Addressing the Pollution Challenge in Livestock and Poultry Farming Together

Livestock and poultry farming pollution appears to have become a target of public criticism, with some counties even internally agreeing to cease approving new projects in this sector, which is detrimental to the healthy development of the industry. It is essential to conduct an in-depth analysis of the characteristics and patterns of pollution prevention and control in livestock and poultry farming, thoroughly address the entire chain, and establish a fundamentally unified and stable model.

First, it is essential to uphold the baseline of prohibiting direct discharge of livestock and poultry manure. In fact, there are no technical barriers to monitoring this issue. Some counties have had the agricultural department bid for and install video surveillance systems in the pollution control areas of livestock and poultry farms, making all operations visible and helping to enhance corporate compliance awareness. Particularly, the real-time sharing of video surveillance information facilitates interdepartmental collaboration, further dispelling enterprises'侥幸心理 (lucky psychology) and effectively preventing the direct discharge of livestock and poultry manure.
After livestock manure enters the pollution prevention and control area, it has only two pathways: one is treated to meet discharge standards and then managed by the ecological environment department as industrial pollution control facilities, allowing the installation of various online monitoring devices to ensure stable operation of all facilities by the farming enterprises; the other is resource utilization to achieve a balance between planting and breeding. This is an agricultural production process, where the agricultural department is required to fulfill its guiding and supervisory roles to prevent improper application leading to seedling damage, reduced crop yields, and similar issues.
From a practical perspective, the cost of treating and discharging livestock manure as pollutants to meet standards is prohibitively high, so a more common approach is to adopt balanced farming measures. If this solution is implemented, the agricultural sector should take the lead in guiding the return of manure to fields. First, ensure sufficient land area for manure application to avoid the phenomenon of conceptual disconnect. Second, improve agricultural infrastructure to facilitate manure return channels. Third, extend the farming cycle. Currently, many livestock farms are located on mountaintops, where manure irrigation often converges into a low-lying pond. This terminal site could be utilized for special aquaculture like eel farming or surface cultivation of vegetables such as water celery, generating new agricultural output while further controlling pollution. Fourth, encourage the establishment of "agricultural green islands" by large-scale breeding enterprises. After appropriately expanding treatment capacity, surrounding livestock farms can transport their manure via tank trucks for paid disposal. With increased manure storage capacity, "agricultural green islands" enhance regulatory capabilities and better connect with large-scale growers.
The survey found that poultry farming generates a significant amount of dry manure, which can be easily converted into Organic Fertilizer, while wastewater production is relatively low. Based on these industry characteristics, poultry farming enterprises are guided to treat wastewater by quality. First, rainwater and sewage are separated, with rainwater collected and discharged separately; second, domestic wastewater is treated and discharged up to standard; and finally, a system is established to collect wash wastewater from sheds, which can then be transported for disposal via tank trucks or used for nearby planting and breeding to achieve a balance. Following this approach, the focus is on addressing the primary issue of shed wash wastewater, eliminating the need for elevated treatment of domestic wastewater and rainwater, thereby reducing the pollution control costs for enterprises.
In the long run, pollution prevention costs should be incorporated into the prices of agricultural products such as meat, poultry, and eggs. Only in this way can breeding enterprises secure stable funding for pollution control, and by integrating farmland construction investments, the channels for returning manure to the fields can be streamlined.