Most of them, if not all, smell and smell bad. Some pollute Michigan's air and water and increase human health risks. One of their main byproducts is, to put it politely, excrement -- and lots of it. And for better or worse, they might be a big part of Michigan's farming future.
The practice of crowding more livestock onto fewer acres, known as concentrated animal feeding operations, has helped many Michigan farms survive and even thrive in an era when many midsize farms are being squeezed out of business.
An average Michigan farm spreads 170 cows across 340 acres, while CAFO operations have as many as 3,000 cows contained on fewer than six acres. Put that many Holsteins or hogs together, and one thing is certain, you'll get plenty of waste. The average CAFO can generate up to 38,000 gallons of animal waste a day, and that manure, opponents say, is a major threat to the environment.
Attempts to regulate these large operations have farmers and environmentalists at odds. The need to police discharges of toxic chemicals created by CAFOs has run up against the ability of farmers to do the work they've done for generations. And the failure to reach a compromise could lead to the creation of more mega-farms -- bringing with it the smells and headaches that seem to go with them.
Farmers say the state's permitting system unfairly penalizes those operations that don't pollute. Conservation groups see the program as ponderous and without teeth. And as an example, they point to a $223,000 fine paid earlier this month by Vreba-Hoff Dairy of Hudson that took two years to collect. Despite the payment, state officials said the mega-farm operator has still not followed through on required corrective action.
Meanwhile, residents who live near CAFOs feel as if there are no regulations to protect them. Frank McVay is a Morenci resident who had one CAFO across the street from his home until it closed last year, but there are two more just down the road.
"(The smell) is almost unbearable," said the 68-year-old retiree, who lived there long before the huge farming operations arrived. "Everybody who comes here says they wouldn't want to live here. Well I wouldn't want to live here, either. But I have to." The CAFO threat
Mega-farms have been a popular target for conservation groups for years, and the biggest reason is how they handle animal waste. In many instances, the waste is stored on site in a lagoon or holding container and later used for fertilizer. That presents several opportunities for the waste to pollute, including:
• In the animal storage areas, waste overflows and vehicles tracking the material can lead to runoff problems.
• Storm water can mix with the waste as well as other hazardous substances and flow into drains
• Waste storage structures can rupture or crack, leading to overflows.
• Wastes applied to farm fields as fertilizer can run off into nearby streams and rivers.
• CAFOs also produce gases such as methane, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide that pollute the air.
In a report conducted over two years by the Pew Commission and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researchers wrote that the harm from large-scale industrial farms is "too great and the scientific evidence is too strong ignore."
"Significant changes must be implemented and must start now," a report summary reads. "And while some areas of animal agriculture have recognized these threats and have taken action, it is clear that the industry has a long way to go."
Groups like the Sierra Club have launched campaigns to stop the spread of CAFOs in Michigan, and officials cite a host of problems: the contamination of surface and groundwater, hydrogen sulfide poisoning that can lead to health problems like brain damage, nausea and sinusitis, and the blood disorder "blue baby syndrome," which can come from high nitrates in drinking water. Two approaches
Until this year, Michigan addressed its mega-farms through two programs, one run by the Department of Environmental Quality and another by the Department of Agriculture.
The DEQ began issuing permits to CAFOs in 2002, but only to operations that had been found to have discharged pollution. But in 2007, the state began requiring permits for all CAFOs -- a move that drew the ire of the farming industry.
"It's almost like we didn't have a choice and it was shoved down our throats," said Bret Schapman, of Ingleside Farms in Romeo, which has 2,000 head of cattle. "Most of what they require is common sense -- things we were doing long before the term 'CAFO' ever came up." Permits urged
In January, the Newaygo County Circuit Court ruled that DEQ could and should require permits for all CAFO operations, but the industry plans to keep fighting the decision. Despite that victory, conservationists aren't entirely sold on the mandatory permit program, either.
"The more regulation we push for, the more (the farming industry) tries to gut the DEQ's budget for enforcement," said Lynn Henning, a farmer and a CAFO expert for the Sierra Club of Michigan.
The Department of Agriculture's program, the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, allows farmers to voluntarily take steps to prevent harmful discharges.
While the program has been embraced by farmers, conservationists believe a voluntary program can't ensure adherence to the law.
Michigan's 2009 budget, however, does not include funding for MAEAP, and Farm Bureau officials are scrambling to get the money reinserted in the hope the program can be salvaged and might become the state's main oversight program. The industry argues that the voluntary program is more equitable and doesn't place unfair financial burdens on farmers.
"I think there is an overwhelming sentiment that is put forward by environmental groups that don't want CAFOs that all of these operations pollute," said Scott Piggott, the Michigan Farm Bureau's agricultural ecology department manager. "But the majority of these facilities have never had pollution events."
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With CAFOs Farms Have Many Animals - Even More Waste
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By Jim Lynch
The Detroit News, May 28, 2009
Straight to the Source
