A manure lagoon at a dairy farm in southeast Idaho, where the cows produce 200,000 pounds of manure each day. The agency imposed fines of about $5,000 on the farms involved in the manure pond deaths. There were 6,700 injuries on dairy farms with more than 11 employees in 2015 — a rate more than double the average for private industries. Nationwide, a little more than half of the dairy farms’ 150,000 employees are immigrants, according to the National Milk Producers Federation. Federal oversightIn 2012, OSHA launched unannounced inspections and more rigorous reviews of licensed dairy farms in Wisconsin.

Source: Washington Post September 24, 2017 22:07 UTC