EPA CAFO

(EPA)

Unless you are in the field of wool production, or have a certain attachment to sheep or lawmaking, I doubt the thought of researching laws and regulations regarding the production of wool has ever crossed your mind.  I can honestly say that, until this week, it had never before crossed mine!  But looking into this topic has been eye opening for me.  It has brought to my attention the effect our lifestyles have on our Earth and that there are ways farmers, for one, can help reduce these effects. 

The main reason I am writing today is to inform my readers of one of the many regulations in place that protect our environment from the wastes of wool producers.

There is a law in place, written by the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with regulations pertaining to the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) about how their actions affect the environment for everyone.  The EPA is a government body put in place to protect our health and the health of the environment.  Now that we have all our acronyms out of the way, we can delve deeper into our topic.

(Herd of Sheep)

Wool production has to keep up with the high-speed pace of our world which means increased flock sizes around the United States.  The waste of these animals can seriously affect the quality of human life so the CAFO has stepped in.  In order to be regulated, a flock has to be above 3,000 sheep or be cited as adding pollutants to local waters (NCEP Document Display).  The CAFO rules cannot fix all problems caused by sheep, and other large herds, but it is doing its best to keep the waste from seeping into the water ways or dwelling areas of surrounding civilians.

Some of the rules that have been put in place to keep waterways clean require farmers to (NCEP Document Display):

·         Develop and implement a nutrient management plan

·         Submit annual reports to local EPA authority

·         Keep animals out of surface water

·         Test manure and soil

·         Properly handle dead animals

·         Properly handle chemicals

(Amy Livingston)

While these rules require extra effort from farmers, they can truly make a difference.  According to the EPA’s rule information sheet, even a small step such as developing a nutrient management plan can reduce an estimated 56 million pounds of phosphorus, 110 million pounds of nitrogen, 911,000 pound of metals, and over 2.1 billion pounds of sediment per year (CAFO).  This will not only keep our water clean but also seriously reduce algae growth and fish fatalities per year.  If these regulations are not followed and annual reports are not submitted to local EPA officials, they have the ability to shut the organization down. 

 

I, for one, value my drinking water and the beauty of the world around me over my wool coat.  I am happy to see that these regulations are in place and are serving as a guide for farmers around the United States to use whether in wool production or any other type of CAFO organization.

Resources:

Amy LivingstonAmy Livingston is a freelance writer who can actually answer yes to the question, "And from that you make a living?" She has written about personal finance and shopping strategies for a variety of publications, including ConsumerSearch.com, ShopSmart.com, and the Dollar Stretcher newsletter. She also maintains a personal blog, Ecofrugal Living, on ways to save money and live green at the same time. “Topics.” Money Crashers, www.moneycrashers.com/bottled-water-vs-tap-water-facts/.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Rule Information Sheet . United States Environmental Protection Agency, www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/cafo_themes.pdf.

“EPA's Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels.” EPA's Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels | Office of the Provost | The George Washington University, provost.gwu.edu/epas-recommendations-specifications-standards-and-ecolabels.

“Herd Of Sheep Pictures, Images and Stock Photos.” Herd Of Sheep Pictures, Images and Stock Photos - iStock, www.istockphoto.com/photos/herd-of-sheep?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=herd of sheep.

“NSCEP Document Display.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/20004CT1.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=2011 Thru 2015%7C2000 Thru 2005%7C2006 Thru 2010%7CPrior to 1976%7C1976 Thru 1980%7C1981 Thru 1985%7C1986 Thru 1990%7C1991 Thru 1994%7C1995 Thru 1999%7CHardcopy Publications&Docs=&Query=cafo sheep feeding cafos animal&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=2&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX DATA%5C00THRU05%5CTXT%5C00000005%5C20004CT1.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=15&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r85g16%2Fr85g16%2Fx150y150g16%2Fi500&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=2.

Three Bags Full

Sheep and wool are woven (pun intended) tightly throughout history.  The symbol of the sheep appears in the mythology, religion, economics, entertainment and homemaking of our ancestors.  Even today we find ourselves repeating some of the same traditions or ideas without even thinking about it. 

When these stories are repeated over and over again they become folklore.  They have a deeper meaning and are passed down from generation to generation.  This specific example can be considered oral and traditional folklore.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

(Onion, Rebecca)

Remember the game telephone?  A word or phrase is passed down a line of people and without fail it becomes a jumbled mess of words.  This poem has gone through a game of telephone lasting hundreds of years.  Many historians hypothesize that this poem is talking about the tax put on sheep and wool in 1549 in England and has been repeated to children ever since. 

King Edward I felt the effects of war on his pocketbook and was the first to instigate a tax on all exported wool.  The taxpayers felt this new burden heavily.  The King was receiving most of the wealth and the rest was going to monasteries which had large herds of sheep and were making enough to balance out the cost of the heavy tax.  The common shepherd was taxed out of all his income.  The taxes began to damage the wool trade market and the wool production market in England was saturated.  It isn’t surprising to learn that the original poem used to go something like this:

 (King Edward)

Bah, Bah, a black Sheep,
Have you any Wool?
Yes merry I Have,
Three Bags full,
Two for my Master,
One for my Dame,
None for the Little Boy
That cries in the lane.

What can be learned from this poem is that the wool industry is here to stay.  Sheep may have to be raised in a certain way to please clients and wool may or may not be “in” next season, but the sheep will keep growing wool and that is a great reason to shake off the past and move forward toward the future of wool production.

 (Minnicks)

P.S. If you are interested in learning more of the history and course of events, I recommend you visit Historic UK’s page on History of the Wool Trade.  It is amazing what one tax can do to an entire Empire.  The link is below in Resources.

Resources:

“History of the Wool Trade.” Historic UK, www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Wool-Trade/.

“King Edward I.” The Association of the Covenant People, 15 Mar. 2016, www.associationcovenantpeople.org/2010/11/king-edward-i/.

Minnicks, Article Written By Margaret. “Being the Black Sheep in the Family.” HubPages, HubPages, 23 Sept. 2017, hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/The-Black-Sheep-of-The-Family.

Onion, Rebecca. “Some Delightfully Scatological and Cruel Nursery Rhymes, From the Oldest Surviving Book of Them.” Slate Magazine, 11 Apr. 2016, www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2016/04/11/some_of_the_oldest_surviving_published_nursery_rhymes_are_scatological_and.html.