In today’s America, oversight and regulation of factory farms is extremely difficult, and in some cases impossible.
As The Rural Blog reports, regulatory oversight is generally weak or nonexistent because of a lack of data on the number and location of factory farms. This issue has gained national attention in recent days because of Hurricane Matthew, which caused countless animal carcasses and massive levels of animal waste to flood waterways on the East Coast. To give just one example, poultry farms in North Carolina are exempt from disclosing publicly information about their operations.
The EPA estimates “that 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and 12 percent of methane emissions come from agriculture operations. Environmental groups say those numbers are higher. Until the laws are changed, it’s hard to know the truth.