Another change in the law gave the Department of Natural Resources authority to require deer farmers to upgrade fencing to prevent physical contact between captive deer and wild deer.

A year ago, U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim ruled the eventual elimination of deer farms in Minnesota was an "unfortunate" consequence of the law. The judge said the state has a legitimate interest in containing the infectious spread of CWD, an always-fatal neurological disease that DNR has been spending millions of dollars to keep in check. DNR wildlife biologists have connected past outbreaks in wild deer to infected deer farms.