Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are agricultural facilities that house and feed a large number of animals in a confined area for 45 days or more during any 12-month period. The most common Missouri CAFOs produce pork. CAFOs have some benefits. They allow companies to more efficiently produce the meat we find in grocery stores, thereby reducing consumer costs. Moreover, some farmers believe that the promotion of CAFOs is a logical, rural economic development strategy.

Unfortunately, the benefits from CAFOs sometimes result in environmental degradation. CAFOs can affect our water, our ambient air, and our quality of life in rural Missouri. In fact, in 2003, the Nation's 238,000 CAFOs produced 500 million tons of manure. If discharged illegally, manure contaminated with antibiotics, pathogens, nutrients, and hormones can find its way into our surface and ground water.  And -- as many CAFO neighbors have told us -- CAFOs can cause excessive odors.

For an interesting perspective touting the benefits of CAFOs, and an opposing view in response, click on these links to read letters written by your fellow Missourians and recently published in the Joplin Globe.

Tell us what you think. Are CAFOs as bad as some critics portray them or is the economic benefit worth the environmental costs?