What are states doing about concentrated animal feeding operations?

• Position: NCSL Inside

Ten states - Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Virginia - enacted or strengthened legislation or regulations dealing with concentrated animal feeding operations this year. These farming operations involve thousands of animals within a confined area.

The operations are controversial because there have been accidents leading to water contamination when manure storage lagoons overflowed. Opponents of these farms argue that the odors are offensive to many and that most are operated on contracts more like corporate than family farms. They argue that they will drive the small farmer out of business, that factory farm animals are treated inhumanely, and that pork actually tastes better when raised in a more traditional way.

Operators of these farms argue that they provide a high quality, uniform product at low cost to the consumer and that all farms have some odor.

Hogs farms are the most frequent target of state legislation (at least seven states - Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Wyoming - refer specifically to hogs in their bills or regulations). Pork producers oppose this specific reference in legislation. Mega-hog farm contractors have been seeking to expand their operations, moving from the East and Midwest to Western states such as Utah and Colorado that usually have few regulations for such large feeding operations.

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