Manure

1
Manure
2
Bad

• 4/93 cryptosporidium in Milwaukee. 400,000 ill.
• 7/95 1.5 million gallons of hog manure spilled
  into Iowa river. 30-40 miles of river
  devastated.
• 6/95 25 million gallons into New River NC
• Source Innes

3
Innes

• Manure is stored in lagoons and then spread on
  land.
• Lagoon capacity is expensive. The larger the
  lagoon relative to number of animals, the lower
  chance of a spill when it rains.
• Land disposal requires land. The more animals in
  one spot, the more transport is necessary to do
  the spreading, the bigger the incentive to not
  spread it properly

4
What to do?

• Cant observe the spreading.
• Can regulate animal density
• Can regulate lagoon size

5
The N K problem

• Manure is not balanced in its N and K content
  containing too much K. If plants get enough N,
  then K rolls off.
• Adding more N is expensive because one must
  fertilize twice.
• Under fertilization with N is expensive.

6
Pigs in Space

• Uses county data and the spatial relation between
  counties to account for hog farm location.
• Closeness to infrastrucure (like slaughter
  plants) and other hog farms is positive.
• In the East, people repel hogs, but not in West.

7
Conclusion

• Scale economies (or just pure market power) have
  caused concentration of livestock.
• Livestock waste disposal depends on livestock
  being spread thin.
• Regulation is difficult since neither EPA nor the
  states with production wish to take on the large
  hog farms.