![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Techniques
There are a variety of resources available for owners/operators to learn how they can reduce the impacts of their animal feeding operations. Below are a number of links to Internet sites that provide helpful information. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Owners and operators should check to make sure that the information these sites provide is appropriate for the unique conditions (e.g., size, location, geologic setting, climate) of their operation.
- Best Management Practices EPA's Ag Center provides information, pictures and links to publications on best management practices for livestock operations.
- Effluent Limitation Guidelines These are the technology-based requirements applicable to CAFOs subject to the NPDES requirements in 40 CFR 412
- Farm-A-Syst
Farm*A*Syst supports voluntary action by turning awareness of environmental
risks into individual actions to prevent pollution on farms. - GAO Report: Increased EPA Oversight Will Improve Environmental Program for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (PDF) (25pp, 2.5 MB) This 2003 report reviews EPA's regulatory program for AFOs and identifies challenges faced by states and EPA.
- GAO Report: Animal Agriculture: Waste Management Practices (PDF) (575K) This 1999 report provides information on waste management practices used in the United States and abroad, potential new practices using technologies borrowed from other industries, federal financial and technical assistance available to producers for waste management, and the role of federal agencies in conducting and supporting research to develop new waste management practices.
- NRCS Animal Feeding Operations web site This site lists links to a variety of NRCS documents, including agreements with EPA for collaboration in addressing CAFO issues.
- NRCS Conservation Handbook This electronic handbook provides detailed technical information on best management practices to prevent pollution from animal feeding operations. Topics include nutrient management and waste treatment lagoons.
- NRCS Technical Tools (including AFO software) This site lists a variety of technical tools developed by NRCS for preventing pollution from animal feeding operations. Tools include downloadable software for designing an animal waste management system and for comparing the nutrient content in the animal manure produced with the amount of nutrients removed from fields where manure was applied.
- Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship Project: (LPES) has developed a national curriculum and supporting educational tools for U.S. livestock and poultry industry advisors, who help producers acquire certification and/or achieve environmentally sustainable production systems to minimize their impact on the environment.
