommended dosage can spur weed growth and that they have had to take extra measures to control weeds in 2007 and 2008 as a result of drift onto their fields from the Cooperative's actions. Id. of Aitkin, 266 N.W.2d 704, 705 (Minn.1978) (citation omitted); see generally 46 Dunnell Minn. Digest Trespass 1.02 (4th ed.2000). In the 1990s, Oluf and Debra Johnson began the three-year process of converting their conventional family farm to a certified-organic farm to realize the higher market prices for organic produce and seeds. Subsequently, the Cooperative moved for summary judgment, and the Johnsons moved to amend their complaint to include claims based on the two 2008 incidents and a claim for punitive damages. Reading each provision of the regulation as an integrated whole, we therefore deduce that the phrase "applied to" refers to "applications" and that "applications" include even each "unintended application" and that the "application" of a prohibited substance includes "drift" onto a nontargeted field. In deciding whether the regulation is ambiguous, however, we do not construe the regulation in isolation. There is no dispute about the Johnsons' rightful possession of their fields. Don't Miss Important Points of Law with BARBRI Outlines (Login Required). After receiving these test results, the Johnsons took the affected alfalfa field out of organic production for an additional 3 years. See 7 C.F.R. In January 2009, the Johnsons sued the cooperative for the 2005 and 2007 incidents. See H. Christiansen & Sons, Inc. v. City of Duluth, 225 Minn. 475, 480, 31 N.W.2d 270, 27374 (1948). The regulation, as part of the organic-certification regulation scheme of the National Organic Program (NOP), limits the circumstances in which farmers may label and sell produce as "organic." After a hearing, the district court granted the Cooperative summary judgment on all of the Johnsons' claims, denied the Johnsons' motion to amend, and vacated the temporary injunction.4. The Johnsons claimed that while the Cooperative was spraying pesticide onto conventionally farmed fields adjacent to the Johnsons fields, some pesticide drifted onto and contaminated the Johnsons organic fields. The regulations require farmers to develop detailed production and handling practices that prevent the commingling of organic and nonorganic foods. But interpreting the regulation to allow for an automatic under-five-percent safe harbor for drift ignores this additional, more specific commentary: We do not speculate as to the Johnsons' damages, but we hold that the district court erroneously rejected their claims for lack of damages on the ground that, by virtue of there having been no finding of five-percent contamination, no damages could be proven. That regulation reads: Any field or farm parcel from which harvested crops are intended to be sold, labeled, or represented as organic, must: (b) Have had no prohibited substances, as listed in 205.105, applied to it for a period of 3 years immediately preceding harvest of the crop [. In summary, trespass claims address tangible invasions of the right to exclusive possession of land, and nuisance claims address invasions of the right to use and enjoyment of land. Johnson, 802 N.W.2d at 39091. It is the right of the owner in possession to exclusive possession that is protected by an action for trespass. The operative regulation here requires that "[a]ny field or farm parcel from which harvested crops are intended to be sold, labeled, or represented as `organic' must . For example, in Borland v. Sanders Lead Co., Inc., the Alaska Supreme Court recognized that lead particulates and sulfoxide can constitute trespass, reasoning that "if, as a result of the defendant's [smelting] operation, the polluting substance is deposited upon the plaintiffs property, thus interfering with his exclusive possessory interest by causing substantial damage to the Res, then the plaintiff may seek his remedy in trespass." 802 N.W.2d at 390. Under the plain terms of section 205.671, therefore, crops can be sold as organic even if testing shows prohibited substances on those crops as long as the amounts detected do not exceed 5 percent of EPA limits. Arlo Vande Vegte (#112045) ARLO VANDE 205.202(b). 205.202(b), we hold that the district court abused its discretion by denying the motion to amend without first considering whether such amended claims could survive summary judgment. 7 U.S.C. These findings were based exclusively on the predicate findings that the Johnsons failed to allege damages. 205.202(b), unambiguously means that the organic farmer intentionally applied the prohibited substance to the field. 541.07(7) (2010) (creating a 2year statute of limitations for all tort claims against pesticide applicators). The OFPA provides important context for interpretation of the regulation because the NOP regulations were drafted to carry out the provisions of the OFPA. Moreover, it is not necessary for us to depart from our traditional understanding of trespass because other causes of actionnuisance and negligenceprovide remedies for the type of behavior at issue in this case. Id. The Johnsons took this action because they believed that the presence of any amount of pesticide on their organic fields prohibited them from selling crops harvested from these fields as organic. We have previously held that invasion by water constitutes a trespass and invasion by a bullet constitutes a trespass. 205.202(b) (2012), a producer's intentional placement of pesticides onto fields from which crops were intended to be harvested and sold as organic was prohibited, but section 205.202(b) did not regulate the drift of pesticides onto those fields. When we read the phrase applied to it in 7 C.F.R. In both cases, the court of appeals held that such invasions do not, as a matter of law, constitute trespass. Traditionally, trespasses are distinct from nuisances: [t]he law of nuisance deals with indirect or intangible interference with an owner's use and enjoyment of land, while trespass deals with direct and tangible interferences with the right to exclusive possession of land. Dobbs, supra, 50 at 96. The cooperative oversprayed adjacent fields again in 2005 and the Johnsons again contacted the MDA. Respondents Oluf and Debra Johnson (Johnsons) are organic farmers. Because the district court failed to address whether there are any genuine issues of material fact on this aspect of the Johnsons' nuisance claim, we hold that the court erred when it dismissed the nuisance claim. 205.202(b), fail as a matter of law, we reverse the court of appeals' reinstatement of those claims. Trespassclaims address only tangible invasions of the right to exclusive possession of land. 205). Simply put, the policy concerns that have compelled other jurisdictions to abandon the traditional view of trespass are not present in Minnesota. 205.400(f)(1). Our review of cases from other jurisdictions reveals that courts have abandoned the distinction between trespass and nuisance, at least in part, because courts generally favor allowing parties to vindicate wrongs and, in many jurisdictions, actions for trespass have a longer statute of limitations than actions for nuisance. Such invasions may interfere with the landowner's use and enjoyment of her land, but those invasions do not require that the landowner share possession of her land in the way that invasions by physical objects do. App., decided July 25, 2011). But in cases like Bradley and Borland, the courts call[ ] the intrusion of harmful microscopic particles a trespass and not a nuisance, and then us[e] some of the techniques of nuisance law to weigh the amount and reasonableness of the intrusion. Dobbs, supra, 50 at 96. 205.202(b), the court of appeals disagreed with the district court's interpretation of the NOP regulations. WebThe Johnsons, organic farmers, claimed that while Appellant, a cooperative, was spraying pesticide onto conventionally farmed fields adjacent to the Johnsons' fields, some Foods, Inc. v. Cnty. The OFPA also specifically provides that producers of organic products shall not apply materials to seeds or seedlings that are contrary to, or inconsistent with, the applicable organic certification program. 7 U.S.C. Total views 3. 2001). Wendinger v. Forst Farms, Inc., 662 N.W.2d 546, 550 (Minn.App.2003) (noting that Minnesota has not recognized trespass by particulate matter and rejecting a trespass claim because the odors of which the [plaintiffs] complain interfere with the use and enjoyment of their land, not with their exclusive possession of it), rev. Because the regulations and commentary fail to expressly state what happens if drift causes a less-than-five-percent contamination to an organic farm, we assume that the certifying agent has the discretion to decertify or not decertify the field. New York - August 11, 2011 . Plaintiffs brought actions ontrespass,nuisanceandnegligence per se. No Minnesota case has addressed whether unwanted pesticide drift from a targeted field to an adjacent otherwise organic farming operation can constitute a trespass. These cases go beyond our precedent because they conclude that intangible objects can support a claim for trespass to land. 6511(c)(1). Aegis Insurance Services, Inc. v. 7 World Trade Co., L.P. Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. KidCloverButterfly14. Specifically, the court concluded that the Johnsons had no evidence of damages from any alleged drift because there is no evidence said drift caused [the Johnsons] to lose their organic certification and there is no evidence that [the Johnsons] could not still sell their crops as organic since the levels of prohibited substances were below the applicable tolerance levels. Based on this conclusion, the court granted the Cooperative summary judgment and dismissed the Johnsons' nuisance and negligence per se claims. In other words, the question presented is whether the Johnsons created an issue for trial that the Cooperative's pesticide drift required the Johnsons to remove their field from organic production due to 7 C.F.R. Reading the phrase "applied to it" in 7 C.F.R. The Johnsons argue that they had to remove certain fields from organic production for 3 years because pesticides were applied to those fields in violation of 7 C.F.R. 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