Back row (Left to right): Dale Dempsey, Ken McCall, John Hancock, John Erickson, Ted Pitts, and Martha Hild. Front row (Left to right): Anthony Shoemaker, Mike Wagner, Ben Sutherly, Laura Bischoff, Talia Jackson, and Jim Witmer.

This is what the operators of giant livestock farms don’t want you to know:

Pollution from some farms is so bad neighbors are getting sick.

A single hog farm in Indiana may have caused seven miscarriages.

Entire fish species are disappearing from watersheds like the Wabash River because of manure runoff.

Farms operate like factories but are regulated like farms.

Thanks to "Down on the Factory," readers of the Dayton Daily News are no longer in the dark about the perils of modern livestock farming.

The Daily News’ reporters traveled to 11 states and one foreign country, and compiled a database of regulations in every state to document how neglect and passive oversight of megafarms is harming the environment and endangering public health.

	“A comprehensive and exhaustive look at a little-noticed national issue that raises important questions. The paper created a national database of regulations for mega-farming, a massive commitment of resources.”
	• The supersizing of America's livestock farms: For cheaper grocery prices, are we risking our health, the environment and squeezing out small farmers? (Part 1 of 6) • Who's keeping an eye on megafarms?, With regulations varying from state to state farms can often avoid scrutiny (Part 2 of 6) • Megafarm fights to compete, Big farms driving small independents out of business (Part 3 of 6) • Nasty turf wars erupt, Explosive megafarm growth often pits communities against farmers (Part 4 of 6) • States face tough choices, Megafarms provide jobs and cheap food, but the cost may be too high (Part 5 of 6) • Lucrative megafarm market lures Europeans Foreigners pulling up roots and migrating to America in droves (Part 6 of 6)

It wasn’t an easy story to report. There is no repository for information on megafarms on a national scale. Each state has separate rules and enforcement practices.

If the Environmental Protection Agency lacked records on manure runoff or fish kills, the series team combed through files from wildlife and natural resource offices, health departments and the courts.

Two days after the series concluded, Ohio State Rep. John White announced legislation to examine the impact that the farms are having on the state’s air and quality of life.

The series team included reporters Laura A. Bischoff , Dale Dempsey, Ken McCall, Ben Sutherly, Mike Wagner; John Hancock, chief of graphics; Martha Hickman Hild, director of News Research Services; and Jim Witmer, staff photographer.