Why feedlots are bad

The image at right shows a family raising the American flag in their yard, while a hydrogen sulfide meter shows concentrations of the contaminant at 2 parts per million in October The source CAFO can be seen beyond the pine tree.

Unfortunately, this home is also surrounded on three sides by fields often used by the CAFO for manure disposal. CAFOs can't survive without taxpayer subsidies. These taxpayer supports not only encourage the growth of this industry, they undercut the ability of traditional livestock operations to compete with CAFOs.

Without the subsidies, CAFOs would fail financially. Less support for polluting factory farms means a more sustainable Michigan. Learn more at MoreforMichigan. Federal laws establish minimum standards for the regulation of any activity that causes air pollution or water pollution. Currently, the U.

This law is designed to help local communities protect public health, safety, and the environment from chemical hazards. CAFOs are required to report emissions of some pollutants, most notably ammonia. This requirement led to disclosure that the largest emitter of ammonia in the country is a dairy CAFO in Oregon. The federal Clean Water Act does provide some regulation of CAFOs, although interpretations of the extent of those requirements are being litigated.

State laws must be at least as restrictive as the federal law, but in Michigan and some other states it has required citizens to bring challenges to state's delegation under the Clean Water Act to force the agencies to implement the laws. It is important to review the regulations in your state in order to understand what is allowed and not allowed. EPA links to state program websites. State and federal agricultural agencies often play a role in establishing voluntary standards that CAFOs and other livestock operations are expected to abide by.

In some instances, the agricultural agencies will act as the gatekeeper for securing any enforcement actions by the state, particularly in the area of air pollution. In Michigan, for example, the Department of Agriculture is given the responsibility for investigating air pollution complaints from CAFOs, although they have no enforcement authority.

Except in an emergency, the agriculture director must make a referral to the Department of Environmental Quality before any action can be taken by the environmental agency regarding those complaints.

No, it is not illegal to spread CAFO manure waste on the ground. While this website describes many different situations in which a CAFO may be spreading their waste on land, and many possibly harmful effects of that activity, it is not of itself illegal. It is illegal if a CAFO spreads waste in such a manner that it moves off the land and into waters of the state, and this "discharge" causes or contributes to a violation of Michigan's water quality standards in waters of the state.

CAFO manure contains the animals' feces and urine, plus, the definition also includes other materials such as bedding, compost, and other raw materials. CAFO manure is also loaded with the plant nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, which can cause algae blooms if released to surface water, and pathogens such as Escherichia coli E.

Manure may also contain:. Can a methane digester solve the CAFO's waste problem? Not really. This is like capturing a fart in a jar. It may help reduce some odors, but it has severe limits. In short, no. And, as you read the bulleted list below, remember that a Michigan CAFO can have a compost pile within feet of its neighbor.

Discharge means any direct or indirect release of any waste, waste effluent, wastewater, pollutant, or any combination thereof into any of the waters of the state or upon the ground. The real answer should be "no, not under any circumstance. How would you find out? Whether or not a CAFO is allowed to spread waste on snow depends either on what is in their Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan , or on whether the CAFO has an order from the state with specifics for winter application.

This may be determined on a field by field basis. Many CAFOs will spread waste on snow just to get rid of it and then hope they don't get caught. The problem is that when the snow melts, the manure will run off into the nearest ditch or stream, because frozen ground cannot absorb water. Often the manure on the snow will even cause the snow and ice to melt.

This is a grey-area question. By dumping manure piles, a CAFO creates an off-site production area of waste. This off-site production area cannot discharge to waters of the state.

If we put cattle in a feedlot, can they graze on pasture? But if the question is, do feedlots necessarily cause problems like lameness, digestive issues, or illness, then the answer is no. There are good feedlots and bad feedlots, just as there are good grazing operations and bad ones. We also see a very different set of health and welfare challenges in a grazing system versus a feedlot system.

There has been a lot of work on that topic, particularly in terms of cutting down or eliminating the use of antibiotics that are important for human health. I often see numbers quoted saying things like, 80 percent of total antibiotic use is for animals. If we take all antibiotics out, then we are going to have issues.

About 10 years ago, the Netherlands took out all preventive antibiotics use in their livestock industry. What happened is total antibiotic use actually went up, because instead of lower-dose preventive use, they had to use higher doses to manage all the disease outbreaks. Why does grass-fed beef have the reputation of being better for the animals and the environment? None of us would want to go to a hospital from 80 years ago. It would be crazy, right?

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Feedlots are fenced-in outdoor areas where cows are crammed together to prevent them from exercising and obstructing the fattening process.

The spaces are barren, lacking grass for cows to graze and trees for shade. Cattle have to stand in these small crowded areas in the ruminants of their own urine and faeces. Feedlots can get very muddy when it rains, causing cows to become wet, cold, and dirty. When it gets hot during droughts or summer, the lots become dusty and dry.

With the lack of shade coupled with excessive weight brought on by being fed increasingly heavy diets, cows often experience heat stress problems that can sometimes prove fatal.

Feedlots produce huge amounts of animal waste and other pollutants that can be harmful to the environment. Feedlot waste is likely to contain cleaning agents, silage leachate, chemicals used in livestock care, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, ammonia, heavy metals, and milkhouse waste. This waste is often stored for a while in waste storage pits or structures before disposal on farm fields.

This is where feedlot waste enters surface water, contaminating it, causing water pollution. Feedlots also cause air pollution due to ammonia, particulate matter, odour, greenhouse gases, and volatile organic compounds emissions.

In natural environments, cows spend up to 12 hours grazing on grass; in a feedlot, they are fed a high-energy, high-fat diet of barley and wheat. Animals in feedlots are fed in this manner in order to reach the market weight requirements. Cows that are fed a high corn diet also have increased E. E- Coli contamination can cause illness in animals as well as humans.

Animals can suffer a wide range of injuries and illnesses in feedlots caused by the feedlot environment, dehydration, stress, unnatural diets, and transportation. The most common diseases include acidosis, botulism, bovine respiratory disease, pink eye blight , footrot, tick fever, and feedlot bloating. Although most of these diseases are treatable, due to a large number of cows in the feedlot, sick cows might not be identified early, resulting in death.