The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released the final drafts of its proposed Operating General Permits for the state’s 500+ concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO)s. Tell DNR what they got right—and what still needs improvement!

Support DNR’s new waste reporting requirements:

Currently, waste generated by CAFOs and “exported” offsite can be applied anywhere in the state, in any amount, without oversight to prevent water pollution. Once waste leaves the CAFO, no one tracks it. 

After significant public participation, DNR is fixing this problem by proposing that “exported” animal waste given or sold to third parties must be tracked to the HUC 12 watershed and reported in the annual report, making this information part of the public record. 

This proposed permit requirement significantly improves transparency in CAFOs’ waste handling at the local level, and will help protect Missouri’s waterways from excessive waste disposal. Tell DNR “thank you,” and to make sure this important improvement stays in the final permit.

Ask DNR to improve these items:

DNR also proposes to allow the state’s largest Class 1A CAFOs (confining more than 7,000 cattle, 17,500 hogs, or 875,000 chickens) to apply for these one-size-fits-all General Permits, when they should be regulated on a site-specific basis. 

There’s a huge difference between a 150,000-hog CAFO and a 2,500-hog CAFO. The state’s largest factory farms should not be allowed to apply for the state’s weakest CAFO permits.  

DNR’s draft General Permits also propose to allow CAFOs to build industrial truck wash facilities that often use harsh chemicals and disinfectants to fight diseases endemic to factory farms. 

These industrial operations generate potential biohazards and should be issued site-specific individual permits, rather than being shoehorned into General Permits.

Help protect public health and water in Missouri and tell DNR to: 

• Make CAFOs accountable for their waste by requiring transparent annual records of how much animal waste is disposed of and in which HUC 12 watershed.
• Require all Class 1A CAFOs to apply for site-specific individual operating permits. General Permits are not appropriate for the state’s largest CAFO polluters.
• Require CAFOs that build industrial truck wash facilities to apply for site-specific operating permits. General Permits are not appropriate for potential biohazards.

Email your comments to DNR at cafo@dnr.mo.gov by 5:00 p.m. CST, November 30, 2022. 

Write “Public Comments on CAFO MGPs” in the subject line.

Thank you for speaking out to protect public health and water in Missouri!

About SRAP

For more than 20 years, SRAP has served as a mobilizing force to help communities protect themselves from the damages caused by industrial livestock operations and to advocate for a food system built on regenerative practices, justice, democracy, and resilience. Learn more at sraproject.org.