Concentrated animal feeding operation

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In agriculture, a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) is a farm that raises livestock and seeks to maximize production by making highly efficient use of space and other resources. Operating a CAFO is sometimes referred to as factory farming, though the term is now officially used to recognize most commercial animal growing operations, even those that are quite small.

CAFOs can hold large numbers (some up to hundreds of thousands) of animals, often indoors. These animals are typically cows, hogs, turkeys, or chickens. The distinctive characteristics of a CAFO is the concentration of livestock in a given space. Food is supplied in place, and artificial methods are often employed to maintain animal health and improve production, such as therapeutic use of antimicrobial agents, vitamin supplements and growth hormones. Growth hormones are not used in chicken meat production. In meat production, mechanical methods are also sometimes employed, such as debeaking of chickens and physical restraints, to control undesirable behaviors.

The designation CAFO, used in the US, resulted from the 1972 Federal Clean Water Act, which was enacted to protect and restore surface water—lakes and rivers—to a "fishable, swimmable" quality. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified certain animal feeding operations (AFOs), along with many other types of industry, as point source polluters of groundwater. These operations were designated as CAFOs and subject to special anti-pollution regulation.^[1]

CAFOs have increased over the past two decades. For example, the number of hog farms in North Carolina has decreased dramatically, while the number of hogs raised on each farm has risen dramatically. In 1983 there were 23,000 hog farms in North Carolina. As of 1997 there were only 7,000. The average number of hogs per farm was 100 in 1983 and as of 1997 it was 1,600. Today ten million hogs are raised and slaughtered in North Carolina each year. According to the EPA, there are about 18,000 operations in the United States that meet its definition of a CAFO, with the number to increase as the EPA broadens its definition and forces more agribusinesses to register themselves.^[2]

[edit] Issues

The large concentration of animals, animal waste and dead animals in a small space poses many ethical and environmental problems. Some animal rights activists have charged that CAFOs are cruel to animals. As CAFOs become increasingly common, so do concerns about air pollution and ground water contamination. In 24 states, isolated cases of groundwater contamination has been linked to CAFOs. For example, the ten million hogs in North Carolina generate 19 million tons of waste per year. The US federal government acknowledges the waste disposal issue and requires that animal waste be stored in lagoons. These lagoons can be as large as 7.5 acres. Lagoons not protected with an impermeable liner can leak waste into groundwater under some conditions, as can runoff from manure spread back onto fields as fertilizer in the case of an unforseen heavy rainfall.

• Iowa Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Air Quality Study <http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/ehsrc/CAFOstudy.htm>
• School Proximity to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and Prevalence of Asthma in Students <http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/129/6/1486>
• Iowa's Failure to Implement and Enforce the Clean Water Act for Livestock Operations <http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pub194.cfm>

[edit] References

• Farm Sanctuary. Retrieved May 1, 2005. <http://www.farmsanctuary.org>
• Gerber, John. Homepage. Retrieved May 5, 2005. <http://www.umass.edu/umext/jgerber/articles.htm>