HWN Suggests

The Public Health Crisis of Animal Waste – Our Global Poo Problem

These days, there are plenty of public health crises to worry about. But one in particular has been piling up (literally) at at an alarming rate: our planet has a poop problem. With global poo production approaching five billion tons of feces being dropped on our earth every year, and the vast majority of that load going completely untreated by any sanitation system, this is one public health crisis we should all give a crap about.

While I may be laying the bathroom language on thicker than farmland fertilized with literal fecal fountains—we’ll get to it—the health risks of farmed animal waste is no laughing matter.

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 As the planet warms, can we afford to treat poop as waste?

Throughout history, civilizations around the globe have viewed feces as a valuable resource. Going back to that model could be good for the climate. A single dairy cow can produce around 150 pounds of feces each day. For much of human history, this manure would have been used to fertilize agricultural fields, providing them valuable organic matter and nutrients. But in modern dairy production, cow poop is typically considered a waste product, destined to languish in manure lagoons that release vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

 How human and animal excrement harm the planet’s ecosystem

All this poop has to go somewhere, and much of it gets spread on agricultural fields as fertilizer. Soils need the microbes and nutrients in manure to be healthy, but we’re not managing manure properly, and the mismanagement is causing serious environmental and health problems. Current methods for managing and using agricultural manure—domesticated animals account for about 85 percent of the feces produced in a year—spread antimicrobial resistance genes, contaminate crops and waterways with microbes, and produce potent greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Articles of Interest

Improved Manure Management

Livestock manure produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Advanced technologies and practices for managing manure can reduce the adverse climate impact of animal agriculture.

America has a manure problem, and the miracle solution being touted isn’t all that it seems

Cattle are the highest methane-emitting livestock animal because of the way cows digest food. Unlike most other farmed animals, most of cattle’s methane emissions come from belches, not manure. And those methane emissions, known as enteric methane emissions, are responsible for a large chunk of overall greenhouse gas emissions from the food sector in the US – 25% by EPA figures. But digesters do nothing to address enteric methane.

Bull—- Market

America is overlooking a plentiful renewable resource: animal manure. Our industrial-scale farms produce bull crap, chicken poop, and pig manure in great abundance. A single cow can produce 30 pounds of manure per day. But in America—where farmers often have vast acreage, electricity is comparatively cheap, and regulations are relatively lax—there hasn’t been that much pressure on (or incentives for) farmers to do much more with manure than spread it around their fields or pile it into lagoons, as pig farmers in North Carolina have done.

Cattle-Manure Runoff Making Rural Families Sick (And Urban Ones Too?)

The thrust of the story is that the federal government isn't doing enough to regulate the practice of large farms, especially dairy farms, spreading cow manure of farmland in an attempt to get rid of the material. This is leading to too much cow manure being applied, which is contaminating rural residents' water wells with E. coli and other harmful bacteria and substances.

Down on the Farm, an Endless Cycle of Waste

Day and night, a huge contraption prowls the grounds at Frank Volleman’s dairy in Central Texas. It has a 3,000-gallon tank, a heavy-duty vacuum pump and hoses and, underneath, adjustable blades that scrape the surface as it passes along. In function it is something like a Zamboni, but one that has crossed over to the dark side. This is no hockey rink, and it’s not loose ice being scraped up. It’s cow manure. Lots of cow manure. A typical lactating Holstein produces about 150 pounds of waste by weight, about two-thirds wet feces, one-third urine each day.

Environmental Implications of Excess Fertilizer and Manure on Water Quality

When nutrients and other pollutants associated with animal manures and commercial fertilizers are not managed properly, they can affect plant and animal life (including humans) negatively. Some of these impacts include algae blooms causing the depletion of oxygen in surface waters, pathogens and nitrates in drinking water, and the emission of odors and gases into the air.

How much poo is generated by the world’s farms?

Each year, livestock produces billions of tonnes of excrement. It’s starting to poison the natural world. So what is to be dung?

Livestock and environment statistics: manure and greenhouse gas emissions

In 2018, world total livestock manure reached 125 million tonnes of nitrogen (N). Of this, 88 million tonnes N were left on pasture by grazing animals, 34 million tonnes N were treated in manure management systems, and 27 million tonnes N applied to soils for crop production.  N inputs from livestock manure to agricultural soils increased by 23 percent over 1990–2018, mostly due to increasing inputs from the manure left on pastures.

Livestock and manure management

Poor manure management practices are common on much of the world’s farms, as farmers lack awareness about the value of livestock manure as a fertilizer and fuel. Manure is often disposed of in piles, slurries or lagoons, which can lead to significant emissions of the greenhouse gas methane, as well environmental degradation, negative health impacts, and the loss of valuable nutrients that could be added to soil. The Coalition’s Agriculture Initiative promotes integrated manure and urine management practices that prevent harmful short-lived climate pollutant emissions while also providing added benefits for farmers through cost savings and additional income.

Meat’s Nightmare Impact: Why The ‘Steaks’ are High for Our Planet’s Health

Meat production is responsible for about 40 per cent of all deforestation while producing just one pound of beef requires approximately 1,800 gallons of water

Reduce emissions, odor by working with the manure microbiome

Manure 58189-jcoyne-liquid-manure-staff.jpg Staff photo. Reduce emissions, odor by working with the manure microbiome Jenn Coyne September 13, 2023 Addressing greenhouse gas emissions and odor is top-of-mind in manure management plans. Take into account the role of microbes when developing a plan fit for your farm. There are several ways manure can be properly stored and handled that is safe for cattle, people and soil, while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and odor. When considering which practice is right for a farm, one should keep in mind the role the manure microbiome plays in transforming nutrients to potentially harmful gases.

Science Can Turn Cow Poop Into Clean Water

Scientists at Michigan State University say they have developed a system that turns cow manure into clean water, which is as gross as it is impressive.

The Manure Menace

LITTLE of the 2.7 trillion pounds of manure -- about five tons for each American -- generated by livestock in this country each year is treated, and a large amount of it is spread on nearby fields.