Effects Of Feedlots On The Environment

Feedlots and Their Effects on the Environment

Introduction:

Just like most other livestock/agricultural operations feedlots catch all kinds of grief from people about being environmentally unfriendly. Feedlots might not be the environmentally friendly operations, but they are necessary in today’s agriculture production. Feedlots can pose threats to plants, animals, people, and soils around them. While they may pose some threats to the things around them they are important in today’s economy, and they can not be gotten rid of on account of how they have made the beef industry better of the years.

What is a Feedlot?

A feedlot is a plot of ground usually near a cattle stockyard and a packing house used to fatten up cattle before they go to slaughter. The reason they are set up this way is because this cuts down on the shipping cost of the cattle from the farm to the stockyard and then to the packing plants. They are more economically friendly this way and save producers and buyers money because they keep things fairly close together. In addition feedlots keep all the cattle closer together and in a more controllable environment making them easier to bring in if there are any sick ones that need to be dealt with versus cattle that are run on grass that might be miles away from the doctoring facilities. Feedlots were designed to help the stockyards and packing houses from costing one another a fortune, and they have done an excellent job of balancing costs between the two.

Effects Feedlots Have on the Environment:

Although feedlots make things easier for cattle producers and buyers they tend to have more of a negative effect on the environment. As I mentioned before, plants, animals, people, and soils in the surrounding areas are the ones most often effected. Plants, animals, and the soil are affected in similar whiles the effects on people are slightly different. Plants, animals, and soils in some areas are becoming more and more depleted. The loss of their natural habitat, introduction of new disease, and certain chemical deposits are really causing the downfall of the natural environment.

Effects on Plants:

Plants are the species that are at the greatest risk because of feedlots because before feedlots can be built ground has to be cleared for construction. This leads to native plants (endangered or not) being whipped clean for the slate of that area. The larger the feedlot the larger the loss sustained will be. Feedlots are commonly constructed on ground that is not suitable for much else. The terrain could be too rough to plant, or livestock could not graze it because there is no forage growing there that they will consume. Even though this is true there are still plants losing there habitat. Prairie grasses, various prairie weeds, and even shrubs and trees are losing their habitat due to the clearing of ground for feedlots.

Even if the grasses are not compromised by the clearing of ground for the feedlot ones around it are still at risk. The introduction of chemicals into the soil from waste runoff from the feedlot has an effect on them. In a way it can be good to begin with (acts as a fertilizer), but over time of continuous compilation it destroys the root system of the plants. The most common chemicals that are found are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash (potassium). All of these chemicals are also found in fertilizers, but when use in excess they can kill plants just as easily as they can help them.

This does not just occur twenty or thirty yards away from the feedlot itself. This can affect plants much farther beyond that, especially if there is a lot of precipitation that moves though the area that causes floods and washes more of the manure farther out into the environment. This is only if it is large amounts. Sometime flood waters will spread out the chemicals more causing them to be deposited in smaller amounts making it safer overall because the concentration is not as high. Some of this runoff can help the plant life instead of hurting it, but it is hard to keep it controlled in the areas that border the feedlot close up.

Ways to Reduce the Stress on Plants:

There are many things a feedlot can do to harm plant life, and there are many things one can do to reduce the stress they apply to them. In order for the feedlots to stop killing the plants outright they would have to stop constructing feedlots all over and that is not very practical. However people could start building smaller feedlots or combining some that are already there to cut down on the land that is used up by a few that are there. It would be much easier to convince feedlot managers to do this rather than stop construction all together. Although they cannot really help the clearing of the ground to build the feedlot they can do things that reduce the chemical imbalance they can impose on one.

Rather than just letting the waste runoff naturally into the environment feedlots have come up with ways semi-contain them. Feedlots have also implemented the use of waste channels and waste lagoons that are used to channel and hold waste until it can be put to use by way of fertilizers. Some feedlots have even added filtration systems to their waste channels and lagoons that filter out some amounts of these chemicals to make them more environmentally friendly. Another thing that feedlots do is they put a “clay pan” in their lagoons. A clay pan is a clay lining in the bottom of their lagoons that keep these chemicals from working their way into the ground water as well as into plants. Since clay is a more dense type of soil the leaching of these harmful chemicals into surrounding soils.

Effects on Animals:

Like the effects of feedlots on plants, animals are also facing habitat loss due to construction of the establishment. Large and small animals alike are at risk because their shrubby and dense habitats are lost due to the clearing of ground. They are being pushed away into new habitats that may or may not be suitable for them, and this can be detrimental to their species survival. They can do one of two things, they can either adapt to survive in their newly found area or they will face struggles and possibly die off. Although this is a threat most animals are able to stay in the immediate area, and they are able to adapt to the area without going too far away from their original home.

Possibly the biggest threat to animals in the immediate area of a feedlot are all of the diseases that cattle could expose the environment to. Since deer and some other animals that are sharing the environment with the cattle are ruminants (four chambered stomachs) they are susceptible to picking up diseases cattle have. There is no real way to track down and treat these animals the face either getting over the disease naturally or dying. The bovine respiratory diseases are the more common ones that are picked up by other animals and can be spread like wildfire amongst the environment. One positive thing about some of these diseases is that if an animal gets over it is that it will be passed down and future animals will be immune to them.

Things that also affect animals surrounding a feedlot are the sicknesses they could come down with if they consume the plants that have been affected by the waste coming out of it. The most common example of this would be the sickness known as nitrate poisoning or also known as nitrate toxicity. This occurs when the plants in the area are bringing more nitrogen out of the soil than they can use in their photosynthesis process, therefore it is just left in the stem and leaves of the plant. When the animal consumes this plant it causes a chemical imbalance in the body. The nitrogen binds with the red blood cells in the animal’s body rather than oxygen, therefore respiration rate and heart rate are increased leading to muscle tremors and the animal eventually dies of suffocation.

Ways to Reduce Stress on Animals:

There are a few things feedlots can due to reduce the amount of stress they put on animals in the environment. In the same aspect as the plants though the only way they can cut down on habitat loss is to try and consolidate the existing feedlots or start constructing smaller operations. They more land they can set aside for the existing animals that live there the better chance they will have for survival. What the feedlot managers could also do is plant some shrubbery and native grasses back near the feedlot after all the damage cause by construction is complete. This is a way that the feedlot could try to make an attempt to semi-replace what they have done by depleting the wildlife habitat.

As far as diseases are concerned, feedlots will usually do anything they can to keep their cattle healthy. That is the first step in the process of keeping the environment healthy. If there is no disease introduced into the environment, there should not be a problem with it. In saying that there are always exceptions, and there might always be a slip up in the system. Those animals that do contract the disease and get over it will make the immune system of future animals stronger against this disease. Feedlot managers cannot be held accountable for every aspect of this problem because a swift wind can carry the disease a ways. The managers usually try their hardest to keep their cattle healthy because if they do not they will be losing their profit as well as satisfaction from their buyers and sellers.

Other sicknesses can also be semi-controlled also, and they require starting just as far up the ladder. Nitrate poisoning can be controlled by not releasing those high amounts of nitrogen into the soil which keeps the plants from absorbing too much which in turn keeps the animals from ingesting them and coming down with this sickness. Again rather than just letting the waste from the livestock runoff they are semi-controlled by the waste channels and lagoons. The implementation of the clay pans have also cut down a lot on the nitrogen deposition in surrounding soil. If a feedlot manager can cut down on the nitrogen being released into the soil they can essentially cut down on the amount of animals that perish from nitrate poisoning. Once these practices are put into place a feedlot is well on its way to helping out the animals of the environment.

Effects on Soils:

Soil degradation is also a major problem that faces most feedlots, and it is the problem that most other problems stem from. For starters the ground on which a feedlot is built is going to be extremely compacted due to all of the traffic across it from all the cattle. When compacting the soil like this it reduces the amount of pour space in the soil which in turn leads to less water penetration and less soil microbe activity. This will eventually lead almost soil activity which means that if a feedlot is torn down and moved to another area for some reason the land left behind cannot easily be reestablished so grass or other plant life can be grown. This will lead to problems on down the road for people that try to come in after a feedlot is gone and try to plant trees, shrubs, or different types of forages.

More problems that feedlots can cause in the soil degradation department are those of chemical and pH imbalances. These imbalances are caused by the waste given off by the cattle of the feedlot, mostly in the form of nitrogen. Nitrogen when concentrated highly enough can be detrimental for soil because it gives the soil am much high pH value (basic). A little nitrogen here and there will not cause a problem, but when used or absorbed in excess can cause the soil to be virtually inhabitable by plants and microbes. It can also kill off any of the existing plants in the area because if the pH is too high it causes an imbalance in the plant as well. Like nitrate poisoning in animals too much nitrogen in soil can essentially cause a plant to suffocate.

Ways to Reduce Stress on Soil:

The process of keeping to soil from being compacted by the cattle is one of the things that is close to impossible to achieve. One thing that could be done though (as long as there is enough room to avoid crowding the cattle) would be to rotate them through the pens. This would allow for the soil to become less compacted therefore leading to more aerobic soil activity and more porosity within the soil. The only thing this would depend on is the number of pens a feedlot contains and the number of cattle on the feedlot at the given time. If a feedlot is able, most managers will put this solution into practice to keep the soil more porous and full of aerobic activity by microbes.

Like with attempting to help on the plant side of things the “clay pans” that line the waste channels and waste lagoons are also important in this situation. These structures will keep the chemicals such as nitrogen and ammonia from leaching through into surrounding soils and causing the levels to highly elevated. This will lead to more balanced soil pH which will in turn lead to more plants being able to grow in the area, and will also cut down on the nitrate poising cases amongst the wildlife in the area as well. By adding filtration systems to their waste channels and lagoons feedlots are also able to filter out these chemicals until a safe level is reached. This is a safe level because it is how much would naturally be released though the waste after being spread out. These chemicals that are filtered out are kept aside until the can be sent to fertilizer companies to be used in commercial fertilizers.

Effects on People:

People are also affected by the existence of feedlots. The thing that bothers most people about feedlots is the smell that they give off. It is not a very pleasant sent, and it is maid up of the waste from the cattle as well as feedstuffs left over in the feeding troughs. The smell of decomposing feces and urine combined along with that of decomposing plants can pack quite a punch. The two gasses that are paid the most attention to when approaching the feedlot odor problem are hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. These two gasses when in excess in an area can prove to be extremely toxic to humans, but most of the time the people living around the area of a feedlot just have to put up with the foul smell of it.

Another effect feedlots have on people effect those that are in a closer contact to the feedlot itself, is inhalation of these harmful gasses. When inhaling these gasses they deteriorate the lungs over time. Breathing in the gasses has a similar effect to that of having “farmer’s lung”; it essentially turns the lungs into jelly. This is because the lungs are supposed to be oxygen rich, but this oxygen will eventually be overtaken by the nitrogen that is being inhaled by the person. This is not as common as it once was, but it can still become a problem if exposed to long enough at high enough levels.

Ways to Reduce Stress on People:

Feedlot odor is not something that can be easily gotten rid of because there is no way you can keep the cattle from producing so much waste. The wind direction is also something that cannot be controlled so if the wind is blowing to the south every community in that general direction is going to catch a whiff of the feedlot. Feedlot owners have found way to control the amounts of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide released into the air by covering their waste lagoons with felt- type fabric mats and covering the mats with straw. Other chemicals and enzymes can also be added to the lagoons to neutralize or convert these gasses to something safer to be released into the air.

The way feedlots can cut down on the respiratory diseases contracted by humans by supplying their employees with respirator devices. These devices are designed to filter out those gasses and chemicals that are harmful to humans if inhaled. If these devices are used it will cut down on the deterioration of the lungs of the employees which will enable them to live longer lives than if the were inhaling ammonia and hydrogen sulfide all day every day while they are working. The practice of using felt mats and straw to cover waste lagoons along with adding special enzymes can also lead to cleaner air in the area which is good news for the people that are especially close to the feedlot.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, feedlots are not the most environmentally friendly operations, but they are economically essential to our society. They have come a long way in trying to help out the environment over the years though thanks to organizations such as the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) that are continuously figuring out ways that feedlots can improve themselves. One has to admit also that for almost every problem a feedlot has they are making an attempt counteract the affects, and they have come a long way in doing so. If feedlots were forced to make everyone happy and expected to turn successful production they would cease to exist. When implementing the practices discussed through this report feedlots could become as environmentally friendly as they could be while still being able to have a successful operation.

References:

• Sullivan, Jim. Feedlot Odor/Air Pollution. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 1999. Pages 1-2.

• Aneja, Viney, George C. Murray, and James Southerland. April 1998. “Atmospheric
Nitrogen Compounds: Emissions, Transport, Transformation, Deposition, and
Assessment.” EM, Air & Waste Management Association’s Magazine for
Environmental Managers, 22-25.

• Pratt, Staci, Ron Jones, and Charles Allen Jones. 1997. Livestock and the Environment:
Expanding the Focus. Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research. EPA
Contract No. CR 820374-02.

• Warrick, Joby and Pat Stith. 1995. “Metals present new concern for livestock producers”
The News and Observer September 17, 1995

• Meadows, R. 1995. “Livestock Legacy.” Environmental Health Perspectives
103(12):1096-1100.

• Ritter, W.F. and A.E.M. Chirnside. 1990. Impact of Animal Waste Lagoons on Ground
Water Quality. Biological Wastes 34:39-54.

• Animal Waste Pollution in America: An emerging national problem. 1997. Report
Compiled by the Minority Staff of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry for Senator Tom Harkin.

• Sherman, Rebecca. “Moola, Moola” Dallas Life Magazine. February 10, 1991.

• North Carolina Division of Environmental Management. 1995. Tar-Pamlico River
Nutrient Management Plan for Nonpoint Sources of Pollution.

• Leavenworth, Stuart. 1995. “Airborne threats rain down on Neuse.” The News and
Observer May 8, 1995.

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