The Iowa Learning Farms conservation webinar taking place Aug. 23 at noon CDT will feature Alicia Vasto, water program director, Iowa Environmental Council. Vasto leads policy setting and outreach strategy for the Iowa Environmental Council’s (IEC) work on clean water and land stewardship. She has a master’s degree in environmental management with a focus on conservation and land management.

In the webinar, “CAFO Impacts, Costs, & Rulemaking in Iowa,” Vasto will provide an overview of Iowa’s rulemaking process for regulating concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the IEC’s efforts to improve the rules through the filling of petitions and comments. She will also discuss the background and current status of CAFO-related rules, and will share what the IEC has uncovered about the true costs of CAFOs for Iowans.

“The number of CAFOs in Iowa has exploded over the past few decades, and the impacts of these facilities on health and water quality continues to rise,” said Vasto. “CAFOs are touted as an economicla production option but there are many related costs that are often overlooked. I hope participants in this webinar will gain a better understanding of the true costs of CAFOs in terms of Iowans’ health and wallets.”

Shortly before noon CDT, click the link below or type this web address into your internet browser: https://iastate.zoom.us/j/364284172