Following up on assurances to the farm community that the U.S. EPA in the Trump Administration will be more friendly to agriculture, Administrator Pruitt has continued his Agency’s outreach to the farm community, this time specifically to animal agriculture. This latest effort presumably is part of the Administrator’s Back to Basics plan for his Agency.

As part of EPA's efforts to protect water quality through voluntary collaborations with the animal agriculture sector, EPA is announcing the launch of the Animal Agriculture Education Project, a series of educational modules to increase understanding and knowledge among state and federal government agencies and the agricultural industry about water quality protection and animal feeding operations. The project will include multimedia features such as videos and virtual tours of farms and discuss topics including advances in technologies and production systems, measures to protect water quality and issues involved in on-farm decision-making about manure management.

An Overview Module for this project entitled, "Animal Agriculture, Manure Management, and Water Quality", has been released. This module was developed with funding from EPA and with input from animal agriculture stakeholders. Additional modules are being developed and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on conservation practices, and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association on beef production and manure management systems.

The Animal Agriculture Education Project is accessible on the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center website.

EPA also provides a link from its Animal Feeding Operations partnerships website.