Several dairies have dropped a lawsuit against Oregon farm regulators after they excluded small livestock producers from confined animal feeding operation rules.

The complaint was filed in federal court earlier this year against the Oregon Department of Agriculture, alleging the agency’s enforcement of CAFO wastewater rules violated the U.S. Constitution.

Traditionally, CAFO permits and associated restrictions were only required for larger dairies and livestock facilities, but last year ODA began pushing small raw milk producers to comply with the regulations as well.

Raw milk can only be sold in Oregon by dairies with a handful of animals, which are generally kept outdoors on pasture, but ODA said they technically “confine” livestock during milking and generate wastewater, thus falling under CAFO permit regulations.

However, the agency acknowledged the decision was partly prompted by complaints from the conventional dairy industry, which felt small raw milk producers enjoyed a competitive advantage by avoiding CAFO restrictions.

Raw milk advocates suspected that ODA’s new regulatory strategy was impermissibly motivated by economic protectionism and food safety worries rather than a genuine desire for environmental protection.

Four small cow and goat dairies filed a federal complaint against the agency, alleging the CAFO strategy subjected them to burdensome operational procedures, record-keeping requirements and equipment expenses, none of which made practical sense due to the small amount of wastewater they produce.

According to the complaint, ODA violated their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process, as the agency didn’t impose CAFO requirements on horse-boarding facilities and other operations with much larger numbers of animals.

The plaintiffs cited legal precedents in which similar licensing requirements were struck down for other businesses, such as casket sellers who had to comply with permits and rules for funeral directors even though they didn’t handle remains.

Another case involved exterminators who relied only on mechanical traps but had to obtain the same licenses as companies who used pesticides.

A couple months after the case was filed, ODA withdrew the new CAFO policy and soon asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, but the plaintiffs claimed it wasn’t moot because the agency could eventually resurrect the strategy.

Last month, however, the agency submitted a notice to the court of newly amended regulations that effectively exclude the smallest livestock operations from CAFO rules, since they only apply to producers with more than 20 mature dairy cows and 300 sheep or goats, among other thresholds.

In response, the plaintiffs have now voluntarily dismissed their complaint because they no longer fall under the agency’s CAFO regulations.

The four plaintiffs — Sarah King of Godspeed Hollow Farm, Christine Anderson of Cast Iron Farm, Waneva Lavelle of Pure Grace Farm and Melissa Derfler of Rainbow Valley Dairy Goats — were represented by attorneys from the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm that opposes government overreach.