Isn the manure used for fertilizer?
The meat industry makes an effort to utilize some of the byproducts, but because of the huge numbers of animals slaughtered, this can be a challenge. Farmers prefer to use easy-to-spread chemical fertilizers instead of trucking manure over long distances from factory-style animal farms. On hog-raising operations in the U.S., only about one sixth of manure is utilized. In Canada, the stench from industrial pig farms has caused a huge problem for neighbours. Excess animal waste often ends up in rivers and groundwater where it contributes to nitrogen, phosphorus and nitrate pollution.
