Nutrients from livestock and poultry manure are key sources of water pollution. Ever-growing numbers of animals per farm and per acre have increased the risk of water pollution. New Clean Water Act regulations compel the largest confined animal producers to meet nutrient application standards...

Animal waste from confined animal feeding operations is a potential source of air and water quality degradation from evaporation of gases, runoff to surface water, and leaching to ground water. This report assesses the potential economic and environmental tradeoffs between water quality policies...

Total and average per ton costs of land-applying manure demonstrate the importance of spatial factors on the potential effect of policy limits for water and air emissions. Per ton costs vary with the need to transport greater distances for land application, reflecting the spatial distribution of...

The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 established specific targets for the production of biofuel in the United States. Until advanced technologies become commercially viable, meeting these targets will increase demand for traditional agricultural commodities used to produce...

In 2010, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) was established for the Chesapeake Bay, defining the limits on emissions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment necessary to reverse declines in the Bay’s quality and associated biological resources. Agriculture is the largest single source of...

Federal policy on manure management has focused on water-quality protection. However, animal agriculture is an important source of ammonia-nitrogen and other air emissions, increasing attention on air-quality concerns. Policies to address air emissions would influence both the costs of meeting...