CAFOs and small, family farms represent two distinct approaches to agriculture. CAFOs are large-scale facilities designed for maximum efficiency in meat, dairy, or egg production. Animals in CAFOs often live in high densities, with limited space for movement and restricted access to natural environments. They are typically fed specialized diets aimed at maximizing growth or production, often supplemented with additives, which together with CAFO conditions shorten their lives.
Small farms are actual farms. Small farms commonly use more sustainable farming practices than CAFOs, prioritizing soil and animal health, biodiversity, and water conservation over maximizing output at the expense of natural resources. A term gaining popularity is “circular agriculture”, which focuses on a closed cycle of inputs and outputs, minimizing ecosystem impacts and disruption for neighbors.
"I am used to farm smells. I am a farmer myself. Manure spread, and even the turkey CAFO a mile away, were unpleasant but familiar smells that our community has lived with. The digestate was nothing like these. I could only liken it to having my head in a full port-a-potty. I am over a mile away."
How do CAFOs harm the environment?
One of the major concerns surrounding CAFOs is water pollution. These facilities produce immense quantities of sewage, including chemical and biological hazards, disposed of primarily by field application. This sewage can leach into groundwater or runoff into nearby surface waters during rain events or through buried drainage networks that pipe leachate directly to surface drains and streams.
High levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus flow to waterways, fueling algal blooms. One result is plummeting oxygen levels in water, creating “dead zones” where aquatic life struggles to survive. Toxic algal blooms played a central role in the 2014 Toledo water crisis, when the Lake Erie water source for the entire city became undrinkable and toxic on human contact
Read more stories of CAFO impact from Fremont, Michigan residents
It’s no secret that CAFOs also compromise air quality. A complex stew of pollutants, including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, methane, and particulate matter, drifts into the neighborhood around a CAFO and rises into the atmosphere. Ammonia can react with other pollutants to form fine particulate matter, which penetrates deep into lungs, triggering respiratory attacks. CAFO methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxide contribute to climate change. CAFOs are significant contributors to the global emissions inventory.
All these CAFO trends continue to grow.
