Study: CAFOs affect neighbors’ property w/ Pew Commission study and other CAFO info

By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

GOLDEN CITY, Mo. — Darvin Bentlage has been connecting the dots, and he thinks they could spell trouble for his cattle.

Bentlage has three Angus herds in Barton County, where the number of hog CAFOs — confined animal feeding operations — is increasing. These CAFOs hold up to 2,500 hogs under one roof. Liquid waste from the hogs is put into lagoons and spread onto nearby farmland as fertilizer.

In 1998, Bentlage purchased 389 acres for his 1,160-acre farm operation and placed an Angus herd on it.

“I put cattle on it in 2000. I never had twins or I rarely ever had twins with three different herds. In 2001, I started having twins from 28 cows. Some were deformed. I have had 11 sets of twins since 2001. That’s way above the national average,” he said.

Bentlage said he should expect one set of twins from a herd of 200. He was getting one set out of 25.

“But what really bothered me was that they didn’t survive and some of them were deformed,” he said. “Only three of the 11 sets of twins survived. They all went full term, but some were born with no front legs or they were born hairless.

“It just seems odd that with the two other

herds I never have twins.”

Bentlage said his herd is downstream from a hog CAFO lagoon, which is 12 to 13 years old, and he wonders if wastewater has made its way into a creek used by the herd with the excessive numbers of twins.

“Lagoons are known to leak,” Bentlage alleged. “I know hog hormones affect cattle. We do embryo transplants. They use pig hormones to get cows to produce more eggs.”

Pew study

Two weeks ago, Bentlage received a copy of a new report by The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production in the United States.