Animal Feedlots Likely Threat To Drinking Water In Minnesota: Report

"Manure from the state’s 80 million farm animals risks overloading its rivers and lakes with nitrogen and phosphorus"

"Millions of tons of manure from Minnesota’s animal feedlots is a risk to consumer health as it threatens to raise nitrate and phosphorus levels in the state’s rivers, lakes and drinking water, a study has found.

Meat and dairy production in the US is dominated by the use of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) where animals are raised or fattened in close confinement.

Since 1991, the number of CAFOs in Minnesota has trebled, with about 80 million pigs, cows and poultry now held in feedlots. The state has one of the most detailed databases in the US on all of its animal farms."

Sophie Kevany reports for the Guardian May 28, 2020.