These factories are causing serious amounts of atmospherically and ecologically based pollution. For example, factory farms concentrate an unnatural number of animals in one place, which creates an unmanageable amount of waste. For example, a single hog excretes up to 17.5 pounds of manure and urine each day. If you put 1,000 hogs together, that’s six million pounds of waste each year. On a factory farm containing 35,000 hogs, over four million pounds of waste are produced each week and over 200 million pounds each year. Whereas on a sustainable farm animal waste can be a tool, in factory-farm amounts it becomes a major pollutant (Loehr 26). Manure carries with it other substances that are used on industrial farms. These include antibiotics and artificial growth hormones, which contaminate waterways and affect the plants and animals that live in them (National Risk Management Research Library 2). Salt, a common component of manure from industrial dairies can damage soil quality and contributes to erosion (Schneider 2). Factory farms also emit harmful gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, which contributes to global warming. This air pollution is a result from the overuse of machinery, the mismanagement of manure, and the irresponsible feeding practices that characterize industrial farming. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have turned agriculture into a leading
These factories are causing serious amounts of atmospherically and ecologically based pollution. For example, factory farms concentrate an unnatural number of animals in one place, which creates an unmanageable amount of waste. For example, a single hog excretes up to 17.5 pounds of manure and urine each day. If you put 1,000 hogs together, that’s six million pounds of waste each year. On a factory farm containing 35,000 hogs, over four million pounds of waste are produced each week and over 200 million pounds each year. Whereas on a sustainable farm animal waste can be a tool, in factory-farm amounts it becomes a major pollutant (Loehr 26). Manure carries with it other substances that are used on industrial farms. These include antibiotics and artificial growth hormones, which contaminate waterways and affect the plants and animals that live in them (National Risk Management Research Library 2). Salt, a common component of manure from industrial dairies can damage soil quality and contributes to erosion (Schneider 2). Factory farms also emit harmful gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, which contributes to global warming. This air pollution is a result from the overuse of machinery, the mismanagement of manure, and the irresponsible feeding practices that characterize industrial farming. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have turned agriculture into a leading