North Carolina Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs): The Implications of Swine Waste for Freshwater Ecosystems

This poster is created to show a simple visual representation of Swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) and the effects they have on North Carolina freshwater ecosystems. North Carolina is the second largest producer of pork in the United States and many of the farms are located in eastern part of the state. The typical CAFO uses waste lagoons which use anaerobic bacteria to break down swine waste. Due to proximity to the coast, farms are susceptible to flooding from hurricanes which allows swine waste to enter rivers. This poster shows some of the impacts of waste flooding events and provides possible solutions to combat pollution from CAFOs.