Schlossberg 1

Noah Schlossberg

4/17/17

English 1120

Simkins

Industrial Agriculture: An Environmental Disaster

10,500 years ago, nomadic farmers in Africa domesticated Bos Indicus, the common

cattle species. Over the next thousand years, cattle raised for beef and milk became an integral

part of the diet of almost all societies. They were raised identically to how they would behave in

the wild. The farmers would stock their cattle on vast grasslands and prairies and allow them to

feed and behave normally. The nomadic farmers would follow their herd great distances,

without any worry of herding or confining. In the eastern parts of the U.S. it soon became

impossible to allow the free range of cattle due to the close proximity to civilization. So, the

farmers began to fence their pastures and manage their herd by moving them to fresh grass

frequently. Civilization was still far from reaching the western half of the U.S. and the few

ranchers that called the west home, could run their herds on seemingly endless acres of rangeland

(Hirst). Years passed and the cattle industry ran smoothly until 1904, when Upton Sinclair

published The Jungle, which details the morbid conditions in U.S. slaughter houses and packing

facilities. This prompted the government to pass legislation regulating the conditions of such

facilities. Before this no one had spoken against the food system, but consumers were now more

conscious of what they ate. The meat industry was headed in the right direction. However, the

onset of World War Two brought that to a screeching halt. At the time, red meat was valued for

it high protein, it was the ideal source of energy for the American working man. The

development of canned meat products such as Spam and Vienna Sausages allowed meat to be
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preserved and shipped. The U.S. military began purchasing red meat in bulk to use in its rations.

Beef began to disappear from supermarkets altogether. The U.S. food industry pushed the idea of

processed foods such as popcorn, potato chips, and low quality cuts of meat. Gradually, the

American diet shifted. The war ended and the U.S. now had a surplus of red meat. The U.S.

started advertising beef products in mass media and the demand for meat grew rapidly (Crum).

However, farmers soon could not produce enough beef to keep up with demand. Around

the same time, it was discovered that cattle could be fed a diet of corn, soy, and roughage to

fatten them up faster than a pasture diet. In turn, ranchers began stocking cattle in feedlots (a

Confined Animal Feeding Operation) where they are packed tightly in concrete lots. With less

land required, more beef could thus be produced. This industrial beef production model was then

translated to pork and poultry. Hogs and chickens are now raised in massive barns with minimal

space and maximum efficiency. Unfortunately, the increased efficiency of these systems is a

tradeoff for health of the animal, the consumer, and the environment. The industrial rearing of

livestock leaves catastrophic environmental problems due to the unconventional diet,

irresponsible waste management practices, and numerous problems associated with the

monocultures needed to grow modern livestock feedstuffs.

When animals are raised in confinement they are fed high protein, growth promotant,

antibiotic laced rations. These diets are extremely efficient at finishing livestock. In grass-based

system cattle are ready for slaughter at an average age of twenty-four months, whereas in the

industrial system, it can be done in as little as a year to sixteen months of age. The same is true in

the swine and poultry industry. The time from birth to slaughter is significantly less in an

industrial model than a pasture model. This is extremely efficient and is seemingly ideal if the

numerous consequences are ignored. Cattle are ruminants, meaning they have a four chambered
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stomach. One of these chambers is the rumen. This compartment contains millions of

microorganisms and protozoa that non-ruminant animals lack. These organisms produce

cellulase, an enzyme capable of digesting and processing cellulose (Pollan 290). This is why

ruminants can digest grass and other animals cant. In the industrial system cattle are fed a

scientifically formulated diet for maximum efficiency. This diet varies from CAFO to CAFO and

has contained anything from ground landfill byproducts to beef tallow. The one ingredient

consistent throughout feedlot diets however is Zea Indenata, feed corn. Ruminants cannot digest

corn. When consumed, it reacts with the enzymes in the stomach and releases increased amounts

of the most infamous by-product of beef, methane (Pollan 135). The excess amounts of methane

lead to stomach ulcers which then must be treated with antibiotics (many feedlots feed medicated

feed with preventative antibiotics because stomach ulcers are so common). Not only does the

unnecessary methane effect the cattle, it also has a negative effect on the environment.

According to a 2015 Stanford University study, methane yields from animal agriculture

are potentially the biggest contributor to the growing hole in Earths ozone layer (Garret-

Bowling). The ozone layer is responsible for blocking the suns harmful UV-B rays, if it were to

disappear cancer and diseases would rise significantly; it would almost certainly lead to the end

of human life, and cattle arent the only livestock contributing to this problem. The diets fed in

swine and poultry operations is similar to that of cattle, and quite simply, makes the animals

gassy. The USDA currently does not have a system in place to address this problem stating that

improved animal agriculture management practices have the potential to have significant role in

reduced atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases. It also admits that it would require

technological advancements that will be realized over the next century (Garret-Bowling). It is

nave to assume that we have an entire century to find a solution to this problem when, in reality,
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our ozone layer could very well be gone within the next fifteen years if our current rate of

industrial meat production continues.

With large numbers of livestock come large amounts of waste. The average steer

generates nearly twenty-one tons of manure per year, magnify that by the tens of thousands of

cattle in a single feed lot, and it is easy to see that this waste is an enormous problem (NRCS

Animal Manure Management). In the typical feed lot, front end loaders are used to haul the

manure to massive pools adjacent to the dry lots. The manure is dumped and then water is

pumped in to create a slurry. Some cesspools have a concrete lining while others are simply

clay. Regardless of the lining, the manure sits there and bakes in the sun. Eventually the slurry

becomes so acidic (due to the manures high concentrations of nitrous and phosphoric acid) that it

leaches through the seemingly impermeable lining and into the ground water below. The water is

then contaminated with a whole slew of pollutants including microbial pathogens, and parent

compounds of the pharmaceuticals in medicated feed (Wichman et. al. 5). In swine barns the

methods for waste management are essentially the same. The hogs are packed tightly in long,

dimly lit barns, they stand on slatted, concrete floors, allowing their manure to drop down to a

pool below. At the end of each day the pools are then flushed with water and the concoction is

pumped a few hundred yards away into a cesspool. It is easy to mistake a cesspool for a

freshwater pond at first glance, but further analysis proves otherwise; the water is stained a thick,

neon green due to chemicals to minimize odor, the banks are bare dirt, lacking any vegetation at

all.

Now some farmers may argue that they put their waste to good use; spraying it on their

crop fields for added nutrients. The problem with this is that the manure slurry is excessively

nutrient rich. The crops do not need that much nitrogen or phosphorous to thrive. So even after
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the crops grow and are harvested, there is an excess of nutrients that goes right into the

groundwater (Whichman et. al. 7). Another problem with the application of manure slurry as

fertilizer is that it is usually applied in early spring, when the ground is already saturated.

Saturated earth is not capable of absorbing all of that nutrient rich slurry. What it cant absorb,

flows right off with the run-off come the next rain. All of the remnants that remain, whether it be

in groundwater or runoff, then travel down the watershed and into the tidal plains. In 2014,

Marylands Chesapeake Bay had its largest ever dead zone and fish kill, which was directly

linked to algae blooms caused by agricultural run-off (Warrick).

In the pasture-based livestock operation, this is much less of an issue. Hogs, chickens and

cattle drop their waste onto the grass, allowing the sun and bugs to naturally and gradually

process the manure. A problem does arise with this system in poorly managed pastures. In order

for this system to work, the cattle need to be moved after they have exhausted one field, to allow

it to sequester the nutrients from the manure. Leave cattle in one field for too long, and there is

soon too much nutrients for the grass to process. Joel Salatin, a pioneer in sustainable livestock

management practices, perfected a model to eliminate all of these problems. He runs his cattle in

a tight group, allowing them to graze the field completely. He then moves them to a new field. A

few days pass, the cattle manure accumulates fly larvae, and then egg laying chickens are

brought in to scratch through the manure, eating the larvae and spreading the cattle manure while

doing so, all the while adding nutrient rich manure of their own. The chickens follow the cattle

throughout the year, much like the cattle egrets of the Serengeti in Africa. After this entire

process is complete the pasture is then rested for a minimum of six months before animals are

brought back through. This rest period allows the field plenty of time to process all of the

nutrients before the cycle is repeated.

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Yet another issue linked to the industrial meat business is that it caused an exponential

rise in the number of monocultures in the United States. A monoculture is a farm that cultivates a

single crop in an exorbitant amount. These commercial farms are essential to the industrial meat

business because they are responsible for growing the corn, soy, and wheat that goes into

industrial livestock feed. The problem with monocultures is that they require a substantial

amount of fertilizer in order to reach fruition. As stated before, it is common practice to apply

waste lagoon slurry onto agricultural fields. However, many of these monocultures are located so

far away from CAFOs, that it is more cost effective to use artificially formulated fertilizers,

rather than to truck in the waste slurry. It is a commonly known fact that many crops grow better,

and require less fertilizer when they are intermingled with other crops to allow cross-pollination

(McGuire). Unfortunately, this cross-pollination is not possible in monoculture; farmers must

turn to artificial fertilizers to keep their crops growing. These pose an even larger threat to the

environment as many contain inorganic compounds and binding agents that the Earth cannot

process, and they remain in the ecosystem forever.

Monocultures also require heavy machinery use multiple times a year. In the spring,

fields are plowed and turned, in summer, crops are sprayed with fertilizers several times, and in

the fall, combines harvest the crops. With each pass of the tractor, the soil becomes more

compacted and much of the topsoil erodes. Topsoil is a finite resource, and it is important to

ensure its survival, especially in areas with bedrock only several feet below ground. With our

current monoculture practices, many areas will soon be rendered useless.

There are many people who argue that monocultures are a necessity to keep this

countrys food industry functioning, but to a small scale, sustainable livestock rancher, it is

blasphemous to even consider trucking in feed for cattle. Why buy feed when grass is abundant
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and accessible? It is even more outrageous that the feed that is brought in is harmful to both the

animal and the environment. The plain truth is that monocultures are obsolete, and they are doing

more harm than good.

Many critics of the belief that the commercial meat industry needs to be changed, agree

that the industry has a negative effect on the health of the environment, but they argue that it is

the only way to feed the nations growing population. They say that there is no way small

farmers could produce enough food to fulfill the American diet, especially in a country where

portion sizes are much larger when compared to that of other countries. In a country with nearly

320 million people, it is easy to believe that the only way to feed it, is to raise as many livestock

as possible, as fast as possible. However, the contrary is true. In a 2011 interview for Yes!

Magazine, Madeline Ostrander asked Joel Salatin how small scale, sustainable agriculture could

feed the world, his answer was intriguing:

Mob-stocking herbivorous solar conversion lignified carbon sequestration

fertilization. The idea is youre mob-stocking: Herbivores in nature are always mobbed

up for predator protection. Now we dont have predators, so we use an electric fence to

keep them mobbed up. So were not Luddites. Were using high-tech.

We farm grass, and we harvest that grass with cows. But we dont just turn the

cows out into a field. We move them every day from paddock to paddock and only give

them access to a single spot a couple days a year. We let the grass grow to what we call

full physiological expression, the juvenile growth spurt. By doing that were actually

collecting a lot more solar energy and metabolizing it into biomass than you would if the

grass were kept short like a lawn.

The difference is, for example, Augusta County, where we are, averages 80 cow
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days per acre (a cow day is what one cow will eat in a day). On our farm we average 400

cow days per acre, and weve never bought a bag of chemical fertilizer and weve never

planted a seed. Weve taken the soils on our farm from 1.5 percent organic matter in the

early 1960s to an average of 8 percent organic matter today. That cycle of herbivore,

perennial, and predation builds up root biomass below the ground and sequesters carbon

and organic matter. Its the same process that built all the deep soils of the worldthe

Pampas in Argentina, outer Mongolia with yaks and sheep, the American plains with the

buffalo (Ostrander).

As Salatin says we would actually be more productive if we had a 360 degree shift from

industrial agriculture to sustainable methods. In the U.S. the average caloric intake of an adult

male is 2500 calories per day. According to a University of Michigan study, a conversion from

the industrial system to the sustainable model would produce enough food for each person in the

U.S. to consume 4400 calories per day (Lipow). That is almost double what the industrial food

system is capable of. Therefore, to say that sustainable agriculture is not efficient enough to

provide food for the countries growing economy is fundamentally wrong.

The industrial meat industry needs to be held liable for the damage it has caused the

environment due to the irresponsible management of livestock. All of the aforementioned

problems can be reversed with basic reform. A conversion to sustainable practices as described

by Salatin would put an end to the beating our environment is taking. Methane yields from cattle

would go down because the ruminants are consuming grass instead of noxious grains.

Groundwater contamination would be eliminated with the elimination of cesspools.

Monocultures would turn in to multi-faceted operations growing many crops for human

consumption, rather than animal consumption. If we continue our current agricultural practices
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we will soon live in a desolate, dying country.

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Works Cited

Crum, Maddie. "How World War II Changed The Way Americans Ate." The

HuffingtonPost. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 03 Apr. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/wwii-food-america_n_1398132.html>.

Garret-Bowling, Adam. "A Leading Cause of Everything: One Industry That Is Destroying Our

Planet and Our Ability to Thrive on It." Student Journals. Stanford University, n.d. Web.

20 Mar. 2017. <https://journals.law.stanford.edu/stanford-environmental-law-journal-

elj/blog/leading-cause-everything-one-industry-destroying-our-planet-and-our-ability-

thrive-it>.

Hirst, K. Kris. "How Cattle Came to Be Domesticated - Perhaps Three Times!

ThoughtCo. About Inc., 3 July 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

<https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-domestication-of-cows-170652>.

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Mcquire, Andrew. "Monoculture vs. Polyculture Part I:." Center for Sustaining Agriculture and

Natural Resources. Washington State University, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

<http://csanr.wsu.edu/monoculture-vs-polyculture-part-i/>.

"Natural Resources Conservation Service." Animal Manure Management. USDA, n.d. Web. 10

Mar. 2017.

<https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/null/?cid=nrcs143_014211>.

/.latest_citation_text
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Ostrander, Madeline. "Joel Salatin: How to Eat Animals and Respect Them, Too." YES!

Magazine. N.p., 19 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

<http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/can-animals-save-us/joel-salatin-how-to-eat-meat

and-respect-it-too>.

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. Print

Warrick, Joby. "Large 'dead Zone' Signals Continued Problems for the Chesapeake Bay." The

Washington Post. WP Company, 31 Aug. 2014. Web. 03 Apr. 2017.

<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/large-dead-zone-signals-

continued-problems-for-the-chesapeake-bay/2014/08/31/1e0c2024-2fc2-11e4-9b98-

848790384093_story.html?utm_term=.0f4272352126>.

Wichman, Michael. "Impacts of Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water

Quality." Environmental Health Perspectives. National Institute of Environmental Health

Sciences, Feb. 2007. Web. 03 Apr. 2017.

<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817674/>.