Podcast Script
03/14/2010
Overview
Manure, today’s fertilizer and tomorrow’s nuclear warhead. Hi my name is Ben
Horowitz and in this podcast I will be discussing the environmental effects of factory
farming. I will be focusing on the copious amounts of manure that is being produce on
factory farms and why it is so dangerous to the environment.
Content
In a healthy farm system, the farm lives off itself. It begins with healthy soil that
is able to sustain the roots of grass and plants. In a healthy farm the precious soil is kept
in balance. When crops are harvested the farmer will put the stalks of the plants back in
such a way where it will help fertilize the soil from which they came. In a healthy farm
when the cattle eat grass from a field their manure acts like fertilizer for the grass, and
after all the grass is eaten the farmer moves the cattle to another field so the grass has
time to re-grow. Now…in a factory farm system the ground is overused, the farmers use
chemical fertilizers to make the grass grow faster, but in over application can make the
grass toxic. It sounds to me that a healthy farm system is the way to go. Unfortunately,
farms are forced to use the industrial method because of the huge demand for meats.
On theses Factory farms, the farmers put together huge amounts of animals in one
place, and when all these animals are in one place for to long there manure can really add
up. According to Sustainable Table.com a single hog can produce up to 17.5 pounds of
manure and urine each day! And if you Put 1,000 hogs together, and all of a sudden that’s
six million pounds of waste each year. And on these industrial factory farms that are
containing over 35,000 hogs, that’s over four million pounds of waste that will be
produced each week, and over 200 million pounds each year. (Factory farming n.d.)
Farmers have developed methods to try to make this manure useful, factory farmer’s start
off putting the manure in man-made lakes or holding tanks. Farmers have given these
manure storage units a special name, lagoons. The lagoons are used to mix the manure
with water, and after mixed this manure slurry will then go on to fertilize plants. Often
times these lagoons will leak into the soil causing it to become over fertilized and lose all
its nutrients, and if the manure that is being sprayed on the crops is over sprayed it can
leak into water systems.
Allen Trenkle a researcher from Iowa state university has found startling evidence
that the diet that is being fed to Factory Farm cows has created a big problem rather then
a cheap alternative feed. By looking through a man-made window installed into the side
of a cow, he was able to take samples of the digesting food. With these samples he has
found that the diet of corn rather then grass that the factory farm farmers feed there cattle
can cause a resistant strain of E. Coli in the manure. That is the same manure that is put
into the lagoons then goes on to crops to fertilize them. (Kenner R. 2009)
The manure also can be a problem for the processing plants. The cattle, since they
live there days in their own manure they go off to the plant caked in it. According to the
USDA the plants can only do so much to wash the cows off on the processing line. This
means sometimes the manure can touch the meat during production and transfer the E.
Coli. (Manure Management 2008) Today most meat is pasteurized in a attempt to kill the
virus but unfortunately sometimes the dieses can get out.
Conclusion
Manure is one of many environmental problems that are caused by factory farms.
To find more information on factory farming and its effects on the environment I highly
recommend reading the book Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is
Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It. Thanks for
taking your time to listen to my podcast.
References
Factory Farming. (n.d.). Sustainable Table. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from
http://www.sustainabletable.org
Kenner, R. (Director). (2009). Food, Inc. [Documentary]. Unknown: Magnolia Home
Entertainment.
Manure Management : Agricultural Environmental Management : Water Quality
Information Center. (2008).Information Centers : National Agricultural Library.
Retrieved April 18, 2010, from
http://riley.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=7&topic_i
d=2224&ta