Sentient Media Mapped Every Factory Farm in Iowa and We’re Releasing the Data for Free

Sentient Media released the tool alongside a survey to address a gap in public awareness about Iowa’s factory farming industry

New York, Sept. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With 10,830 factory farms statewide, industrial agriculture is a defining feature of Iowa’s landscape. Across the state, factory farms outnumber gas stations by roughly five to one, and grocery stores and public school buildings by roughly eight to one. Yet residents often lack access to vital, localized information about the facilities operating near their homes, schools, farms, and waterways. 

Sentient Media today released an interactive map that provides Iowans with detailed information about factory farms in their communities, along with insights from a statewide survey of Iowa residents’ attitudes and concerns about factory farming. Released at Climate Week NYC, these resources equip residents, journalists, policymakers, and community organizations with critical information about industrial livestock operations as water quality, rural health, and government accountability shape debate in Iowa ahead of the November election, with potential national consequences.

Highlights

• A survey of 1,051 Iowa residents found that 49% say they do not consider themselves knowledgeable about industrial-scale livestock operations or have never heard of them, while more than half said local media coverage of nitrate pollution (54%) and industrial livestock impacts (53%) is inadequate.
• Built using Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) data and other publicly available Iowa databases, the interactive map includes animal types and numbers, estimated manure production, permit information, Iowa DNR-documented agency actions, and proximity to rivers, streams, and fresh waterways for nearly 11,000 Iowa livestock operations.
• Anyone can search by address, ZIP code, city, county, or facility name to view nearby livestock operations with at least 300 animal units—the threshold used to capture EPA-defined medium and large factory farms.

Iowans say they don’t have enough information about their own backyards

As Iowans confront ongoing concerns about drinking-water safety, nitrate pollution, and industrial livestock impacts, more than half of Iowa residents say news coverage — both local and national — of nitrate pollution and factory farming is inadequate.

Sentient Media’s map helps close the information gap.

“People deserve straightforward, accessible information about what is happening in their own backyards,” said Ana Bradley, Executive Director, Sentient Media. “This map puts data on Iowa’s factory farms into a user-friendly format for the first time, for residents concerned about their water quality, reporters pursuing a story, and policymakers seeking a clearer picture of what Iowans are facing.”

The map brings together public records in a single searchable resource, allowing users to search by address, ZIP code, city, county, or facility name to view animal inventories, estimated manure production, permit information, documented enforcement actions, and nearby waterways using data from the Iowa DNR and other public databases. 

Water quality and factory farm waste

Most Iowans expressed concern about drinking water quality, and more than one in five respondents reported that manure runoff from factory farms has affected their property now or in the past. According to Sentient Media's analysis, factory farms in Iowa generate roughly 170 billion pounds of manure each year, and citations for manure spills into waterways were up nearly a third from 2024 to 2025. 

Through the interactive map, residents can now see estimates of manure production associated with industrial livestock operations in their county. Viewers can select their county by clicking the map or searching the dropdown menu.

“The river is being treated as a sewer. It deserves better; we deserve better,” says Jodi Reese, community water tester and co-founder of Nishnabotna Water Defenders. “Where we’re sitting right now, we’re the number one cancer county in Iowa. Where is the accountability, and what will that do to our neighbors?”

Clean water on the ballot in Iowa

The survey also found most Iowans expressed limited confidence in regulatory oversight. Only 18% of respondents said they trust the Iowa DNR “a lot” to enforce factory farm regulations. The Iowa DNR monitors and cites operations that spill manure into waterways or mishandle farm waste. But the department has long been underfunded, and officials are largely outnumbered by the operations they monitor. Sentient has reached out to the DNR to comment on its survey and map, but has received no comment. 

In addition, more than half of respondents said local media coverage of nitrate pollution (54%) and industrial livestock impacts (53%) is inadequate. The survey and map are part of Sentient Media’s ongoing “Inside Iowa” investigative reporting series, which examines the intersections of industrial agriculture, water quality, public health, regulation, and rural life throughout the state.

“Iowans across the state kept telling our reporters they were concerned about their water quality,” said Julian Nowogrodzki, Senior Editor at Sentient Media. “But information about the staggering amount of manure in Iowa that impacts the state’s water was not publicly accessible. We thought Iowans deserved transparency about the manure pollution in their communities, so we built this map.” 

Sentient Media will host a webinar on October 2 for journalists to explain how the map was built and how to use it for reporting. The resources can inform public discussion, providing independently reported information that communities and newsrooms can use. The map’s underlying code is available through GitHub. Users and organizations citing the map are asked to credit Sentient Media.

Additional resources

• Explore the interactive map: Iowa: How Much Factory Farm Manure Is in Your Backyard
• Read the Iowans on Factory Farming survey
• Watch the how-to video 
• Explore Sentient Media’s “Inside Iowa” reporting
• Register to attend the webinar: Mapping Factory Farms in Iowa: A New Tool for Investigative Reporting

Q&A

• What is Sentient Media’s Iowa factory farm pollution map? Sentient Media’s map, Iowa: How Much Factory Farm Manure Is in Your Backyard, is an interactive tool that lets users search by address, ZIP code, city, county, or facility name to view nearby large livestock operations, permits, estimated manure production, and documented Iowa Department of Natural Resources actions.
• Why does this matter? Iowa has approximately 10,800 factory farms, with some towns hosting more than 150 operations—making these facilities a major presence in communities across the state and a significant source of manure production.
• How much manure do factory farms in Iowa produce? Sentient Media estimates that Iowa’s mapped large livestock operations produce roughly 170 billion pounds of manure annually, with hog operations accounting for nearly 60% of the estimated total.
• What does Sentient Media’s Iowa factory farm survey show? Of 1,051 Iowa residents surveyed, 49% said they do not consider themselves knowledgeable about factory farms or have never heard of them, while more than half said local coverage of nitrate pollution (54%) and industrial livestock impacts (53%) is inadequate.
• What data does the Iowa factory farm map use, and what are its limitations? The map uses Iowa Department of Natural Resources and other public data for operations with at least 300 animal units. Confidential manure application records prevent the map from showing where manure is applied, and a facility’s proximity to a waterway or floodplain should not be interpreted as evidence of a discharge.

Key data points

• 49% of Iowa residents surveyed said they do not consider themselves knowledgeable about factory farms or have never heard of them. 
• Over 50% of respondents said media coverage of nitrate pollution, industrial livestock impacts, and corporate farming is inadequate.
• Iowa has approximately 10,800 factory farms that generate an estimated 170 billion pounds of manure each year. The map covers operations with at least 300 animal units, the threshold the EPA uses to categorize medium and large factory farms.
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources data shows that 45% (4,852 out of 10,830) of facilities mapped had one or more violations since 2003, and violation notices increased by nearly a third from 2024 to 2025.

###

About Sentient Media

Sentient Media is an award-winning nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that reports on factory farming and its effects on climate, animals, workers, water, public health and rural communities. Its reporting is fact-checked, science-informed, and available free of charge without a paywall or advertising.

Sentient’s coverage focuses on the environmental, economic, and community impacts of food production, including in rural areas. The organization also works with journalists and partner organizations to support reporting on factory farming and related issues. Sentient’s donors and board do not direct editorial content.

Attachment

• Iowa: How much factory farm manure is in your backyard?

Ana Bradley
Sentient Media
ana@sentientmedia.org

Jenny Splitter
Sentient Media 
jenny@sentientmedia.org