New photos released today by Food & Water Watch and Oregon Rural Action reveal in stark detail the scale of factory farms in Eastern Oregon, particularly the Threemile Canyon Farms Facility. The aerial photos of factory farms in Eastern Oregon show tens of thousands of cows confined on a landscape developed beyond recognition with little to no shade cover and vast manure lagoons, which are notorious for their contributions to air pollution, planet warming methane emissions, and nearby groundwater contamination in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area. Unfortunately, this is just one glimpse into the industrialized reality of Oregon’s largest factory farms.

These photos bolster what climate advocates and residents living near these facilities have been saying for years: factory farms like the Threemile Canyon mega-dairy should not be allowed to get any bigger than they already are, and we should not allow more to be built. These facilities confine animals, produce enormous amounts of planet-warming methane, have dangerously elevated levels of nitrates in the nearby area and use tremendous amounts of water. Food & Water Watch analysis has shown Oregon’s mega-dairies consume over 8 million gallons of water a day. In a year, this is enough water to fill nearly 5,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Despite some important steps in the right direction like SB85 that passed in the 2023 legislature, Oregon’s elected officials and agencies have failed to stop pollution through regulatory channels, despite decades of calls from the community and the ongoing nitrate contamination crisis in Lower Umatilla Basin.  

Said Aimee Stone, Oregon Organizer with Food & Water Watch, “Seeing the scale of the Threemile Canyon Farms facility and other factory farms in Eastern Oregon was a stark reminder of how massive these facilities have become and the impact they have on our land, air, water, communities, and animals. Enough is enough, we must stop the growth of factory farms before they inflict even more damage on our communities. The Oregon legislature must be bold in taking on the industry, and pass legislation to stop new and expanding factory farms.”

“I really thought I knew what to expect when we took off that day, but nothing could have prepared me for what we saw at Threemile Canyon Farms,” said Kaleb Lay with Oregon Rural Action. “The scale of Threemile’s operation is horrifying, and that horror is only amplified by knowing how many people in this area have contaminated drinking water because of pollution from industrial agriculture. It’s way past time to put up some sensible guardrails around industrial ag and factory farms – if we don’t, then this problem is only going to get further out of hand.”