State Historical Society of Iowa

Top Factory Hog Farm Counties and Human Sewage Equivalent, Issue Brief, Food and Water Watch, April 2020

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Courtesy of foodandwaterwatch.org

Description

Over the past few decades, the hog industry has become highly concentrated across the American South and Midwest. Each hog produces roughly one and a half tons of manure each year, so their combined manure in a single county can meet or exceed the equivalent weight of human sewage in a major metropolitan area. This chart notes the number of hogs in the top ten hog producing counties across the country, estimates the amount of manure hogs produce in each of the counties, and compares that county to an American city with an equivalent amount of human waste. Six Iowa counties made the top ten, as shown in the chart.

Source Dependent Questions

  • This information was collected by the foodandwaterwatch.org group. How might that source impact the reliability of the information?
  • Think about sanitation on a farm. Does farm animal manure go through any filtration process like human waste does? How might that impact the environment?
  • Factory farms attempt to maximize profits by raising more animals in smaller spaces. Because they operate with lower costs, family farms are not able to compete. Using the information from this chart, make an argument as to whether or not factory farms are good for farming.

Citation Information

Top Factory Hog Farm Counties and Human Sewage Equivalent . Apr. 2020. Factory Farm Nation: 2020 Edition, Foodandwaterwatch.Org, Courtesy of Library of Congress