Module 4: CAFOs, Articles 1 and 2

In Water Keeper et al. vs. the EPA, the court directed the EPA to remove the requirement for all CAFOs to apply for NPDES. Instead, the court required that nutrient management plans be submitted with the permit application, reviewed by officials and the public, and the terms of the plan be incorporated into the permit.

When properly managed, located, and monitored, CAFOs can provide a low-cost source of meat, milk, and eggs, due to efficient feeding and housing of animals, increased facility size, and animal specialization.

The effects of using local materials, feed, and livestock are argued to ripple throughout the economy, and increased tax expenditures will lead to increase funds for schools and infrastructure.

The effects of using local materials, feed, and livestock are argued to ripple throughout the economy, and increased tax expenditures will lead to increase funds for schools and infrastructure.

It can contain plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, pathogens such as E. coli, growth hormones, antibiotics, chemicals used as additives to the manure or to clean equipment, animal blood, silage leachate from corn feed, or copper sulfate used in footbaths for cows.

When manure is applied too frequently or in too large a quantity to an area, nutrients overwhelm the absorptive capacity of the soil, and either run off or are leached into the groundwater.

When manure is applied too frequently or in too large a quantity to an area, nutrients overwhelm the absorptive capacity of the soil, and either run off or are leached into the groundwater.

As the following sections demonstrate, human health can suffer because of contaminated air and degraded water quality, or from diseases spread from farms.

Quality of life can suffer because of odors or insect vectors surrounding farms, and property values can drop, affecting the financial stability of a community.

Quality of life can suffer because of odors or insect vectors surrounding farms, and property values can drop, affecting the financial stability of a community.

The study found that real estate values had not dropped and odor infestations were not validated by local governmental staff in the areas.

However, the concerns show that CAFOs remain contentious in communities.

Groundwater can be contaminated by CAFOs through runoff from land application of manure, leaching from manure that has been improperly spread on land, or through leaks or breaks in storage or containment units.

Direct, indirect, and induced impacts are measured three general ways: 1) gross receipts that are dollars spent on purchases and the value of the processed product; 2) the total wages paid by firms producing direct, indirect, or induced impacts; and 3) the number of jobs associated with direct, indirect, and induced economic activity.

The value of output or sales of the Indiana pork industry was estimated in 2004 as $1,375,858,176 at the processor level.

The industry directly employed 3,021 people and paid $109,394,440 in salaries.

After including the indirect and induced effects, the total economic impact attributable to Indiana’s pork industry included an estimated $2,926,818,649 in industrial sales, 13,243 jobs, and personal income of approximately $446,291,410 million.