Ethanol production is often tied to factory farming of livestock. Ethanol plants produce byproducts that can be used as feed for animals, while factory farms can sell animal manure as fuel for ethanol plants. These synergies may increase profit margins and efficiency for both the ethanol and the livestock industries, but have the potential to seriously affect environmental quality, human health, and communities throughout entire regions.

The increasing concentration and industrialization of the U.S. agricultural sector has resulted in factory farms where animals are raised by the thousands, often in overcrowded conditions with no access to the outdoors or green pastures.

There are serious consequences when large numbers of animals are concentrated in small areas:

• Huge amounts of manure accumulate in open lagoons and cause air and water pollution. The waste can contaminate drinking water systems with E. coli and other bacteria. 
• Factory farms can decrease neighboring property values.
• According to an Iowa State University study, exposure to airborne factory farm emissions can lead to tension, depression, reduced vigor, fatigue, confusion, nausea, dizziness, weakness, fainting, headaches, plugged ears, runny noses, scratchy throats, and burning eyes.
• In 1995, 25 million gallons of animal waste spilled from an eight-acre lagoon into North Carolina’s New River, killing 10 million fish and closing 364,000 acres of coastal wetlands to shellfish harvesting.
• Manure at cattle and hog feedlots produces substantial amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, both potent greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
• Livestock production and ethanol production are both water intensive. Siting both types of facilities in the same area could greatly reduce water availability, particularly in Midwestern regions that already suffer from water scarcity.

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