CAFO’s: A National Perspective
If you have not been checking Joel David Palmer’s site Livestock & Ag Waste Intelligence , you are missing out on some of the best nationwide coverage of CAFO related issues. Recently, Mr. Palmer has covered some of the following:
High powered commission to investigate public impacts of CAFOs:
Some aspects of the current animal production system have created new challenges regarding human health, rural communities, and the environment. Concerns are centered on the emergence of food-borne diseases, antibiotic resistant bacteria, air and water contamination from animal waste, significant shifts in social structure and the economy of many farming regions, as well as issues of animal health.
The Commission includes former Kansas Governor John Carlin, former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, actress and environmental activist Darryl Hannah, and Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation president Thomas Hayes, among others. A Reuters article provides additional details.
Cattlemen Opine on Proposed EPA Rule:
The very basis for federal regulation of water quality, discharges into public water sources, NCBA finds problematic, saying that "discharge" has not been adquately defined for CAFOs: "The EPA cannot expect producers to know if they have a discharge unless the term is defined. In addition, states must know the answer to this question before they can promulgate appropriate regulations."
Tropical storm threatens wastewater lagoons in Eastern US:
An article in the News & Observer, North Carolina, US, describes impacts of tropical storm Ernesto on animal feeding operations that manage wastes in liquid form. After more than a foot of rain in some regions and with more on the way, many wastewater storage lagoons are filled to the brim and in danger of overflowing or breaching, although no spills have yet been reported.
Gloves come off in editorial about proposal to exempt CAFOs from Superfund Regulations:
The Eugene Register-Guard, newspaper of record for highly-agricultural Lane County in Oregon, US, addresses the issue with a strongly-worded editorial condemning the notion that CAFOs should be exempt. The paper further argues that all other laws concerning the environmental regulation of livestock agriculture should be strengthened and more vigorously enforced than at present. Principal concerns are inadequate storage of manure and wastewater, and land-applications of this material at times or in quantities that cannot be assimilated and recycled by growing crops.
