Map and tables from Food & Water Watch give state and major-county data on factory farms

Food & Water Watch, a group opposed to "corporate control of food and water," this week released what is says is the "first-ever national map charting factory farms to illustrate how these facilities are concentrated in some regions of the country." For the group's press release, click here.

The map shows how states rank in the number of concentrated animal feeding operations for beef and dairy cattle, hogs and chickens (which can be separated by broilers, which are concentrated in the Southeast, and layers, which are widely scattered). Clicking on a state gives the number of CAFOs counted in the 2002 Census of Agriculture. A chart gives the top 30 counties in each category, called "top polluters."

Be sure to click on the map's Methodology button, because the Environmental Protection Agency's definition of a CAFO is complex and the Census of Agriculture "does not measure data based on the same exact criteria," the group says.