There are some who are obsessed with UFOs – unidentified flying objects. It occupies most every breathing hour. Far fewer are concerned with CAFOs, or pulled with such intensity. Too bad, because CAFOs have far more effect on our lives.

…livestock production has undergone a transformation in which a small number of very large CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) predominate.

These CAFOs have imposed significant—but largely unaccounted for—costs on taxpayers and communities throughout the United States.
CAFOs are characterized by large numbers of animals crowded into a confined space—an unnatural and unhealthy condition that concentrates too much manure in too small an area.Many of the costly problems caused by CAFOs can be attributed to the storage and disposal of this manure and the overuse of antibiotics in livestock to stave off disease.

The predominance of CAFOs is not the inevitable result of market forces; it has been fostered by misguided public policy.

The Union for Concerned Scientists, via its Catalyst magazine, has an important report for you, here.