Deep Shit

Problems arise when the scale of massive produc­tion outstrips the ability for waste to be applied and safely absorbed by the surrounding fields and farmland. The timing is not always convenient for the huge amounts of manure to be spread. Fields may be too wet or the surrounding area not large enough. The nitrogen and phosphorus rich manure can over­power and burn young plants in the spring. Rain saturates the fields to which manure is applied. Rain also falls on uncovered manure storage lagoons and piles, sometime inches at a time. Rain washes manure from lagoons and piles and fields into ditches, creeks, subterranean drainages and into streams and the water table.

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