Commentary: Missouri’s CAFO policy is built to multiply pollution, not prevent it

By: Darvin Bentlage

Outlets: Missouri Independent

Published: November 5, 2026

Words: 584

Last Updated: 3 days, 11 hours ago

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Missouri’s refusal to establish setback spacing requirements between concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, isn’t just a bureaucratic oversight — it’s a structural failure that guarantees cumulative pollution.

Our laws treat each CAFO as if it exists in isolation, but rural communities live with the reality of multiple industrial barns clustered together, all potentially draining into the same creeks, the same wells, and the same air column.

A single large CAFO can produce more manure …

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