Michigan Factory Farm Growth Out of Control
Factory farms are a growing problem in Michigan. The number of factory farms, also known as CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) in our state has more than quadrupled between 1997 and 2017. Michigan is now home to nearly 300 CAFOs.
A single, large CAFO produces one-and-a-half times more untreated waste than the human sanitary waste produced by the cities of Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw, Traverse City and Warren combined.
Because of weak regulation, these CAFOS are allowed to spread 400 million tons of solid manure and 4 billion gallons of raw, untreated liquid animal feces and urine—5,000 to 7,000 gallons per acre—on 600,000 acres across Michigan. This waste is contaminating our rivers, streams and lakes. CAFOs are why Lake Erie now turns green with toxic algal blooms every summer and E. coli contamination is widespread in our waterways.
CAFOs are heavily subsidized by the federal government, and the powerful agribusiness lobbies in Lansing and Washington, D. C., have made it very hard for smaller farms to compete.
The conditions for the animals on CAFOs are indefensible. For example, factory-farmed female pigs, while pregnant, are stuffed in tiny gestation crates, unable to turn around. These pigs will never be able to lie down comfortably over the course of their entire lives.
It has been found that 80 percent of pigs have pneumonia upon slaughter. This is because they spend their whole lives breathing in the dangerous gases produced by the waste generated by so many animals in a confined and concentrated area. Pigs on factory farms never get to spend time outside or see the sun, except immediately before slaughter.
This is just a small sample of the horrors of the pig industry. The other industries are equally cruel. When consumers buy food from these heavily subsidized factory farms, they are supporting the continuation of these practices.
Michiganders for a Just Farming System is a grassroots coalition working to address factory farming and the harmful impacts it has on small family farmers, communities, farm animals, the climate and the natural resources of Michigan.
To take action or find out more information, visit JustFarmingSystem.com.
