Swine CAFOs

husbandry practices in the United States have been industrialized, resulting in an increased number of large corporate and contract livestock operations raising thousands of animals in a single facility. Industrialized farms achieve economies of scale through specialization, increased size, and close confinement that allows high animal densities on relatively small land areas (1,2). These changes in animal production systems, combined with changing community demographics, have considerably narrowed the farm–urban interface and have resulted in growing public concern over the potential occupational, environmental, and community hazards posed by these large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Numerous debates and related legislation over this controversial topic have brought to the public forefront several health issues related to modern swine husbandry.