Factory Farm Campaign

Factory farms pose a significant threat to public health and the environment. By concentrating too much manure on too little land, factory farms often cause water and air pollution which threatens drinking water supply and impacts the surrounding community’s quality of life. Factory farms run the potential of releasing massive quantities of bacteria, nutrients, and other harmful pollutants to the surrounding waters.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are the biggest of the factory farms. A CAFO is defined as a feedlot that confines the number of animals equal to 1,000 “animal units” (roughly 700 dairy cows, 2,500 hogs, or 30,000 chickens). A CAFO can produce as much waste as a small city, yet they are permitted to store this waste in open-air lagoons with little or no treatment. CAFOs and other large livestock facilities often spread manure on nearby cropland at unsustainable rates, leading to manure spills, fish kills, and groundwater contamination.

New! MEA recently joined many other organizations, including family farms and co-ops, sustainable agriculture groups, conservation, wildlife and environmental organizations, and tribal governments in voicing their opposition for federal funding being spent in Wisconsin to develop a CAFO for dairy research.  The parties to the letter advocate for a sustainable agriculture practice at the dairy that relies upon managed pasturing rather than confined-animal operations.  Read the comments here.

[Open Cases] [Closed Cases]

Policy Priorities

Rosendale Dairy - Wisconsin's Largest CAFO in the Making

Reducing Odor and Air Pollution

Commenting on WPDES Permits for CAFOs

Addressing Wisconsin’s new Livestock Facility Siting Law

Banning the Spread of Liquid Manure on Frozen Ground