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Some one million cattle confined in Colorado factory feedlots produce 24 billion pounds of manure each year.

That's four times the amount of feces produced by humans in the state, according to Food and Water Watch's latest map.

Untreated manure contains a number of pollutants, and is prime breeding habitat for harmful bacteria - including E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella.

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Amanda Starbuck, research director with the watchdog group, said that much manure can pose serious risks to drinking water.

"These feedlots operate as sewer-less cities, essentially," said Starbuck. "They produce a ton of manure, but this manure is oftentimes not treated before being released into the environment, spread on nearby fields."

Colorado ranks fourth nationally for the number of beef cattle on factory feedlots, where animals are fattened up before being delivered to slaughterhouses.

Defenders of the practice argue large-scale operations bring jobs and other economic benefits to rural economies, and help feed the nation.

Two decades ago, the average Colorado feedlot held 7,000 cattle. But by 2022, as corporations acquired more family-scale operations, that number increased to an average of 13,000 cattle.

Starbuck said money generated by these facilities doesn't necessarily benefit the local economy.

"Factory farms are not job creators, they are job destroyers," said Starbuck. "So if you really care about jobs, you need to be supporting your local farmer. We need to support smaller processing and slaughtering facilities for these farmers. Because right now that money just gets sucked out of the local economy."

Starbuck noted that if feeding the nation was the goal, growing corn and hay for cattle to produce meat is far less efficient than simply growing food to feed people.

"Ninety-nine percent of the corn we grow in the U.S. goes into animal feed, and into ethanol, and into food additives," said Starbuck. "So the food system is not about feeding people, it's really about increasing the profits for these multi-national corporations."