Hey everyone, we have an update and some great news for all of our plaintiffs!

The board members of the MN Deer Farmers Association have been united and active in pushing this case forward. If I were to write down every phone call, every email, every text message, and every zoom call that we have made, this email would be over 100 pages in length. It has been an incredible journey on the road to the U.S. Supreme Court, with added expenses, added work, and strict deadlines. Our attorney Erick Kaardal has been doing a fantastic job, he has been informing us of work that needed to be done, money that was needed to be raised, and of course people that we should reach out to.

Our case is now on file at the U.S. Supreme Court.  Here is the link to our case: Search - Supreme Court of the United States

In order to have an Amicus Brief drawn up by a U.S. Supreme Court certified attorney, funds needed to be raised. The average cost of an Amicus Brief is usually $10,000. Steve did have a Go Fund me link on his Facebook site and was able to raise $10,000 from individual donors for legal expenses. Yes, we were able to raise the correct amount of money to pay for one Amicus Brief. 

Three Stones Legal Defense Fund came alongside us in this fight and created a nice section for us on their website. They also created a donation link. This information was then promoted by Steve on his Facebook site and a total of about $23,000 was raised. Three Stones directly takes in this money, and then has a process for paying out the money for approved legal expenses. A this point, the expenses are mainly costs associated with creating and filing Amicus Briefs. A link for this Three Stone Legal Defense Fund site can be found here:  HOME

The Cavalry group is an incredible organization that fights for the rights of animal owners all across the nation. This group was founded by Mindy Patterson, Mindy is relentless in the fight to protect land owners, animal owners, and the U.S. Constitution. Mindy saw a video on Facebook from Steve Porter and then reached out to Steve. The cavalry group did join the fight with a brand new energy and was able to file and pay for an Amicus Brief. Here is a link to the Cavalry Group website: A Major Case for America’s Farmers & Ranchers Is Headed to the U.S. Supreme Court - CavalryGroupNewswire.com The Cavalry Group Amicus Brief can be found here: Penaltabrief[alt1]

U.S. Congressman Pete Stauber and U.S. Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach were able to sign on to an Amicus Brief in support of our case. The link to this Amicus Brief can be found here: 20251125151804762_Members of U.S. Congress - Amicus Curiae Brief--Final Formatted--11-23-25.pdf

The North American Deer Farmers Association was able to put forth an Amicus Brief AND there were many other agricultural groups, state senators, and state representatives that signed on to this Amicus Brief. The following is a list of partners who signed on to this brief:  THE NORTH AMERICAN DEER FARMERS ASSOCIATION, THE KENTUCKY ALTERNATIVE LIVESTOCK ASSOCIATION, PENNSYLVANIA DEER FARMERS ASSOCIATION, HUNTER NATION, INC., HUNTERS FOR HUNTERS, WHITETAILS OF WISCONSIN, VENTURE DAIRY COOPERATIVE, AMERICAN AGRI-WOMEN, MINNESOTA ELK BREEDERS ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EGG FARMERS, LLC, OKLAHOMA INDEPENDENT STOCKGROWERS ASSOCIATION, SAFARI NORTH WILDLIFE PARK, MINNESOTA GAME BREEDERS CLUB, SAVE OUR FARMS AND RANCHES, INC., OKLAHOMA STATE REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT FETGATTER, OKLAHOMA STATE REPRESENTATIVE JIM SHAW, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR NATHAN WESENBERG, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR STEVE DRAZKOWSKI, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR BILL LIESKE, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR MICHAEL W. HOLMSTROM, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR TORREY N. WESTROM, MINNESOTA STATE REPRESENTATIVE MIKE WIENER, AND MINNESOTA STATE REPRESENTATIVE DREW ROACH, AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER.   The link to this Amicus Brief can be found here:  Kunzbrief[alt.2]

The Cato Institute came alongside us in this case. Cato is one of the most prolific filers of Amicus Briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, providing a third-party perspective to help influence the Court’s decisions. These Briefs are often cited in both majoritey and dissenting opinions, a testiment to their impact. Here is a link to the Cato Institute: About the Cato Institute  The Cato Institute did file an Amicus Brief in support of this case and it can be found here:  20251201091139291_Minn. Deer Farmers_Final.pdf 

We have also been able to successfully contact U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Secretary Rollins has been a huge help and she has put Erick Kaardal, Scott Fier, and Steve Porter in touch with three high level government attorneys. There have been several zoom meetings, and there are more plans in the works for the success of our case at the U.S. Supreme Court. 

All of the work that is mentioned in the above email is a relatively quick read; however, the work outlined above is actually the fruit of hundreds and hundreds of hours of relentless work. I would like to let all of the plaintiffs know that as a board of the Minnesota Deer Farmers Association, we are 100 united AND we agree that we are now in an exceptional position to actually have the U.S. Supreme Court give us a hearing on our case. As you read through the Amicus Briefs listed above, you will see that high level attorneys, politicians, and agricultural groups have joined us in this fight. This fight is no longer just about our deer farms, it is about preserving the U.S. Constitution and defending it with a relentless pursuit. 

As of right now, there is nothing else urgent for us to do in this fight. We need to take a breath and sit back and see what happens next. If the U.S. Solicitor General files an Amicus Brief in this case, then we may possibly get an opportunity to encourage other groups and politicians to join our fight in the form of more Amicus Briefs.  

If/when we win at the U.S. Supreme Court, it would then be time to start working on a damages claim lawsuit.

Concerning our civil case in MN where many of us received Notices of Violations for not putting up exclusionary fencing, that case was a three day trial. The civil judge took the matter under advisement and we should get a decision in the next 6 to 8 weeks. If we are found guilty, and it is likely that we will be found guilty, we believe that the state would give us an amount of time to correct the Notice of Violation, and then when it is not corrected, the license to farm could/would be revoked. The state has put it into state statute 35.155 subd 4 that the DNR may come and kill off our animals once we have our license revoked. What is going on? How interesting that we are heading into the U.S. Supreme Court to get a ruling on if these laws that were passed are constitutional and at the same time the state is using these same laws to seek to destroy our license to farm and to also lead us to killing off our animals. 

We firmly believe we are now in a good position at the U.S. Supreme Court. If you have any questions or new problems with the DNR, please call us and let us know.

For now, we wait. 

Sincerely, 

Scott Fier-President

MDFA 

507-829-3151

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A new study of prion diseases, using a human cerebral organoid model, suggests there is a substantial species barrier preventing transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from cervids—deer, elk and moose—to people. The findings, from National Institutes of Health scientists and published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, are consistent with decades of similar research in animal models at the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Prion diseases are degenerative diseases found in some mammals. These diseases primarily involve deterioration of the brain but also can affect the eyes and other organs. Disease and death occur when abnormal proteins fold, clump together, recruit other prion proteins to do the same, and eventually destroy the central nervous system. Currently, there are no preventive or therapeutic treatments for prion diseases.

CWD is a type of prion disease found in cervids, which are popular game animals. While CWD has never been found in people, a question about its transmission potential has lingered for decades: Can people who eat meat from CWD-infected cervids develop prion disease? The question is important because during the mid-1980s and mid-1990s a different prion disease – bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease – emerged in cattle in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and cases also were detected in cattle in other countries, including the United States. Over the next decade, 178 people in the U.K. who were thought to have eaten BSE-infected beef developed a new form of a human prion disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and died. Researchers later determined that the disease had spread among cattle through feed tainted with infectious prion protein. The disease transmission path from feed to cattle to people terrified U.K. residents and put the world on alert for other prion diseases transmitted from animals to people, including CWD. CWD is the most transmissible of the prion disease family, showing highly efficient transmission between cervids.

Historically, scientists have used mice, hamsters, squirrel monkeys and cynomolgus macaques to mimic prion diseases in people, sometimes monitoring animals for signs of CWD for more than a decade. In 2019, NIAID scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, developed a human cerebral organoid model of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease to evaluate potential treatments and to study specific human prion diseases.

Human cerebral organoids are small spheres of human brain cells ranging in size from a poppy seed to a pea. Scientists grow organoids in dishes from human skin cells. The organization, structure, and electrical signaling of cerebral organoids are similar to brain tissue. They are currently the closest available laboratory model to the human brain. Because organoids can survive in a controlled environment for months, scientists use them to study nervous system diseases over time. Cerebral organoids have been used as models to study other diseases, such as Zika virus infection, Alzheimer’s disease, and Down syndrome.

In the new CWD study, the bulk of which was done in 2022 and 2023, the research team validated the study model by successfully infecting human cerebral organoids with human CJD prions (positive control). Then, using the same laboratory conditions, they directly exposed healthy human cerebral organoids for seven days with high concentrations of CWD prions from white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and normal brain matter (negative control). The researchers then observed the organoids for up to six months, and none became infected with CWD.

This indicates that even following direct exposure of human central nervous system tissues to CWD prions there is a substantial resistance or barrier to the propagation of infection, according to researchers. The authors acknowledge the limitations of their research, including the possibility that a small number of people may have genetic susceptibility that was not accounted for, and that emergence of new strains with a lesser barrier to infection remains possible. They are optimistic that the inference of these current data is that humans are extremely unlikely to contract a prion disease because of inadvertently eating CWD-infected cervid meat.

ARTICLES:
B Groveman and K Williams et al. Lack of Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions to Human Cerebral Organoids. Emerging Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.3201/eid3006.231568 (2024).

B Groveman and NC Ferreira et al. Human Cerebral Organoids as a Therapeutic Drug Screening Model for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Scientific Reports DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84689-6 (2021).

B Race et al. Lack of Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease to Cynomolgus Macaques. Journal of Virology DOI: 10.1128/JVI.00550-18 (2018).

B Race et al. Susceptibilities of Nonhuman Primates to Chronic Wasting Disease. Emerging Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.3201/eid1509.090253 (2009).

WHO:
Cathryn Haigh, Ph.D., chief of the Prion Cell Biology Unit in NIAID’s Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, is available to comment on this study.

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Personally, I’d like to say that I’m excited about the opportunity for the Minnesota Deer Farmers Association to have our day in court, to hopefully amend or change the new rules and regulations being forced upon us from the 2023 legislative session. A preliminary injunction (essentially a lawsuit of an emergency nature) filed last December by 30 Minnesota deer farmers who came together to file it, is being considered in a hearing July 10th at the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota. If the judge rules in our favor, we may have a chance to prolong or amend these regulations and get back to deer farming as we know it. However, even if our preliminary injunction is denied, our focus will shift to appealing in the Circuit 8 Court in St. Paul Minnesota, where our case will be heard by primarily conservative judges. We are standing together in the hopes of a favorable outcome.

We appreciate everyone from every state who supported our annual event and fundraiser March 2nd in Austin, Minnesota. While attendance may have been down, our fundraising efforts were tremendous. Money raised will be used to help pay our lobbyists and for our lawsuit. We can’t thank everyone enough who contributed and continue to support us. We may need to have another fundraiser here in the very near future, so please stay tuned. We are also very grateful to be represented by the law firm of Mohrman, Kaardal & Erickson, P.A. Government Litigation Attorneys in our battle to maintain our farms and our livelihoods. Let’s keep our chin up and stay motivated! 

Scott Fier

507-829-3151

fierscott@gmail.com

CDC UPDATE:  Deer Meat Didn't Cause Hunters' Deaths Story by Mike Snider, USA TODAY Concerns about chronic wasting disease have heightened after a case report surfaced of two hunters who developed neurological disorders and died after eating venison from a population of deer that may have been infected with "zombie deer disease." The report of the two hunters who died in 2022, presented in early April at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, did not prove the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from deer to humans, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio researchers wrote. However, the researchers wrote, the case "emphasizes the need for further investigation into the potential risks of consuming CWD-infected deer and its implications for public health." There have been no cases of CWD in people reported to date, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But past studies raised concerns that CWD could "pose a risk to people," the CDC has said, suggesting "it is important to prevent human exposures to CWD." Here's what to know about the hunters' deaths and the CDC's response to the report. CDC: Deer meat did not lead to hunters' illnesses, death About the 2022 report, the agency agreed with the researchers "that there is a need for careful investigation of chronic wasting disease (CWD) as a potential risk to people's’ health," CDC epidemiologist Ryan Maddox said in a statement to USA TODAY. But the CDC reviewed the 2022 cases and considered the two men's deaths as "part of the normal number of cases of CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) we see in the U.S.," he said. The men died after developing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which like CWD is a prion disease, a class of fatal neurological disorders, which can affect humans and animals, and usually progress rapidly and are always fatal. In prion diseases, certain proteins in the brain begin to fold abnormally, causing brain damage and other symptoms, the CDC says. "A history of hunting and/or eating venison does not mean that someone got CJD that way," Maddox said. "Many Americans hunt and even more eat venison. Some will develop sporadic CJD by chance and others will not."

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NADR is excited to roll out the all-new GMS Web App. This new GMS product offers the deer breeder/farmer the latest in technology and data capturing from the NADR database. GMS clients will be able to access their data via any platform, using any device. The following features are just a few of the many tools included in GMS! 

Herd Inventory - Track all aspects of the herd, including tags, names, state id, birth weight, sires, dams, etc. Display unlimited pictures of each animal. Record medications for each animal.

DNA Submittal & Retrieval - A few clicks, and the paperwork is ready to go via online submittal. When the specimen has been processed, retrieve the lineage and DNA information back into GMS.

GEBV/Codons - Receive and store GEBV score and Codon values from NADR for each animal. 

Lineage/Pedigree -The fully interactive lineage screen displays lineage and pictures for each animal. Optionally, you can display the GEBV score. 

Doe Line - Customizable field for each animal to record anchor doe detail to display on reports or grouping. 

Pen and Group Management - Create and assign as many pens or groups as desired. Pen and group detail included in inventory reports allows for sorting and reviewing animals by pen or group.

Designed for All Species - NADR has spent countless hours with people in the industry to develop a program that will work for all Cervid species as well as Exotics.

More to Come! – We will be rolling out more features in the coming year such as Dream Deer, Animal Transfers, Customizable Reporting, Email Notification of updates.

It will be easy to sign up and transfer your data. 

An email and link will be sent to view a demo of the GMS Web App and discuss your data.

For existing customers, we will provide instructions for locating and uploading the GMS database backup file.

NADR staff will then do all the work to get you up and running.

The fight at the capitol is still ongoing. The original nightmare of a bill in the senate has been tempered down quite substantially from its original form. We are continuing to fight for our farms and we are gaining support from some key Democrats. 

The attached link is from the senate ag committee hearing on Monday the 17th. With new science such as genetic resistance, and the damaging effects of the bill being discussed. We still have a long ways to go but we will continue to fight.

https://mnsenate.granicus.com/player/clip/11363?view_id=1&redirect=true&h=624fb5f65684ae346472336da5a09eec

In the video, the Chairman, Senator Putnam, is one of the Democrats that is listening to us. He has setup a meeting with Scott Fier, Brenda Hartkopf (from the elk breeders), as well as the DNR, the author of the bill, and our lobbyist to refine the bill and get everyone to the same table.

Meetings are taking place and many times, such as Monday's hearing, are short notice. We have a meeting setup for next week with the new DNR cervid program coordinator as a meet and greet with him, to get to know him and how he plans to run the DNR's captive cervid program.

Also, If anyone is willing to work with Dr. Scott Wells from the U of M by allowing him to place trail cameras around your perimeter fence, to study what animals are crossing through the fence, ie. raccoons, skunks, fox ect. Please contact Mark Volk at 320-232-3352 and he will get you in touch with Dr. Wells. We as a board support his study and wish to get him more help. So far, Dr. Wells has had cameras on 4 farms. One in WI, and the farms of three of our directors, Mark Volk, Ken Williams, and Deb Holthaus.

If you have any questions, feel free to respond to this email or contact one of our board members and we will answer any questions you may have.

MDFA Board of Directors

Protecting Cervid Operations from CWD

by Scott Wells

Dept of Veterinary Population Medicine University of Minnesota

Scott Wells Flyer.pdf

Click here to link to video!

Did we find a cure for CWD? Hey everyone, here is an interview with Greg Flees of Wilderness Whitetails. The genetic resistance program that he has implemented with his whitetail deer looks very promising and may be the answer in beating the disease of CWD!