IL CAFOs on Rise as Industry Remains Underregulated

Illinois is known for having some of the weakest environmental laws for concentrated animal feeding operations, with a lack of oversight and public transparency for the entire process. A coalition of rural landowners is working to change it.

In Illinois, it is estimated there are more than 21,000 concentrated animal feeding operations.

Chad Wallace, director of rural affairs for the Illinois Environmental Council, works with the Illinois Livestock Reform Coalition, which has about 70 members across states. They are trying to come up with legislative solutions for the growing concerns of landowners who have been affected by them.

"The industry is basically embedded," Wallace acknowledged. "It is very hard for folks to go up against something that is so broad and so organized."

Nearly all applications submitted in Illinois over the past decade have been approved. Wallace pointed out several attempts to introduce legislation to increase regulation have failed, with the most recent in 2019 for a proposed moratorium on lagoons being used for holding confinement waste.

More than 90% of animals raised for agriculture in the U.S. come from concentrated animal feeding operations, yet environmental advocates argued the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is unaware of the locations of the majority of operations, making it difficult to regulate them and account for their environmental impact.

Wallace, who grew up in a farming family, raises beef, pork and lamb and has been approached by people wanting to construct operations on his land. He declined but noted it came with a cost.

"One of the struggles is constantly having to build the value of your product due to not being in the industry," Wallace explained.