Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
estimated annual production of farmed animal manure
and human urine and feces (in tons)
1,600,000 tons
from 800,000 pigs
at 1 pork facility
1,000,000 tons
from the
1.5 million residents
of philadelphia, pa
16,000 tons
from the
24,000 residents
of lake tahoe, ca
38,900 tons
from the
57,000 residents
of galveston, tx
17,800 tons
from 700 cattle
at 1 dairy facility
40,000 tons
from 3,423 cattle
at 1 beef facility
produce as much waste as an entire U.S. city. In fact, according to
data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental
Protection Agency, animal feeding operations—also known as
“AFOs,” which are defined by the EPA as facilities that “congregate
animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals, and production
operations on a small land area”—produce approximately 500 mil-
lion tons of manure every year, with concentrated animal feeding
operations (CAFOs) generating up to 60 percent of this excrement.
To put this in perspective, confined farmed animals produce three
