Pictoral Essay

Farming is part of the foundation of not only modern society as we know it but the creation of Idaho as a state. Idaho and even Boise, its largest , ‘modern’ city is highly influenced by the culutre of farming . We proudly exclaim on posters both virtual and physical to buy local, delineate the importance of dairy in commercials that play so routinely that there is no question we have accepted this culture.  But farming has become extremely self-serving to industries such as Idaho dairy farms. Since 1993, the number of dairy cows in Idaho has nearly tripled, to 572,000 head, so that Idaho now ranks fourth among the states, just behind New York and just ahead of Pennsylvania report and High Country News article by Richard Manning. Whether you accept the evidence that not humans beyond infancy do not need milk  or it’s important to look at the damaging effects dairy farming has on our water supply and ecoystem. The dairy farms of Idaho state that they are interested in the building of a healthy state but the fact that their farms continuously pollute ground water which then harms our rivers says other wise.

In a yale article called As Dairy Farms Grow Bigger, New Concerns About Pollution by elizabeth grossman says that According to the EPA, a 2,000-cow dairy generates more than 240,000 pounds of manure daily or nearly 90 million pounds a year. The USDA estimates that the manure from 200 milking cows produces as much nitrogen as sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people. In relating this to Idaho, the idaho dairy indusry say’s that of the dairy farms in Idaho , 54.5 have 500 dairy cows or more, the greater estimate being upwards of 2,000 cows. This high volume according to the site says that since 1970, Idaho has seen a 125% increase in dairy production. Thats thousands of pounds of manure being produced daily that also produces methane gas.

Manure can and does have a place in farming produce. It fertilizes the ground helping crops to produce well. However when thousands of pound of manure is being produced daily that means crops are more that taken care of yet there is still so much to be accounted for. Most of it is stored in tanks, In artical by Peter Lane Taylor, a writer and TV producer, stated in his article “Florida Dairy Farms and Springs Protection: Got Solutions?,accessed June 17, 2008 he says that in regards to manure disposal , “In the first of these techniques, the mixture is spread in a thin layer over a large field by truck so that the nutrients can be absorbed as fertilizer by a variety of nitrogen absorbing plants like alfalfa and other grasses. In the second, cow manure mixture is further diluted with water and sprayed over a large area by a center-pivot irrigation system. In reality, neither of the techniques is full proof; a percentage of the nutrients bypasses the root system and enters the underground aquifer.”  and simply, when the waste is not disposed of it seeps into the ground contaminating local water supplies.

Manure contains multiple pathogens possible e-coli and pharmaceuticals such as growth hormones and antibiotics given to the cows that when consumed by people can be responsible for serious health concerns of the endocrine system says Grossman.

 

Primary

https://www.hcn.org/issues/46.13/idahos-sewer-system-is-the-snake-river?b_start:int=2#body

Secondary

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/as_dairy_farms_grow_bigger_new_concerns_about_pollution/2768/

 

photos

http://blog.midwestbiosystems.com/blog/topic/sustainable-farming

http://www.watersafe.co.za/2010/05/24/groundwater-pollution/