Map of NY Factory Farm Locations (CAFO's)

[itSmellsBAD]

January 13, 2008 NY Times Article on Manure Lagoons and how the Taxpayer is financing the destruction of rural America. This is a MUST READ for anyone considering a home purchase in rural NY.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/bu...gewanted=print

[lisabuffalo]

This map was very helpful. I had no idea that these farms were such a problem. Glad I asked! I won't be moving anywhere near dairy country especially the town of Eden. North Collins area was just as bad and the huge dairy farms seem to expanding everywhere. I guess I'll have to look in the suburbs. The air quality in rural Eden seemed much worse than Buffalo. Thanks again.

Lisa and family

[honeychrome]

A good article on our current industrial meat supply:

What You Need to Know About The Beef You Eat

And for anyone who is really interested in how meat, specifically beef is raised, I recommend Gene Logsdon's book All Flesh is Grass.

[honeychrome]

Another interesting article on the general subject-

Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler - New York Times

Looks like the issue has reached some sort of tipping point and is going 'mainstream.'

[BuffaloTransplant]

I looked at all the farms in my area and also the farmers getting subsidies. Marked CAFO or not ( in red, all of them) they are NOT dairy nor animal, all are crop farms. I guess you need to know the area and the farms. If you spend enough time on the site, y9u find how to put in the zip code you are searching and what the farm is and who is getting waht subsidy.... I knew we had no dairy or animal farms here other than personal animals on farms ( family use), but found the corn and hay farms to be listed. The closest animal farm to me is a livestock broker -- he buys and sells beef and it is miles away.

[Ilovewesternny]

Originally Posted by edenresident

EWG || Farm Subsidy Database

You can search county by county on this link for the Farm Subsidy payments. They will list the farm and how much taxpayer cash payments they get each year. The largest dairy farms are usually in the top of the list. Then you have a farm name and the list of owners and how many dollars they get each year. If you see six figures or more, you can be assured it's a factory farm. You can research locations pretty easy once you have this info. Please note that just because a CAFO is small doesn't mean it will stay that way. Almost all of them are greatly expanding these days with contaminated run-off and massive manure spreading ruining many a rural town. It's horrible what's happening in rural NY.

The level of ignorance demonstrated on this page is astounding. Do you drink milk? do you use processed dairy products? If milk prices were high enough that consumers had to pay the actual cost of production, government subsidies would not be needed on farms. I agree, it is sad that small Mom and Pop farms no longer exist today, but the reality is its very difficult to make even a meager living today on a small farm. All CAFO farms work closely with the DEC to meet acceptable environmental standards. I am proud to leave just miles from the CAFO's in my town. These businesses add to our community, economy, and yes, they even benefit the environment. Take the time to learn about your farm neighbors instead of complaining about them, you may just learn to appreciate something new.

[Ellie C.]

Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant

I looked at all the farms in my area and also the farmers getting subsidies. Marked CAFO or not ( in red, all of them) they are NOT dairy nor animal, all are crop farms. I guess you need to know the area and the farms. If you spend enough time on the site, y9u find how to put in the zip code you are searching and what the farm is and who is getting waht subsidy.... I knew we had no dairy or animal farms here other than personal animals on farms ( family use), but found the corn and hay farms to be listed. The closest animal farm to me is a livestock broker -- he buys and sells beef and it is miles away.

Thanks for that Buffalo. I was going to point out the same thing. I live right between Cayuga and Seneca lakes and haven't experienced any of what the other posters have (closed beaches, algae blooms, etc). I guess I have been lucky? We spend time swimming and enjoying the lakes all the time in the summer with no adverse effects whatsoever.

It pays to go and see for yourself if there is an area that you're interested in moving to. It's beautiful here, and aside from the occasional "dairy air" from the Holstein girls who live across the creek from me, I haven't smelled anything that would resemble a third world country.