(Radio Iowa) – An analysis from the group Food & Water Watch says Iowa is the top-ranking state for producing manure from livestock feeding operations at 109 billion pounds annually.
The nonprofit organization’s research director, Amanda Starbuck, says the livestock waste in Iowa is estimated to be 25 times more than what’s produced by the state’s human population. Starbuck says there is a difference between the two types of waste as human waste is treated but animal waste is not.
While manure can add nutrients and organic matter to farm fields, Starbuck says the sheer amount of waste is too much for the land to handle and it runs off in rainstorms, enters rivers and streams and seeps into groundwater and ends up becoming an environmental burden.